Duterte forms new Davao City party

DAVAO CITY — Rep. Rodrigo Duterte of the city’s first district is forming a new political party in a determined bid to recapture the city hall.

The party, to be launched next month, is reportedly still in the process of completing its line up for next May’s local elections.

The upcoming political party is expected to be Duterte’s back-up when he seeks the city’s mayoral post next year.

Duterte’s creation of a new party reportedly stemmed from his falling off with Mayor Benjamin de Guzman, his erstwhile ally, who served as his city administrator for six years and vice mayor from 1995 to 1998, when the former was on his third term as city mayor.

Duterte and De Guzman are at odds over the contested mayoral seat in the 2001 elections.

Ironically, Duterte was also among the founders of the Alyansa sa Katawhan sa Dabaw party which De Guzman now heads, after he left the group two months ago.

Reports bared that most of the old political hands in the city have opted to remain with De Guzman, leaving Duterte no option but to look for fresh faces among the socio-civic and professional groups, as well as from non-government organizations.

De Guzman, on the other hand, is also finalizing Alyansa’s list of candidates for the city’s three districts to beat the deadline for the filing of candidacy for the local elections in May.

However, it is certain that Duterte and De Guzman’s political parties would never affiliate with the administration’s Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) after they both bolted from the party following the jueteng scandal involving President Estrada. — Edith Regalado