THE two major local political groups in Negros Occidental have yet to come up with a win-win agreement.
Governor Alfredo Marañon, who leads the United Negros Alliance (Unega), and Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez, who heads rival Love Negros, met last week to talk about the 2019 scenario.
But the merger meeting did not reach an agreement as Benitez has yet to come up with a decision – whether he will run for senator or governor in the next elections.
One of the possible scenarios in 2019 is the tandem of Benitez and Sagay City Alfredo Marañon III, son of the governor, for the top two highest positions in the province – Benitez for governor and Marañon for vice governor.
If it will push through, the merger will go down to the city and municipal positions.
But Benitez's ally, Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, may also seek the gubernatorial post, although he insisted he will wait for the solon's decision for 2019.
Both the stalwarts of Love Negros have stressed they will not clash for governor.
Lacson still has one term left for vice governor while Benitez is included in the senatorial line-up of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
Reports also came out that Benitez was offered to be the campaign manager of PDP-Laban in preparation for 2022, which is said to be an ideal year for him to run for senator.
Benitez was included in the senatorial line-up of PDP-Laban in the 2019 elections.
But if Benitez decides to run for governor, he will most likely to pick Lacson to be his running mate, meaning, no merger will happen.
Another scenario, according to reports, is if Benitez would not run for governor. This means, Lacson will run for governor and his possible running mate would either be Mayor Marañon or Fourth District Representative Juliet Marie Ferrer.
Whatever the leaders decide, they should always remember that democracy should be alive for the common Juan.