BY CARLA P. GOMEZ
Thursday, October 4, 2018

Vice Governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson, Negros Occidental unity ticket gubernatorial bet, yesterday vowed to prove to all those who sacrificed to make a United Negros Alliance-Love Negros merger a reality,that it was the right decision for the province.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., UNegA chairman, and Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) of Love Negros yesterday officially announced the fielding of Lacson and former Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer as the standard bearers of their unity ticket at the Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City.

MERGE Unity ticket gubernatorial candidate Eugenio Jose Lacson and vice gubernatorial bet Jeffrey Ferrer (5th and 2nd from left) being endorsed by UNegA secretary general Salvador Escalante, chairman Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., and Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez of Love Negros (l-r).* (Andy Alvarez photo)

“In behalf of Love Negros, we officially nominate Vice Governor Bong Lacson as the next governor of Negros Occidental,” Benitez said.

While Marañon said, “In the name of UNegA we endorse and support the nomination of Bong Lacson and nominate Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer for vice governor”.

The announcements were made before almost all of the elected political leaders of Negros Occidental.

“With utmost humility I accept the nomination to be the next governor of Negros Occidental,” Lacson said.

Ferrer, on the other hand, said “I accept the challenge to run for vice governor.”

Lacson said they are aiming to file their certificates of candidacy together with their congressional and board member bets on October 16.

Marañon said he thanks the Lord Almighty for giving them the wisdom, courage, sacrifice to unite for the sake of the province.

This is “unity for progress”, united, there will be no stopping Negros Occidental’s growth, he said.

Many other provinces will envy the unity achieved in Negros Occidental, and, hopefully, it will be replicated elsewhere to also move the rest of the country forward, he said.

SACRIFICES

He said Benitez could have opted to run for governor but because of his statesmanship he chose not to.

Benitez was not thinking of himself but the good of the province so he sacrificed his political ambition, Marañon said.

The governor said Ferrer also sacrificed his political ambition for unity by opting to run for vice governor, instead of going for a rematch against Lacson for governor.

Ferrer admitted that it hurt to lose against Lacson by only 11,000 votes in the race for vice governor in 2016.

But he agreed to instead run for vice governor in 2019 and support Lacson for the good of Negros Occidental, Ferrer said.

Marañon also lauded Lacson for agreeing to the unity ticket.

‘DOUBLE A’

Benitez said the merger was reached when he and the governor started talking.

“This would not have been possible if not for the decisive, steadfast vision of the governor to put us all together in this room,” Benitez said, noting that almost 100 percent of the political leaders of Negros Occidental were present yesterday.

Benitez said he and the governor have discussed their “Double A” tandem as private sector partners in helping move the province forward when the new set of leaders take over in 2019.

He also pointed out that the Negros Oriental officials have also decided on a united ticket for 2019.

The trend now is for unity not only in Negros and the whole Visayas but for the whole country to achieve our dreams and goals for our constituency, Benitez said.

Lacson thanked Benitez for making the supreme sacrifice of not running for governor for unity’s sake.

He assured Benitez that he will prove to him that he made the right decision.

Lacson said he is also looking forward to the help of Benitez and Marañon in bringing new investors to the province.

He also urged the officials present to prove the merger skeptics wrong, by showing that they can make a difference for the province through cooperation.

“Let us continue to bear in mind that we are in public service to help our beloved Negros,” he said.

Lacson and Ferrer said they will meet to discuss how to work together to move the province forward.

They also said that although a merger had been reached, they would still go around the province during the campaign period to listen to the needs of the people.

‘LOVE U NA’

Board Member Salvador Escalante, UNegA secretary general, also said the merger would not have happened without sacrifices made by Benitez and Marañon. This is a historic event, he said.

Marañon and Lacson said that while the merger talks were for the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial candidates, they will also work on unity tickets in the towns and cities of the province where it is possible.

Asked what they would call the unity ticket, Marañon quipped: “Love U Na”.

The merger cannot be perfect, but we can try to resolve differences, Benitez said.

COJUANGCO

Asked about his relationship with former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco, Ferrer said they parted ways because he supported Marañon in the 2016 race for governor against former Rep. Genaro Alvarez.

However, he will always respect Cojuangco who is still his “Ninong” and the “boss”, Ferrer said.

He also said the merger has allowed him to reconcile with Benitez, who in 2016 had also supported Alvarez.

Benitez said they did not fight, their relationship just cooled off, but now they are communicating with each other again.*