Six neophyte board member candidates in the province’s three districts have secured seats in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP).

Ricky Masamayor, Nino Rey Boniel, Agapito Avenido, Alexie Tutor, Victor Balite and Jade Bautista who will be first time members of the SP emerged as apparent winners in the provincial board membership race as the vote counting winded down yesterday.

Masamayor is from the first district, Boniel and Avenido from the second district, and Tutor, Balite and Bautista represents the third district.

Four of the candidates are from the Liberal Party (LP) including Avenido, Masamayor, Tutor, and Bautista, while Boniel and Balite ran under the Nacionalista Party and PDP-Laban, respectively.

Of the six first-timers, Tutor garnered the most votes which reached 109,319. Balite had the second highest at 97,224.

Bautista received 92,238 votes; Masamayor 84,485; Boniel 84,485; and Avenido gathered 52,585.

However the number of votes could still rise as the results remained unofficial and the latter part of the counting of ballots from various places continued yesterday.

Meanwhile, several re-electionists would be keeping their posts for another term including Benjie Arcamo and Abel Damalerio who both ran under LP in the first district, Tommy Abapo of Nationalist People’s Coalition in the second district, and Elpidio Jala in the third district who is also an LP member.

Arcamo garnered the most votes among the incumbent board members at 108,911 as of 4pm yesterday, May 10, 2016. Damalerio came in second with 101,926 votes.

Abapo and Jala tallied 85,080 and 79,066 votes, respectively. (with reports from Allen Doydora)