Malabor changes mind, now wants to run for congress
Malabor
The local opposition group incurred another twist with the latest pronouncement of former Mayor Mansueto Malabor that he would run for congressman instead of his earlier decision to run for mayor.
Malabor's latest move is in conflict with the earlier declaration of the opposition's acknowledged titular head Senator Franklin Drilon anointing former City Councilor Vicente "Benjie" Gengos Jr. to be the group's bet for congressman of the city.
Talks of Malabor running for congressman came out after it was reported that his mayoralty plan would be challenged by his opponents as being violative of a certain Supreme Court (SC) ruling.
In Dumlao vs. Comelec, the SC ruled that an elected public official who has already retired and has acquired benefits from the government could no longer go back to his original office.
Gengos
As such, the local opposition group in a meeting over the weekend decided to field Malabor as congressman while former Councilor Joshua Alim would be the group's bet for mayor.
Reportedly Gengos did not accept the group's decision. He will still run for congressman.
Meanwhile, Drilon's reaction on this latest political twist was not yet known as he is still out of the country.
Alim, in a radio interview said, majority in their group wanted Malabor and Gengos to just swap positions, Malabor for congressman and Gengos for mayor, but the latter did not agree.
For his part, Alim said, he is willing to sacrifice his political plans just to solidify the group.
To note, the local opposition has not yet finalized its slate while the administration group already has a complete line-up.