• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Both Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez and Councilor Derek Palanca, son of former Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca, have vowed continued support to the administration of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Their assurance came after Lacson visited Benitez, while the younger Palanca met with the governor at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City on Monday (April 29) to express his support to the present administration.
The name of former mayor Palanca was earlier floated as the possible gubernatorial candidate of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Negros Occidental in the May 2025 midterm elections.
This prompted Vice Mayor Abelardo Bantug III and nine councilors of Victorias City, including Palanca, to tender their resignation as PDP-Laban members, for lack of consultation on the plans of their national party to possibly field the elder Palanca as their gubernatorial candidate.
Lacson, who earlier bared his intention to seek a third and final term, said he cannot choose his opponent.
Both Lacson and the former mayor are members of the local political organization Love Negros.
“It was a very positive meeting, it was very reassuring,” Lacson said on his meeting with Benitez.
He added that the manifesto signed by the Victorias City Council “in effect, (it) means they are supporting the incumbent administration”.
Lacson said he believes that the former mayor’s plan to run for governor is his decision alone, based on his talks with the younger Palanca.
“I just also wish that there will be no family rift among them because of this,” the governor said. | GB
