Stars to run for local posts under Lakas-CMD

MANILA, Philippines — A basketball legend, two actresses and a former comedian will be vying for local positions in the 2022 elections under the Lakas – Christian Muslim Democrats party, its president House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez announced Thursday.

Philippine Basketball Association legend and Magnolia Hotshots team manager Alvin Patrimonio will be running for mayor of Cainta, Rizal, while actress Arci Muñoz will be running as a councilor of the same town.

Patrimonio had previously taken a shot in politics in 2019, when he ran as the third nominee of party-list Abante Pilipinas.

Muñoz, meanwhile, has been stepping up in her involvement with government activities. She was selected by the interior department as a vaccination ambassador and was tapped by President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial anti-communist task force to be part of “Magdalena Mission” which aims to guide young women away from the communist rebellion.

“We consider these dedicated public servants as assets of Lakas-CMD. Their decision to join the party is not just a proof of their confidence in us but also of the party’s clean and efficient record of public service,” Romualdez said of Patrimonio and Muñoz.

Actress Alma Moreno is also running for councilor in Parañaque City under Lakas-CMD.

Moreno started her foray into politics under Lakas-CMD, but eventually shifted to the Liberal Party and then to the United Nationalist Alliance, under which she mounted an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat.

Meanwhile, former comedian Teri Onor, known in real life as Dexter Dominguez, will try to reclaim the vice mayoralty of his hometown Abucay in Bataan.

He was elected in 2007 as its vice mayor and then became a three-term board member of Bataan province.