Lanao del Norte mayor ditches Lacson for Robredo

Kauswagan Mayor Rommel Arnado (right) led supporters in welcoming Vice President Leni Robredo at a seaside rally at the Kauswagan Longest Boardwalk on Thursday, March 31, 2022. (VP Leni Media Bureau)

KAUSWAGAN, Lanao del Norte, Philippines — Another ally of Sen. Panfilo Lacson has ditched support for his presidential bid in favor of Vice President Leni Robredo.

Kauswagan Mayor Rommel Arnado said he was joining the “pink revolution,” declaring his support for Robredo and her running mate, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, during a rally in the town last Thursday.

Arnado thanked Robredo for supporting various development initiatives in the town through her Angat Buhay program. He added that Robredo was a witness to the town’s continuing efforts to rise above the ashes of the armed conflict.

Since 2010, when he assumed the reins of the local government, Arnado has been presiding over the town’s painful economic transformation driven by the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices.

Arnado said he ran under Partido Reporma and supported Lacson because it took some time for the vice president to decide to run for president.

“My heart never left Ma’am Leni and Senator Kiko. All I thought was that she would not run… She was in Naga that week, and thinking that she was running for Camarines Sur governor, I filed my candidacy under Reporma on the same day,” explained Arnado.

Prior to Robredo’s sorties in Lanao del Norte on Thursday and Marawi City on Friday, she met with a host of politicians in Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Cagayan de Oro who signified their support for her presidential bid.

She also met with at least six politicians from Lanao del Sur who offered her their support, just hours after attending the rally of former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Marawi City.

Before proceeding to her rally in a transitory shelter site in Marawi, she visited former Lanao del Sur Gov. Soraya Alonto-Adiong who carried her vice presidential campaign in 2016 in the province. But Adiong said the visit had no political undertones.

Adiong’s son, Mamintal Jr., who is the incumbent governor, has endorsed another tandem for the May 9 polls.

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ATM