FORMER Liloan mayor Vincent “Duke” Frasco said his group in Cebu’s 5th District has gotten stronger with the signing of a formal alliance between Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) and his national political party, Lakas-CMD.

The party alliance was signed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, on behalf of HnP, and former congressman Martin Romualdez for Lakas-CMD at the Tacloban City Astrodome with over 5,000 in attendance.

Frasco, his wife Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco and Rep. Yedda Romualdez of Tingog Party-List were witnesses in the signing last Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Yedda, who grew up in Liloan, is the granddaughter of the late lawyer Democrito Mendoza, the founder of ALU-TUCP and father of TUCP Party-List Rep. Raymond Mendoza.

Carpio endorsed Frasco’s candidacy for congressman last Oct. 22 when she went to Liloan for the signing of the Davao City-Liloan Sisterhood Agreement with Mayor Christina.

When asked to comment on the issue, incumbent 5th District Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI was not threatened.

“It’s only natural for HnP, being a regional party, to ally itself with national parties to promote its interest. In fact, NPC (National People’s Coalition), the national party which I belong to, is allied with HnP,” Durano said.

“For the 5th District, our party, Bakud (Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya) is strong enough that we don’t need alliances from national parties. In fact, it is the national politicians who approach Bakud for its support,” Durano said. EOB