Frasco, Garcia endorse Daanbantayan Mayor Shimura as next LMP president

Incoming Tourism Secretary, Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, and her mother, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, has endorsed Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura (above), to be the League of Municipalities in the Philippines-Cebu Chapter (LMP-Cebu Chapter) president, a position that Frasco currently holds. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Incoming Tourism Secretary and current President of the League of Municipalities in the Philippines (LMP)-Cebu Chapter, Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, has endorsed Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura for the position of LMP President in Cebu.

Shimura, who was re-elected mayor of Daanbantayan in the May 9, 2022 elections, currently sits as treasurer of the LMP Cebu.

Frasco, who is also the LMP’s national vice president for the Visayas, will step down as mayor on July 1, 2022, following her appointment as Department of Tourism Secretary by President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

In a statement, Frasco emphasized the importance of maintaining the programs of the LMP Cebu, which, under her administration, became an effective advocacy arm with the national and provincial governments for assistance to and support for the local autonomy of local government units.

As she committed when she became LMP Cebu’s first woman President in 2019, Frasco paved the way for the launch of the first smart province mobile application in the Philippines called Cebu Forward, that connects all 44 Municipalities of Cebu in terms of public access to government services, and promotion of tourist sites and local products.

“Notwithstanding my impending departure from the LMP to take the DOT post, I am hopeful that we can continue with our united front for Cebu, which has helped all of us successfully weather the many storms we have faced in the past 3 years,” Frasco said,” she said in a statement.

Frasco said that she had spoken with her mother, re-elected Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who had also expressed her endorsement and support for Shimura’s bid for LMP-Cebu’s presidency.

“Coming into this next term, I am fully confident that Mayor Sun Shimura will be able to not only continue what we have started but also lead the LMP forward to the same strides of relevance, innovation, effectiveness, and importance that we have been able to give the organization in this term,” she said.

Shimura began his political career in Daanbantayan, Cebu, as one of the Philippines’ youngest mayors in 2007, at the age of 24. Following his first term as mayor, he was elected to the Cebu Provincial Board, where he represented the fourth district from 2010 to 2019. Shimura was re-elected mayor of Daanbantayan in 2019 and remains so to this day.

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