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‘Many extra have signified their choice to bolt,’ says Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez
BACOLOD, Philippines – Speculations about former Victorias Metropolis mayor Francis Frederick Palanca’s potential problem to the anticipated reelection bid of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson within the 2025 elections precipitated a mass exodus of native politicians from the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) within the province.
Initially, it was reported that 60 PDP-Laban members in Negros Occidental, together with Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, determined to resign from the political occasion of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, Could 25.
Benitez, nevertheless, mentioned on Monday, Could 27, that extra PDP members in Negros Occidental had been anticipated to hitch the political exodus.
“Many extra have signified their choice to bolt… We can’t reveal the names but however, as soon as it’s full, we are going to share it,” Benitez mentioned.
The rift throughout the PDP in Negros Occidental surfaced after Palanca, a cousin of Benitez, was floated as a possible candidate in subsequent 12 months’s elections in opposition to Lacson.
Till final weekend, Benitez chaired the PDP in Negros Occidental. Though Lacson is a member of the Nationalist Folks’s Coalition (NPC), he and Benitez have cast an alliance underneath the native political group Love Negros.
Palanca can be a member of the PDP and Love Negros, and his successor in Victorias Metropolis is Benitez’s son Javier Miguel, who ran as an impartial candidate within the 2022 elections.
Apparently, in 2023, Javier Miguel additionally surfaced as a possible candidate in opposition to Lacson, prompting the elder Benitez to announce throughout a press convention that his son wouldn’t run for governor and that they’d help Lacson’s seemingly reelection bid.
Speculations concerning the youthful Benitez’s political plans rapidly unfold over studies about his frequent visits to mayors within the province. The Victorias mayor is the president of Negros Occidental’s Affiliation of Chief Executives (ACE).
The preliminary backlash got here from Victorias Metropolis officers, together with Vice Mayor Abelardo Bantug Jr. and eight metropolis councilors, who resigned from the PDP in April, citing a scarcity of session relating to Palanca’s anticipated candidacy for the gubernatorial submit. Apparently, Palanca’s son Derek was among the many councilors who stop the PDP, pledging help for Lacson.
The dissatisfaction within the PDP in Negros Occidental has now seemingly unfold, inflicting a broader exodus from the occasion.
In accordance with Benitez, 60 PDP members, together with eight mayors, 5 vice mayors, and 47 councilors, joined him in resigning from the PDP on Saturday.
The mass resignation was attributed to the occasion management’s alleged neglect, with Benitez saying, “We weren’t even invited to a number of the PDP conferences and gatherings. So, what do you count on?”
PDP-Visayas Deputy Secretary-Normal Jesus Hinlo responded to Benitez with a mix of skepticism and ritual.
“We want them properly, however who’re they?” Hinlo mentioned, including that he has but to obtain an official checklist of those that resigned.
Hinlo, nevertheless, mentioned the PDP respects particular person selections to go away the erstwhile administration occasion. – Rappler.com
