Olivarez says he junked LAMP before EDSA II

Former Parañaque City Mayor Pablo Olivares clarified yesterday that he was not junked by the now disbanded pro-Estrada LAMP coalition, saying he had decided to look for another party as an aftermath of EDSA People Power II.

Olivarez, who has announced his intention to run again for Parañaque mayor, said he was running under the banner of PDP-Laban or the Liberal Party.

LAMP was formerly composed of Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino and the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

For his part, NPC-Parañaque chapter chairman, city councilor Generoso Puzon, denounced yesterday the under-handed tactics of Mayor Joey Marquez of allegedly misleading the people of Parañaque.

Puzon denied that he had announced the adoption of Marquez as the NPC-LDP-PMP mayoral candidate and the junking of Olivarez.

"We have not adopted Mayor Joey Marquez in the NPC. Former Mayor Olivarez and we at the NPC parted ways amicably when he told us that he was not running anymore in the coalition," Puzon said.

Puzon said the NPC chapter has no plans yet to field a mayoral and vice mayoral candidate, having opted to field a complete slate for the city council which he, along with Lorenzo Cinco will lead in the second district and incumbent Councilor Fric Baez in the first district.

Puzon said they will also be fielding a congressional bet in the person of Councilor Rodolfo "Rudy" Punzalan, NPC city chapter president and a doctor who authored the city’s comprehensive health insurance plan. – Rainier Allan Ronda