New faces joining Davao City politics

DAVAO CITY — A number of new faces from the professional, academe and business sectors are entering the political fray in the city.
Local candidates are vying for at least 29 positions that include the mayor, vice mayor, three congressmen and eight councilors for the city’s three districts.

As expected, the mayoralty race is between incumbent Mayor Benjamin de Guzman and first district Rep. Rodrigo Duterte.

While the two politicians used to be allies in the local Alyansa sa Katawhan party which they both formed in 1998, they parted ways late last year, prompting Duterte to form a new group, Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, in preparation for the coming elections.

Duterte has come up with a slate composed mostly of new faces in his bid to regain the mayoral post which he held for three consecutive terms before becoming congressman in 1998.

Among those in Duterte’s slate are media personality Mabel Sunga-Acosta, Ed Acaylar of the academe, lawyers Angela Librado, Ranuelo Leonar and Cesar Dataya, and Alvin Luque, secretary-general for Southern Mindanao of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

Many of those running under De Guzman’s Alyansa sa Katawhan are re-electionists.

Another new face joining Davao City politics is Mindanao Business Council president Joji-Ilagan Bian, who took a leave from the MBC to vie for the city’s second congressional district.

Bian said she is hopeful that her experience as a leading business leader and an officer of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry would help in her electoral bid.