BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is seeking reelection in 2022.
The governor said he would make the bid official once the Commission on Elections (Comelec) opens the filing of certificates candidacy in October this year.
Lacson is expected to run with Jeffrey Ferrer, his incumbent vice governor who earlier announced his bid for another term in office.
The tie-up is also part of the continued coalition between Lacson’s Love Negros and Ferrer’s United Negros Alliance (UNegA).
“We want to continue working together,” Lacson said.
Cadiz City’s Mayor Salvador Escalante, UNegA secretary-general, said the alliance has a total of 13 incumbent mayors while Love Negros has 18 including this city.
Lacson, however, said numbers do not really matter now since they have a coalition.
“The challenge is to get these coalitions together and continue to work,” Lacson stressed.
Although no one has stepped forward for the opposition yet, it has been revealed that Lacson would possibly have a rival – said to be a lawyer who previously became a city official here but transferred residency to the southern part of Negros Occidental in preparation for the polls.
Lacson earlier said he has no power to choose his opponent, as “everyone has the right to become a candidate” in the elections.
Ferrer, meanwhile, said UNegA will continue to support Lacson’s leadership as governor./PN
