A farmer is planning to run for governor of Negros Occidental against Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Candoni farmer Ferdenand Etabag Diego, 50, sent his representative to file his Certificate of Candidacy before the Commission on Elections at the Social Hall of the Capitol in Bacolod City on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
However, Elections Provincial Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said Diego’s representative, Alicia Cusay Baviera, did not have a document granting her authority to file the COC.
Diego’s nickname is Bongbong Gorilla.
Baviera said she and Diego are members of the Mangungumang Masinanyugon Multipurpose Cooperative and are former Operation Thunderbolt evacuees.
She said Diego would have to file his COC himself before the Comelec.
Meanwhile, former Victorias City mayor Francis Frederick “Wantan” Palanca has yet to announce if he is running for governor under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) ticket.
His son Councilor Derek Palanca, who is running for vice mayor of Victorias, on Monday said his team is supporting the gubernatorial bid of Lacson.
The councilor in a Facebook post on Tuesday said “Let me be clear that I love my father and we are in good terms, as far as father and son relationship goes. However, I am standing firm on my principles to uphold the solidarity of the party and I am also a man of my word”.
The councilor also said he has not heard any announcement from his father that he is running for governor.
Jayvee Hinlo, PDP Laban Deputy Secretary General for Visayas and its Provincial Council President for Negros Occidental, recently said that the former Victorias City mayor is 99 percent sure to run for governor of Negros Occidental in the 2025 polls.
“Who is this Jayvee Hinlo, who speaks on behalf of him? I have reason to believe that there are people surrounding my father who are misguiding and merely using him, perhaps ego-feeding him, for clout to advance their own political agenda”, Derek Palanca added in his Facebook post.
Gov. Lacson is set to file his COC 3 p.m. Thursday.*