• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A clash between members of the United Negros Alliance (UNegA) in Moises Padilla and Binalbagan towns in Negros Occidental is expected.
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, UNegA secretary general, said on Wednesday (July 17) that Vice Mayor Ian Villaflor is bent on challenging incumbent Mayor Ella Celestina Yulo Garcia’s reelection bid in Moises Padilla in the May 2025 elections.
Villaflor and Yulo are both members of UNegA.
Escalante said that former mayor Emmanuel Aranda is also eyeing a return in Binalbagan against incumbent Mayor Alejandro Mirasol.
Both are also UNEGA members.
Aranda was defeated by Mirasol in the 2022 elections.
As practiced in the past elections, the equity of the incumbent rule will be applied, Escalante said.
In the wake of reports that Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer will be challenged by Lea Delfinado, former regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Western Visayas, in the Fourth District congressional race, Escalante said the full support of UNEgA will be extended to the vice governor.
Fourth District Board Member Jose Benito Alonso has been endorsed to run for vice governor in the next year’s elections in tandem with Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who is seeking a third and last term. | GB
