Murcia Mayor Esteban “Sonny” Coscolluela yesterday said he is definitely running for congressman of the third district of Negros Occidental in 2010, while his cousin Sugar Regulatory Administrator Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela said he would consider running as a guest gubernatorial candidate of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

“We have to give Negrenses a choice,” the Murcia mayor said.

The United Negros Alliance, which is a coalition of various political parties, is fielding Sagay Mayor Alfredo Marañon for governor and businessman Albee Benitez for congressman of the third district of Negros Occidental.

The Murcia mayor said the fight for the third congressional seat is not a battle of who has the money but of the most qualified for the job.

He said while he is a member of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino he could also run as an independent.

“We are not running as a party but for the love of Negros ,” he said, saying the leadership in the province should not be given to one group alone, the people must be given options.

He said the UNA candidates for mayor in third district will be contested.

His wife, Judith, is running for mayor of Murcia , and former mayors Carlo Gamban and Alfonso Gamboa are running in Silay City and EB Magalona, respectively, he said.

But Gamboa, when reached by the DAILY STAR for comment, said discussions on whether he will run for mayor of EB Magalona were still ongoing, the matter was still fluid.

UNA's mayoralty bets in the third district are Severo Palanca – Victorias , David Lacson – EB Magalona, Jose Montelibano – Silay City , Eric Saratan – Talisay City and Andrew Montelibano – Murcia .

GOVERNOR

It is not known yet if Rep. Jose Carlos “Kako” Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) will run for mayor of Talisay City or as governor of Negros Occidental.

Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio has indicated that the Lakas-Kampi-CMD being the administration party will not look good without a gubernatorial bet in Negros Occidental, former Negros Occidental Gov. Rafael Cosolluela said.

“The problem is they don't know whom to field. I'm not sure they are working towards a coalition, but I'm reasonably sure they would like to have a coalition. Whether that's practical and doable is another thing given the personalities involved,” the former governor said.

He admitted that the Lakas-Kampi-CMD asked him to run for governor, but, “I have not committed, it is still up in the air,” he said.

There is always Rep. Lacson who is a member of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, he said.

Also being floated is a Kako-Lito tandem, but the former governor said he does not know where that is coming from and if he will be the gubernatorial or vice gubernatorial bet under this scenario.

He said he has not discussed the matter with Rep. Lacson.

Maybe their names are being floated to see if they will catch the public's fancy, he said, adding that he is not interested in running for the third congressional seat, which is also another scenario being floated.

TEODORO

Coscolluela said if he ran as the Lakas-Kampi-CMD guest gubernatorial candidate he would be obliged to campaign for the party's presidential candidate, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

“I think Secretary Teodoro is one of the more qualified candidates for president. The problem is his ratings don't seem to be picking up as quickly as they hoped,” he said.

As the presidential campaign goes into full gear a lot of people will change their minds about their candidates now because they are going to hear the meat of every candidate's platform, the quality of every candidate is going to be more and more subject to close scrutiny, the former governor said.

The candidates who cannot meet the public expectations will start loosing ground because they don't seem to have as much of a grasp of national issues as other candidates, he added.*CPG

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