Nonoy, Mar visit in Capiz to reveal political line up?
ROXAS CITY – Will the visit of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Sen. Mar Roxas II in Capiz reveal the local political line up for Liberal Party (LP)?
The long-awaited scenario is expected by the political allies of Sen. Roxas who are now divided into two factions.
Locally, Sen. Mar Roxas has two political factions: in Roxas City it’s between City Mayor Vicente Bermejo and 1st District Congressman Antonio del Rosario. Bermejo is said to be dominant in Roxas City and reportedly the choice of Sen. Roxas while Del Rosario who had been loyal to LP, is the choice of Mrs. Judy Araneta Roxas, mother of Sen. Roxas.
In second district of Capiz, there are also two factions, they are 2nd District Congressman Fredenil Castro and Governor Victor Tanco, Sr. Reportedly, Tanco, who is loyal to the LP, is the bet of Sen. Mar Roxas while Castro, who is supported by 9 mayors out of 10 in the 2nd district, reportedly is also supported by the senator.
Del Rosario will support Gov. Tanco while Bermejo, who pledged to support Sen. Roxas, is rumored to support Department of Agriculture (DA) Usec Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante who is an ally of Castro in Ugyon Kita Capiz Party. Reportedly, Castro is the chair while Bolante is the vice chair.
Bolante, who declared his intention to run as governor, is facing Tanco in the gubernatorial race in 2010 election.
On the other hand, last termer Cong. Castro, who pushed his wife Jane to run in the next election, is facing former PNP Chief retired General Roberto “Bobby” Lastimoso in the congressional race. Lastimoso was declared by Mrs. Roxas last May in Tapaz as his son’s political ally.
Noynoy and Mar, who earlier declared their intention to run for president and vice president, respectively, in next year’s election arrived in Bacolod City on October 8, Iloilo province on October 9 and in Capiz and Aklan on October 10.
The duo will be having consultative dialogues with political leaders on Saturday from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. at the Villareal Stadium here and at 12 noon they will proceed to Sigma.
After the activity in Sigma Noynoy and Mar will proceed to Aklan as the trip in Mambusao was canceled.