LAWYER Princess Abante, spokesperson for Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna and chief of the Manila Public Information Office (MPIO), said that Mayor Honey Lacuna deserves a second term in office, having dedicated her first term to shouldering the burden of what was left by Isko Moreno, which includes, among others, paying the P17.8 billion debt and finishing the unfinished projects which were all started and left hanging but were all included in the flyers of Moreno when he ran for president in 2022.
In her guesting at the “MACHRA Balitaan” of the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association, Abante also announced that the dominant ruling party in Manila, Asenso Manileño, will be holding its proclamation rally on Friday night in what is expected to be a highly-jampacked event.
Abante has also invited the public and the media to witness the historic event as the city’s first lady mayor seeks reelection, along with the incumbent vice mayor and a good majority of the Congressmen and Councilors.
Expected to join Lacuna are her ticketmates that include incumbent Vice Mayor Yul Servo, five out of the six incumbent Congressmen namely, Congressman Rolan Valeriano (2nd district), Congressman Joel Chua (3rd district), Congressman Edward Maceda (4th district), Congressman Irwin Tieng (5th district) and Congressman Benny Abante, Jr. (6th district) and majority of the Manila councilors.
Comebacking first district Congressman Manny Lopez, son of former Mayor Mel Lopez, Jr. completes the Congressional slate of the said party where Dr. Giselle Maceda is taking over the post of Rep. Edward who has reached his third term.
The rally will be held from 6 p.m. onward on Earnshaw Streeet in Sampaloc, the district where Lacuna began her political career as a Manila City Councilor from 2004 to 2013, in which she excelled when she became the first woman majority floor leader and eventually the first woman Presiding Officer when she became the Vice Mayor, also the first woman to have held the said position.
Abante said Lacuna’s team will kick off their campaign with a holy mass in Sta. Mesa, to be followed by a house-to-house visit, citing how important it is for the lady to mayor to have a personal interaction with her constituency, as proven by the “Kalinga sa Maynila” program which she launched on her assumption to office in 2022. The said program goes to the barangays where the mayor brings her department heads to personally address right there and then specific concerns, complaints and suggestions from the residents themselves.
While Lacuna will be on the campaign trail, Abante said the affairs of Manila will also continue to be her priority, citing how the Lacuna took charge of the city’s affairs while campaigning back in 2022 and while the mayor then, Isko Moreno, was already busy campaigning in the provinces.
“‘Wag natin kalimutan na noong 2022, si Mayor Honey bilang Vice Mayor ang siyang naging taumbahay sa Manila City Hall, dahil busy na si Isko sa pangangampanya sa mga probinsiya nun. Sa kabila niyan ay naalagaan nang husto ni Mayor Honey ang buong Maynila,” Abante stressed.
