In a typical move of politicians at safeguarding their turf and vested interest, some 500 local Bicol politicians dropped membership from their respective political parties and took their oath on Thursday morning in Legazpi city before House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as new members of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.
PDP-Laban is the political party of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Led by Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal and council members, the new party members came from the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes and Sorsogon were sworn at the Legazpi Convention Center, 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Rosal ran for re-election in the city mayoralty post under the Liberal Party during the election of May 2016.
Local officials from the island province of Masbate will have a different schedule for their oath-taking.
It must be recalled after the May 2016 elections, only a handful elective politicians were identified with the PDP-Laban in the local governments, House of Representatives and the Senate. With politicians used to patronage and politicking for survival many members of other parties swarmed membership towards PDP-Laban. The scenario replicate the events during the presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Alvarez cited why the ruling party “strongly advocates” the shifting from a unitary to a federal form of government, taking the cue from the president himself even as a recent survey showed only 30 percent of Filipinos want federalism.
Meanwhile, early flyers reveal various school of thoughts which include a state would be formed consisting of the provinces of Palawan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Masbate. Another vague proposal include a state will come out of the grouping of the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Masbate and Siquijor.
Obviously, the Bicol region of six provinces will come out decapitated if either of these sinister plan is followed.
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