TWO incumbent congressmen of Zamboanga City and four others, including a former Department of Education (DepEd) official, have filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) for mayor in the 2025 midterm elections.
Lawyer John Christian Babiera, city election officer, said Wednesday, October 9, 2024, that the aspirants for mayor include First District Representative Khymer Olaso, Second District Representative Jose Manuel Dalipe, former DepEd assistant regional director Pete Natividad, Orlando Negrete, Dennier Ibbah, and Layla Anni.
Olaso is a first term representative, while Dalipe is a last term congressman. Both, along with their complete slates, filed their COC on Tuesday, October 8, amid the chanting huge crowds of supporters.
Olaso is the mayoralty bet of Team Zamboanga, a coalition of different national and local political parties, like the Liberal Party (LP), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), and the Adelante Zamboanga Party (AZaP) while Dalipe is running under Lakas-CMD.
"I prefer to run for Congress. Only on Saturday evening (October 5), me and my family finally decide that I will run for mayor," Olaso said.
"Though we have political party alliances, but you know, I have to decide whatever my heart says that is to serve Zamboanga City," Olaso added.
Olaso's running mate is her former teacher and former Zamboanga City mayor, Maria Isabelle Climaco.
Kaizer, the younger brother of Olaso, is Team Zamboanga's candidate for first district representative and Putik Village chairperson Jerry Perez in the second congressional district.
Former mayor Celso Lobregat said they have chosen Olaso to be the standard bearer of Team Zamboanga since the latter registered high trust rating in two poll surveys.
Lobregat, who did not file his COC, said that he is willing to serve as the city administrator if and when Olaso wins the mayoralty race.
Dalipe said he will involve all the village officials to introduce changes for progress and development of Zamboanga City if given the opportunity to serve as mayor.
"It should be a concerted effort of everyone, of each and every Zamboangue os to help to make our communities cleaner and safer," Dalipe said.
Dalipe's running mate under the Lakas-CMD party is Councilor Vicente Guingona.
Mayor John, who is on his first term of office and Dalipe's younger brother, filed his COC for representative in the second district and incumbent Vice Mayor Josephine Pareja, for first district representative.
"One of our big ticket projects is the construction of a new airport. I ran for congressman for district two to push with the project that will bring economic progress to the city once completed," Mayor Dalipe said. (SunStar Zamboanga)