NEGROS Occidental Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez said he is still undecided if he will run for another position after his full three terms as a congressman which will end in 2019.
"It is either a sign from above, below or sides. But seriously, my preference, if given the chance, would be to relax after my term ends," he said.
But for now, he is still considering to run for a senatorial seat in 2019, but still, it is yet on the planning stage.
There is also a possibility that he might run for governor in the province of Negros Occidental given the fact that Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. will be graduating next year.
But there are unification talks now between Love Negros, which he heads, and the United Negros Alliance of the governor to help them chart a direction that will be good for the general welfare.
Possibilities are Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson will run for governor and former Fourth District representative Jeffrey Ferrer will run for vice governor or either way, while Benitez will pursue his plans for a senatorial seat.
But if the senatorial seat will be an uphill stance for Benitez, there is also a possibility that he will run for governor and Lacson will seek re-election.
But it will still depend on the unification talks.
Benitez added that the direction of the unification talks is not solely for the top two posts in the provincial leadership but also includes all local government units where the two political parties have their respective partymates.
"Just like the last election where we find Governor Marañon has done a good job, we did not field somebody to run against him. In this case, we will formalize it in our talks if there are places that we do not need to field somebody from our party to run against the candidate(s) of the other party," Benitez said.
"They have scheduled talks soon but for now, they are just texting each other," he added.
But if both parties will agree that it will be a Lacson-Ferrer tandem, he will have no problem with it. He will support it as long as Lacson will be on top.
Benitez's brother, Francisco "Kiko" Benitez, will be his possible successor in the third district.
"Hopefully, 99 percent he will run. But there is still a 1 percent chance that he might back out," he said.
The solon further added that politics is not about winning the lotto.
"It is hard work. You need to serve the people. You need to sacrifice so that is why there is this hesitancy from my younger brother to enter politics because he has to make a lot of sacrifices for him to run. But of course, the compensating factor there is that, he will be helping a lot of people. If you really look at public service, it is not easy. Even myself, I do not run for the sake of running."
In Bacolod politics, Benitez said he does not want to dip his fingers on it.
He will not even answer if he is supporting the move of Abang Lingkod party-list Joseph Stephen Paduano who eyes to run for mayor and challenged long-time sitting Mayor Evelio Leonardia, along with Councilor Ricardo "Cano" Tan who is also eyeing the mayoral seat.
"Just ask him about his plans. So far, Mayor Bing Leonardia and myself are in good talking terms. Former mayor Monico Puentevella is a relative. Cong. Paduano is my strong supporter in my initiatives in Congress and Councilor Tan is very persistent in his plans to run for mayor. The time to decide is still four months away. Anything can happen," he said.