BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental—Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is scheduled to meet his supporters in this province with running mate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).
The pair is expected to arrive here Saturday (November 13) for the sixth leg of their weekly “Online Kumustahan” event where they present their platforms of governance and hold joint dialogues with local leaders and residents to better understand their most immediate concerns.
The in-person gathering will be held at the Tangub Community Center in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City, which will serve as the main venue for the activity. It will be simulcast to 22 other satellite venues in the province, according to event organizers.
Estimated crowd attendance for each participating venue is between 700 to 800 people with mandatory social distancing and other COVID-19 related protocols on the advice of local and national public health authorities.
Prior to this event, both Lacson and Sotto are expected to grant an exclusive interview with Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) at its Bacolod City radio station (DYHB 747). The tandem will likewise engage their supporters in a public forum at the “Online Kumustahan” event.
Negros Occidental is led by Governor Eugenio Jose ‘Bong’ Lacson with Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer. The two have forged a united coalition between their local political parties and are seeking re-elections in the provincial polls next year.
Governor Lacson is a party mate of Sotto at NPC while Ferrer belongs to and is the provincial chairman of the National Unity Party (NUP), the political party led by former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who is currently spearheading the Lacson-Sotto campaign team.
The Land of Sweet Surprises, as what Negros Occidental is fondly called because of its thriving sugar industries, is home to 2.6 million Filipinos based on the 2020 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Its capital Bacolod City serves as the center of commerce and finance in the province. It caters to oil companies, factories, bottling plants, allied industrial businesses, steel fabrication, power generation, agri-businesses and other aqua-culture ventures.
Negros Occidental is classified by the Department of Health as a low-risk area for COVID-19 due to the high vaccination acceptance of its residents. Local government units reported they have administered 100 percent of the initial COVID-19 vaccines delivered to the province.
The provincial government has also been preparing to rollout booster shots for its constituents with higher risks of developing COVID-19 and its variants. Negros Occidental remains on target to inoculate 1.8 million of its population by the end of 2021, according to provincial authorities.
To recall, Lacson and Sotto visited Talisay City, Negros Occidental last September 16 as part of their Visayas tour that month after announcing their respective candidacies for president and vice president in the 2022 national elections.
