• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez on Friday (July 26) reaffirmed their family’s support to the reelection bid of Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson in the May 2025 midterm elections.
“We will give our undivided support for Gov Bong,” he said in an interview.
The name of former Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca was earlier floated by the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) as a challenger to Lacson.
Palanca is the cousin of the late Betty Bantug Benitez, mother of siblings Third Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez and Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.
Asked if he thinks Palanca will run against Lacson, the young mayor replied, “I don’t know what he is thinking. He has his own mind.”
Lacson, who is seeking a third and final term, earlier said that he is ready to face anyone and that he cannot choose his opponent.
The Love Negros and United Negros Alliance coalition have aired their full support to Lacson’s reelection bid.
The plans of PDP to field Palanca as the party’s gubernatorial candidate prompted the nine councilors of Victorias City, including his son, Councilor Derek Palanca, to resign from the PDP.
In the 2022 elections, Palanca did not make it as the second nominee for the Abang Lingkod party list, which will be vacated by Rep. Stephen Joseph Paduano in 2025.
As to the plans of his father in Bacolod City, Benitez admitted that he has yet to know.
“There are certain factors, maybe, that could sway his decision. For him, he wants to make the best decision for him, and more importantly, for Bacolod City,” he added. | GB
