By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
Guimaras Vice Governor John Edward Gando has become the latest recruit from Western Visayas for the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), joining Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr.
Additional officials from Guimaras are expected to join soon.
The swearing-in ceremony, which took place in Manila on Wednesday, May 1, included numerous provincial-level officials and members of the House of Representatives. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also the PFP party chairperson, presided over the event.
In an interview with Daily Guardian, Gando said other local leaders, including Buenavista Mayor and former Governor Samuel Gumarin, Board Member Luben Vilches, and mayors from Sibunag and Nueva Valencia, among others, are planning to join PFP under the guidance of Defensor, the party’s regional chair.
While Governor Joaquin Carlos Rahman Nava and the lone district Rep. Lucille Nava are expected to stay with the National Unity Party (NUP), they have pledged their support regardless of party affiliation.
“Governor Rahman and Rep. Lucille are always supportive of the present administration,” Gando said, noting that they encouraged his decision to join PFP.
Gando, who is currently serving his third term, hinted at plans to run for another office but did not disclose specific details, stating that decisions would be finalized after the province’s annual Manggahan Festival.
Defensor shared insights from President Marcos Jr.’s speech at the event, emphasizing the importance of unity and the “beginning of the party’s deliberate expansion.”
As to policy goals, he said that the party is centered on following the administration’s mantra of unity.
“While we are developing and expanding the party, the president is reiterating about unity. That is what is really good about the party, that the administration, while we recognize the composition and the environment and the politics, unity is very important to the president. This is also the foundation of the president’s movement, Bagong Pilipinas,” the governor said.
Other officials and election hopefuls who will join the PFP will take their oath at an event tentatively scheduled for mid-May according to Gando, citing a recent conversation with Defensor.
The Iloilo governor, who jumped ship from NUP to PFP last year, told Daily Guardian that the event’s schedule will depend on the availability of party and government officials.
These include Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo, presidential son and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, and PFP party president South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., among others.
