Fitial, Tim Villagomez team up for ’05 gubernatorial race

Taking a member of the Villagomez clan as his running mate, House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial formally declared yesterday his intention to run again for governor in next year’s elections under the Covenant Party.

Fitial and Vice Speaker Timothy Villagomez announced their political plan in a family picnic yesterday at Pao Pao Beach in Marpi.

The gathering coincided with the Citizenship Day holiday.

“This is a family picnic and I decided to declare my intent to run again for governor. I will be asking my families for their support. I am hoping that they will give me their support,” said Fitial in an interview.

Fitial, who lost to the Babauta-Benavente team in 2001, said he is confident that he would make it this time “because I already learned from the first time I lost.”

“I know why I lost so I think I pretty much know how to run to win,” he said.

Fitial said one of his weaknesses then was his failure to do a lot of personal visits to families.

“So I plan to visit every house and knock on every door,” he said. “My other weakness was I never promised anybody work or pay increase,” he added.

He said next year’s election would boil down to the economy.

“The main issue is economy. People are hurting. Families are hurting because of lack of income. Lack of income contributes to social problems: theft, robberies. This [economy] is what I want to concentrate on—how to bring in new money into the Commonwealth and how to make the businesses, the existing businesses feel they are important and know that they can depend on the government for assistance,” said the speaker.

For his part, Villagomez who came with his immediate family members, including former Public Health Secretary Kevin Villagomez, said he is “more than happy” to be Fitial’s running mate.

“I’m always been an advocate of positive change and I’m moving forward. I have a track record of being a doer. That’s what I believe in the speaker. I believe in his policy. I believe that he can lead the Commonwealth,” he said.

He said Fitial is “a focused person, a pro-business person.”

Villagomez said he has yet to meet with his entire family.

“I will be meeting with family members. Unfortunately, because of a death in the family, I’m not able to bring them here. That’s something, culturally, that I have to respect. So I have scheduled a meeting with my family to inform them of what’s happening in regards to the 2005 elections,” he said.

His 11-year old daughter, Rita Villagomez, said she fully supports the candidacy of her father.

“I’d like him to run. I want to be a politician too when I grow up,” she said.

Villagomez, a former executive director of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., won a congressional seat the first time he ran last year under the Covenant Party.

He comes from the influential Villagomez family, which has traditionally been associated with the Republican Party.

The Fitial-Villagomez team is seen as the major contender in next year’s gubernational race.

Last September, Gov. Juan N. Babauta announced his plan to seek re-election with Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente in the 2005 polls.

The BB team is being challenged in the Republican Party by congressman Heinz S. Hofschneider, who plans to run with Rep. David Apatang.

The Democratic Party would either endorse former Gov. Froilan Tenorio or Sen. Luis Crisostimo for the island’s highest elective post.