NEGROS Occidental Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson announced Thursday that he is seeking reelection in the May 2016 elections.
Speaking to Capitol reporters, Lacson described his re-election bid against Fourth District Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer as “the toughest fight of his political career.”
He will run without a gubernatorial candidate under the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).
His local coalition, Love Negros, has decided to support Ferrer’s running mate Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. of United Negros Alliance (Unega) in his bid for a third and last term.
Lacson said that before he arrived at his decision, he consulted “several key people from different sectors,” where "my strengths are coming from."
He admitted that it took him a long time to decide, even exceeding his personal deadline.
“A decision such as this, which requires the investment of many resources, takes time and thought and much careful reflection,” the vice governor said in a prepared statement.
Lacson said that while there are others in their group who were encouraging him to run against Marañon, others also wanted him to finish his term.
"I will be going around campaigning with officials allied with Love Negros," he said, adding that "many Love Negros mayors have committed to support me even if I have no governor."
“My family has always been supportive,” Lacson also said.
The vice governor said that Love Negros’s presumptive leader Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez already knows about his decision.
Moreover, Lacson said, “Going with the governor is no question. We are all for the governor.”
Asked for his message to Ferrer, Lacson said, “I hope we remain friends before, during, and after the elections."
And to Marañon, he said, “I expect the governor to pray for me. To make sure that I will be safe, he will be safe, and everybody will be safe during the 2016 elections.”