• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The United Negros Alliance (UNegA) is set to hold its general assembly this month, as the political party gears up for the elections on May next year.
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., the UNegA secretary general, said they are planning to hold it within a week, or the following week.
The planned meeting was announced after Abang Lingkod party list Rep. Stephen Joseph Paduano revealed on Sunday that Board Member Jose Benito Alonso was chosen as the vice gubernatorial bet of UNegA, to be the running mate of incumbent Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who is seeking reelection.
Escalante is, however, neither confirming nor denying the public pronouncements of Paduano, although they will make a formal announcement soon.
He said they are leaving it to Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, the UNegA president, to make the formal announcement.
Escalante admitted that Alonso, a former mayor of Pontevedra town, has been a frontrunner for the vice gubernatorial post after Ferrer announced that he may seek the post of congressman of the 4th district of Negros Occidental.
The naming of Alonso quashes rumors of other political leaders in the province as possible choices for the post. These included Paduano himself, Board Member Andrew Montelibano, and some mayors whose terms are ending in 2025.*
