A three-way fight for the lone district of Antique looms after a former congressman, Paolo Everardo Javier, filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) through a representative at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Provincial Office here on Tuesday.
Javier’s former chief of staff, Ryan Pe, filed the COC of the ex-lawmaker who will be running under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
“I was requested by former congressman Javier to file on his behalf because he had just arrived from Metro Manila and he had to undergo the required home quarantine,” Pe said.
Javier served as congressman of Antique for three terms from 2010 to 2019.
He lost in the gubernatorial race in 2019 to Rhodora Cadiao, who will vie for a third and last term under the National Unity Party.
On Sunday, Antonio Agapito Legarda filed his COC under the Nationalist People’s Coalition while lawyer Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo of the Liberal Party is reported to be formalizing his candidacy on Wednesday.
Fajardo is a former national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
The winner will succeed Loren Legarda, who wants to return to the Senate.
Source: Philippines News Agency
