• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Third-termer Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is pushing for local coalitions Love Negros and United Negros Alliance (UNEGA) to field a single candidate for governor and vice governor in the 2028 national and local elections.
Names of Third District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez and Second District Rep. Alfredo Marañon III have been mentioned as possible gubernatorial candidates.
“If there are names being floated around, that is exactly what we are trying to settle,” Lacson, who is affiliated with Love Negros, said on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Marañon is the president of UNEGA while Benitez was supported by Love Negros when he ran and won as mayor of Victorias City in 2022.
Lacson said his preference is for Love Negros and UNEGA to remain united and agree on one common candidate rather than fielding separate candidates that could divide their political base.
For nine years, Love Negros and UNEGA have common candidates for governor and vice governor in Negros Occidental.
While there is no written agreement that it is time for someone from UNEGA to be the governor, Lacson recognized that “UNEGA also wants (someone from their camp) to serve as governor.”
“That’s something that you cannot just put aside,” he said.
Lacson stressed this is why both groups need to work out an arrangement that would allow the coalition to remain intact and eventually produce common candidates for both governor and vice governor.
“I think any person who would like to be governor of the province should always put as priority the Negrenses,” he said. | GPB
