MEMBERS and officials of the United Negros Alliance (UNegA) may join the newly-organized Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) lead by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Escalante said the party may decide to allow individual members if they want to join a national party, like what they adopted during the 2022 national elections.
"Most probably, we may adopt the same position to preserve UNegA as a provincial party; each mayor has its own choice," Escalante said.
"We have not yet met as a party to discuss it," he said.
However, the mayor said that KNP is being chaired by the Bacolod mayor "then that changes the discussions."
Benitez, considered a local political leader in Negros, carries a "weight" on the decisions of the mayors, Escalante pointed out.
He said that he has talked with one to two mayors in the province and they welcomed the party considering that Benitez is leading it.
"We will have a voice at the national level if this new party succeeds," he said.
During last year's election, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, UNegA president, and many Negros mayors supported President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., though they belong to different national parties.
Escalante, UNegA secretary general, and then Sagay City Mayor Alfredo Marañon Jr. backed former Vice President Leni Robredo in her presidential bid.
Benitez is the national president of KNP.