Radaza, Rama, Cortes join forces in political gathering

Photo courtesy of Team Deretso

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Three major political parties from the tri-cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, and Cebu came together for a recent gathering.

Photos shared on social media by Team Deretso, led by former Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, show members of the slate posing together.

Joining Radaza were representatives from Partido Barug, led by dismissed Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, and Team Mandaue, led by dismissed Mayor Jonas Cortes.

The post was captioned, “Tri-City PDP-Laban and the proclamation of senatorial candidates.” PDP-Laban is the party of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The event included members of Team Deretso, Partido Barug, and Team Mandaue. Rama, the current Vice President for the Visayas of PDP-Laban, is a known ally of Duterte. Radaza is also a member of PDP-Laban.

READ: Rama vs. Garcia tug-of-war risks Cebu City’s welfare – Archival

Cortes, meanwhile, resigned from PDP-Laban on May 29 last year following Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s departure from the party. In his resignation letter to Jose Alvarez, president of PDP-Laban, Cortes cited his desire to maintain unity with Garcia and keep Mandaue City under the One Cebu banner, Garcia’s political party.

Cortes is set to face off against Congresswoman Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon’s group, which is aligned with the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas. Ouano-Dizon is the regional chairperson of the party.

CDN Digital contacted Cortes and reached out to his camp for a comment, but no response has been received as of this writing. /clorenciana