‘In the name of unity’: Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan leaves PDP

CEBU, Philippines – Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said on Friday, May 31, he was resigning as member and local chapter chairman of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP).

This came days after Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes decided to also leave the party led by Palawan 2nd District Representative Jose Alvarez. 

“Sa ngalan sa panaghiusa, gusto nako ipahibalo sa tanan nga opisyal na kita nga mibiya sa atong katungdanan isip Chairman ug membro sa PDP,” Chan said in his resignation letter.

(In the name of unity, I want to inform everyone that I have officially resigned from my position as Chairman and member of PDP)

Similar to Cortes’ reason for leaving, Chan said that his decision stemmed from the need to serve the interests of his community and his belief in “unity.”

“I believe it is in the best interests of Lapu-Lapu City to maintain unity with the tri-cities and the Province of Cebu. Although Lapu-Lapu City is a highly-urbanized city, we are inter-dependent and inter-connected as One Cebu Island,” the mayor’s letter read.

During the 2022 elections, the Garcia-led One Cebu party endorsed then-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. At the time, Cebu was known as the most vote-rich province in the country with 3,288,778 registered voters.

At the UniTeam Festival Rally held at the South Road Properties in Cebu City on April 18, 2022, Chan expressed his support to the UniTeam tandem, alongside Garcia, Cortes, Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas, Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, and other local political allies. 

Lapu-Lapu City gave Marcos 134,767 votes out of 245,395 voters in the city.

At present, Garcia and Rama are in conflict with each other. This started with disagreements over civil works for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT), which later led to the mayor filing a complaint against the governor before the Office of the President.

“Mituo kita nga sa panaghiusa, mas dali nato mapabati ug mapaabot ang mga serbisyo sa atong gobyerno ngadto sa mga katawhan,” Chan said.

(We believe that through unity, we can make our government services more felt and extended to the people) – Rappler.com