Guv takes cautious stance on PFP-Lakas alliance impact

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., the regional chairperson of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), said on Thursday said he would await directives from national party leaders on how the alliance with Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) would affect local party dynamics.

During his regular press conference, Defensor addressed the potential local implications of Raisa Maria Lourdes Treñas-Chu joining PFP amid Representative Julienne Baronda’s recent switch to Lakas-CMD.

Treñas-Chu, with help from his father Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, is eyeing Baronda’s seat in the House, although Baronda has not confirmed her intentions for the next election term.

Mayor Treñas noted on Wednesday that despite the PFP-Lakas alliance, his daughter would still join the party.

Defensor explained that local matters would be sorted out by the party’s leadership under South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo.

“[PFP] will have a party committee that will attend to the dynamics of the local elections. There are various parties and many people who want to run, and not just us. Definitely, it will be leveled off,” Defensor said.

He reassured that any conflicts would be managed.

“At first impression, we do see that there is a conflict. But again, that is why the situation will develop. The parties will work it out on how it can be done. [Tamayo] will head that committee to iron out the situation,” he added.

When asked about the alliance affecting the local Lakas-CMD branch in Iloilo, led by Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Jesry Palmares, Defensor welcomed the coalition, citing his historical ties with Lakas-CMD and his personal relationship with House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

Other members of Lakas-CMD Iloilo include 1st district Rep. Janette Garin and her husband, Miagao town mayor Oscar Garin Jr., 1st district board members Marcelo Valentine Serag and Jo Ann Germinanda, and other local officials.

He also cited his friendship with House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who was his colleague in the 15th and 16th Congresses from 2010 to 2016.

“We’re happy that we have that alliance. It’s not new to us because we have been working well with Lakas[-CMD] because of [Romualdez]. The speaker is a friend and a [former party mate]. The members of [Lakas-CMD] are our friends. It is not new to us that a coalition like that will happen between two parties,” he said.

Lakas-NUCD merged with the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines in 1997, in time for the 1998 elections, with its name changing to its current iteration in 2004.

The former governor successfully ran under the neophyte Lakas-NUCD, and later Lakas-CMD, for his first tenure as governor (1992 to 2001), as 3rd district representative (2001 to 2010), and when returning to the capitol in 2010.

The current governor himself was under Lakas-CMD when he entered politics in 2007 as a provincial board member for the 3rd district when he ran for his first term as district representative in 2010.

Both father and son jumped to the then-dominant Liberal Party in 2012 in time for the 2013 local elections. The elder transferred to PDP-Laban in 2016, while the younger followed suit in 2019.

Defensor Jr. had transferred to the National Unity Party in 2021, and then to the PFP in 2023, a few months after Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became president.

On the topic of the PFP’s regional oath-taking, Defensor said that they had a tentative schedule this May, but it would still depend on Special Assistant to the President, Antonio Lagdameo and the party’s other national officers.

Defensor also highlighted that a regional oath-taking for new PFP members is tentatively scheduled for later this May, pending confirmation from Antonio Lagdameo, Special Assistant to the President, and other national party officers.

Guimaras Vice Governor John Edward Gando, who joined the PFP on May 1, confirmed that the oath-taking ceremony for mayors, board members, town councilors, and other 2025 election hopefuls would take place under Defensor’s oversight.