PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines — The wife of incumbent city mayor and independent senatorial candidate Edward Hagedorn has failed in her bid to take up the torch held by her clan for the past two decades, bowing to incumbent Vice Mayor Lucilo Bayron in the mayoral race here.
Ellen Hagedorn, a candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, conceded on Tuesday to Bayron, an independent candidate, even before the City Board of Canvassers has completed the count.
Edward Hagedorn, running as an independent candidate, also failed to make it into the “Magic 12” in the senatorial race and hovered around 18th place in the canvassing of votes, which was still ongoing on Tuesday.
Bayron, who served as Hagedorn’s vice mayor for most of the latter’s 20-year reign, said he will maintain the City’s branding “as an environment-centered local government unit.”
“The environmental legacy is just one of the good things that Mayor Hagedorn has done for the city which I am going to continue,” Bayron told the Philippine Daily Inquirer before his proclamation by the City Board of Canvassers on Tuesday afternoon.
He vowed, however, to initiate new programs to address the city’s pressing needs.
Edward Hagedorn has centered his governance initiatives around environmental targets during his entire term, acquiring numerous local and international awards in the process.
He spearheaded a campaign to promote the Palawan Underground River as a major tourist draw and has overseen the tenfold influx of tourists over the years.