DAVAO CITY (July 3) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday approved the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), a regional party headed by Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
“The petition for accreditation granted because party have met the requirements,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters.
The Comelec First Division granted the application for accreditation of the party after meeting the requirements.
With this approval, the HNP is now recognized as a political party in the Davao region.
Duterte-Carpio earlier said, she applied for her party to be accredited as they want to create a bloc voting for Region 11.
She said a regional party is needed because many members of the HVP have affiliations with a national political party.
The Davao City mayor attended the hearing for accreditation at the Comelec office in Manila last June 5.
On February 23, Duterete -Carpio launched HNP with other Davao political leaders.
Present during the lanching included Davao del Norte Gov. Anthony Del Rosario, Davao Oriental Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang, Davao Occidental Gov. Claude Bautista, and Compostela Valley Gov. Jayvee Tyron Uy.
Uy resigned from PDP-Laban led by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, while Dayanghirang and Del Rosario resigned from the opposition Liberal Party. Bautista is affiliated with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).
“If you are a member of any national party or a local party, you can still join HNP. But I don’t know sa by-laws ng ibang party,” Del Rosario said.
Davao del Sur is the lone province from the region that is not part of Duterte-Carpio’s powerhouse team. Cagas failed to attend the first meeting of the HNP,
Bautista and Uy said all incumbent vice governors, mayors, councilors and board members from Davao Occidental and Compostella Valley have pledged support for HNP.
On Sunday, July 1, Duterte-Carpio accepted at least 1,830 village leaders of Davao Oriental province.
During the mass oath-taking at the Davao Oriental State University Gymnasium here, Duterte-Carpio urged them to aim for projects that will alleviate poverty and have strong impact in people’s lives.
Duterte-Carpio earlier said President gave the regional party his blessing.-Haroled V. Pontongan/NewsLine.ph
