Hugpong party can only field 24 council bets

EVEN if 34 Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod members are hoping to get the official endorsement of their party and an earlier announcement that the new political party will be fielding more than the complete slate needed, Hugpong has backed down and will only field 24 council candidates.

This as Hugpong is now a full-fledged political party and no longer the informal political group it used to be in past elections.

Hugpong earlier shortlisted 34 candidates and said it will field ten for the first district and 12 each for the second and third district.

Davao City Councilor Melchor Quitain, secretary general of Hugpong in an interview at his office on Wednesday, told Sun.Star Davao they already have the final list of eight official standard bearers of Hugpong for the second district while that for the first district has still two vacant slots and one for third district.

Comelec rule says only eight candidates per district can be fielded per party because there are only eight slots to be filled up per district.

The 21 official standard bearers of Hugpong for the councilor race are:

First District -- Nilo Abellera Jr.; Jesse Mar Colaste; Edgar Ibuyan; Leah Librado-Yap; Melchor Quitain; and Emmanuel Galicia Jr.

Second District -- Al Ryan Alejandre; April Marie Dayap; Tomas Monteverde; Jimmy Dureza; Arnold Apostol; Danny Dayanghirang; Diosdado Mahipus; Marissa Salvador-Abella.

Third District -- Bernard Al-ag; Jose Mari Baluran; Karlo Bello; Gerardo Braganza; Myrna Ortiz; Joselle Villafuerte; Rachel Zozobrado.

On Wednesday, Hugpong has started the distribution of the certificate of nomination and acceptance (Conas) for some of their standard bearers. As of Wednesday afternoon, Quitain said they have already issued a total of 20 Conas.

"These names are chosen by the party directorates and not by only one person," Quitain said when asked if Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte was the one who decided on who will be included on the final list of the party’s standard bearers.

For those candidates who have been announced to be admitted in Hugpong during its first convention last Friday but are not included in the final slate, Quitain said he does not know if these persons will pursue with their candidacy and whether they will be accommodated in party campaign activities.

Most of those aspiring councilors who have gotten their Conas from Hugpong have flooded to Comelec to file their respective certificate of candidacy.

For the position of representative for the second and third districts, incumbent representatives Mylene Garcia and Isidro Ungab, respectively, will still be the official standard bearers of Hugpong while the party is still pondering on who will be fielded to face incumbent First District Rep. Karlo B. Nograles.