Mesa was appointed by the council as its sergeant-at-arms immediately after Office on Aging Director Rose Mondala announced the winning candidates.
It was Mesa’s dream to serve his fellow manamko’ before he dies and this was why he sought a council seat every year.
The other winners are Maria Salinas, Rita Reyes, Christiana Michael, Alejandra Blas, Meryalen Conrad, incumbent president Teresita Sorroza, Elena Villanueva and Siyau Muna.
Aging Office program coordinator Walter Manglona, who supervised the election yesterday, said the winners will meet on Sept. 30 to elect among themselves the new council officers.
“Everybody won and nobody lost because at the end of the day they were voting for the betterment of the council,” he said.
Manglona said he will work on a new charter for the council and review its by-laws and ask the new leadership to recommend any amendments.
Mondala said she was expecting a female-dominated council because 90 percent of the congregates are women.
Of the 13 candidates, only three are men, she said.
The election was smooth and orderly, Manglona said, with 50 of the 67 congregates casting their ballots of which only four were invalid.
Manglona commended the elected candidates and encouraged them to work hard for the manamko’.
