• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Monday encouraged officials planning to run in the May 2025 mid-term polls to duplicate the province’s two political coalitions in the local level.
Lacson heads Love Negros while Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer is the top leader of United Negros Alliance (UNegA).
In the past elections, UNegA and Love Negros members in some local government units clashed against each other in various elective positions.
“(But) we will still have to abide by the rule on the equity of the incumbent,” the governor said.
The UNegA-Love Negros coalition started in 2019 through the efforts of the late Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. and then Third District Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, where they fielded Lacson as governor and Ferrer as vice governor, a tandem that was carried during the 2022 elections.
Lacson already confirmed that he will seek a third and last term as governor in 2025.
As of this time, he is still waiting for the final decision of UNegA on the candidate they will field for vice governor, he said.
Ferrer earlier announced that he is contemplating to run as congressman of the fourth district, a post that will be vacated by his wife, Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer, who is now on her last term.
The name of Fourth District Board Member Jose Benito Alonso is being floated to replace Ferrer in the vice gubernatorial position.
Lacson said that he expects a battle of candidates in the cities of Silay, Talisay and Kabankalan as well as in the municipalities of Isabela and San Enrique.
He also received reports that incumbent Fifth District Rep. Emilio Yulo may be challenged as well, he added. | GB
