Brothers Tuburan Mayor Danilo Diamante (L) and Vice Mayor Democrito Diamante (R) pose with Ako Bisaya party-list Representative Sonny Lagon (center) during the PNPA Kaagapay Class of 1996 fellowship meeting at the CTU Tuburan Campus on Saturday, August 17. (Photo from Vice Mayor Democrito Diamate’s Facebook page)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Is unity for the Diamantes and Lagons of Tuburan, a midwest Cebu town, possible?
Tuburan Vice Mayor Democrito “Aljun” Diamante and Ako Bisaya party-list Representative Sonny Lagon have taken the first step to that direction.
On Saturday evening, August 17, Diamante and Lagon signified “unity” during the Visayas leg fellowship meeting of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Kaagapay Class of 1996 in Tuburan town, which is also one of the towns of Cebu’s third district.
Diamante and Lagon, who are members of political rival clans in Tuburan, are both adopted members of the Kaagapay class.
A unity toast was initiated by the Kaagapay class in the fellowship meeting held at the Cebu Technological University (CTU) Tuburan Campus.
The two officials were seated beside each other during the event and even performed an intermission song number together.
“After a long journey, as it says, there is a rainbow after the rain. Diamante and Lagon are finally unified,” reads a post on Diamante’s Facebook page.
In a phone interview on Sunday, August 18, Diamante said Lagon and him would wish to uphold the value of the Kaagapay class which was unity.
Diamante added that he had yet to discuss with Lagon on the possible cooperation between the municipal government and the party-list that the latter was representing.
Diamante, however, clarified that this cooperation would not necessarily mean that they would run under the same banner in the next elections or in 2022.
Diamante was a three-term mayor of Tuburan town from 2010. He slid down and run for the vice mayoral post last May 2019 election with his brother, Mayor Danilo Diamante.
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Lagon’s wife, Daphne, was Vice Mayor Diamante’s opponent during for the mayoral race in 2016. Daphne also ran against Mayor Diamante in the last election./dbs