Joe III boasts of experience and being a lawyer as his edge over opponents
City Councilor Jose Espinosa III considers as his edge among other vice mayorables in next year’s election his being a lawyer and his experience as a legislator having served as city councilor for the past 15 years.
Espinosa, popularly called Joe III, said the function of the city council is to legislate ordinances, so being a lawyer gives him an edge to the position of vice mayor. “Being vice mayor is a serious position, it is not like a beauty pageant where you just wave your hand and smile,” he added.
Espinosa said the last time the city had a lawyer-vice mayor was during the time of former Mayor Mansueto Malabor. Malabor was the city’s vice mayor before he was elected as city mayor.
Espinosa, who will run against councilors Julienne Baronda, Antonio Pesina and Erwin Plagata in the vice mayoral race, has his performance as city councilor to offer to the city’s electorates in the May 2010 elections.
Espinosa has served with the government service for 16 long years. Espinosa is honed by his vast experiences in public governance. He also once served as head of the City Legal Office.
Espinosa was also proud to say he was never involved in any controversies at the city council. He boasts to also have no record of inflicting harm to anyone or verbally abused his employees or his household workers.
Currently, Espinosa is the chair of the committee on appropriations of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. The committee on appropriations is one of the powerful committees in the legislative body.
Espinosa said the implementation of the Perimeter Boundary Ordinance (PBO) was his brainwork. The ordinance which disallows the entry of municipal public utility jeepneys in the city has spurred development in the city’s outskirt.
New buildings were constructed near the different terminals especially in Tagbac, Jaro. The PBO diffused the traffic problem in the city and same time reduced the emission of carbon dioxide here, said Espinosa.
