TACLOBAN CITY — With no one interested to seek the second highest post in Leyte provincial government, Vice Governor Carlo Loreto was left with no choice but to abandon his ambition to become a member of the House of Representatives.
Loreto admitted that it was a tough decision to seek reelection as there have been clamor for him to run for Congress. However, he has to file for vice governor since there was no candidate to replace him.
Loreto also ran unopposed when he first ran for the said post in the 2013 elections.
“A lot of supporters asked me to run as congressman that is why it was a tough decision and there were many considerations along the way,” Loreto told reporters on Thursday.
He showed up at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office almost 4 p.m. on Wednesday, accompanied by another cousin, former Energy secretary and Leyte governor Carlos Jericho Petilla, who convinced him to withdraw his ambition to become a congressman.
Petilla witnessed the filing of COC of Loreto along with the vice-governor’s wife, Karen, and their youngest daughter.
The slate of Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla filed their COCs Wednesday morning with candidates for provincial board members from different legislative districts.
Loreto, the governor’s cousin, did not join the COC filing, which raised speculations that he would be joining the congressional race in Leyte’s 5th district.
The vice governor’s supporters gathered outside his office. They expect the official to seal his congressional bid considering that 5th District Rep. Jose Carlos Cari’s term will expire next year.
Cari, a cousin of Loreto, will run as mayor in Baybay City, a post currently occupied by his mother, Carmen, whose term will end next year. The matriarch also served as district representative for several years.
Rep. Cari’s eldest son, Carl Nicolas, filed his COC for the congressional position about noontime.
Incumbent Governor Petilla will run against former police officer Romeo Plasquita from Matalom town. (/PNA)
