TUGUEGARAO CITY: A retired 63-yearold Army general has toppled a political clan member, whose family has been well-entrenched for two decades in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan, in the May 9 elections.

Retired Army general Abraham Bagasin, 63, won the mayoral post with 7,362 votes to defeat Dr. Connie Marie Sacramed, wife of incumbent Cagayan provincial administrator Darwin Sacramed and daughterin-law of incumbent mayor Asela Sacramed, who got 6,075 votes. He was proclaimed on May 10.

Asela, however, won as vice mayor with 7,334 votes, toppling Bagasin’s running mate, Dr. Michael Asanias who got 6,229 votes.

Sanchez Mira used to be ruled by the elder Napoleon Sacramed Sr. in early 2000.

A first-timer in politics, Bagasin was a member of PMA Class of 1983 and used to head the First Scout Ranger Regiment at Southern Command, 11th Infantry Battalion in Negros Island and 4th Infantry Division commander, among other posts.

When he retired from the military, he was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as deputy administrator at the National Irrigation Administration.

A third-class town in northern Cagayan, Sanchez Mira has 26,164 villagers in the 2020 census.