BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Mayors affiliated with the United Negros Alliance are committed to support the tandem of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice-Governor Jeffrey Ferrer in next year’s elections.
This was stressed yesterday by UNegA secretary general Salvador Escalante Jr., who is the Cadiz City mayor, in the wake of reports that some individuals are still pushing lawyer John Orola to challenge Lacson in the elections in May.
Orola debunked reports that he is running for governor, stressing also that he has not transferred his voting records from the highly-urbanized Bacolod City to Negros Occidental.
Despite the denial of Orola, who is tourism and investment consultant of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, a Facebook page is openly calling for him to run.
The latest post on 1- Orola Daily shows a logo that says “Run JNO Run”.
UNegA and Love Negros forged an alliance at the provincial level in 2018, with Lacson and Ferrer as their common candidates for the gubernatorial and vice-gubernatorial positions.
UNegA has 13 incumbent mayors, while Love-Negros, of which Lacson is a member, has 18 mayors.
Ferrer has said that he will remain as vice-governor of Lacson in the elections next year.
On the other hand, Escalante said they are now requiring UNegA mayors to submit their official line-ups for next year’s election, for them to prepare their Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance.
A CONA is a document required to be submitted by those who file a COC claiming nomination from a political party or coalition.
Based on existing rules, “(a candidate) whose CONA was filed after the last day of filing of COC” is considered an independent bet.*
