Pasig executives bolt Lakas for NP

MANILA, Philippines - Pasig City Mayor Robert Eusebio and Vice Mayor Rosalio “Yoyong” Martirez led the defection from the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD to Sen. Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party, taking their oath before the NP standard-bearer at the Tanghalang Pasigueño in Pasig City yesterday.

“We join the Nacionalista Party because we share its most important advocacy of fighting poverty, under the tested leadership of Sen. Manny Villar, whose track record sets him apart from other presidentiables,” Eusebio said.

In defecting from the ruling party, the Pasig mayor cited his family’s long-time affiliation with NP, with his father being an original Nacionalista.

Villar welcomed the support given to him by the Eusebios.

“We are most grateful for your demonstration of support which further fortifies our efforts at uplifting our country’s poor, of which I was one. Having experienced such life makes me able and determined to help our people break out of survival mode,” he said.

An architect by profession, Eusebio is a son of former mayor Vicente “Enteng” Eusebio and former mayor Soledad Cruz Eusebio. He continued the upliftment projects of his parents, particularly education and infrastructure.

Eusebio is married to Maribel Andaya, sister of Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya. He initiated the rehabilitation of Pasig public market and the Parian creek, the construction of Javier bridge’s additional lanes, among others.

Like Villar, he is an alumnus of the University of the Philippines.