Lapu-Lapu Mayor Ahong Chan runs for second term

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan filed his certificate of candidacy for a second term as local chief executive on Thursday, October 7.

Before serving as mayor, Chan was formerly a two-term councilor of Barangay Pajo in Lapu-Lapu City from 2013 to 2019. 

He ran for mayor in the 2019 elections as the city standard-bearer of Tribu Kusgano – the local party affiliated with the ruling PDP–Laban.

Chan will be facing Lapu-Lapu City District Representative Paz Radaza in the mayoral race in 2022.

In the early months of the pandemic, Chan ran a city-wide campaign in an effort to lessen curfew violators by simulating a fake funeral to send the message: “The virus kills.”

In April, the mayor sought to convince the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to allow “fully vaccinated” foreigners into the city, citing the need for tourism revenues to boost not only the city’s economy, but that of Cebu as well.

In July, Chan imposed a “no-vaccine, no-entry” policy in the city’s markets in an effort to counter a surge in COVID-19 cases right after the city detected Delta variant cases. Social media users slammed the policy after it was posted on Chan’s official Facebook page. – Rappler.com