‘LCP to back Arroyo government’

Outgoing House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and 111 newly elected city mayors all over the country began over the weekend their three-year term as new members of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP).

The membership of Belmonte and the other city mayors was affirmed during the LCP’s 37th general assembly held at the Century Park Sheraton.

Dagupan City Mayor Alipio Fernandez, outgoing LCP president, said the new batch of LCP members are expected to cross party lines to support the administration of President Arroyo.

"The LCP is a non-partisan group which aims to promote the development of cities in particular and to support the program of the national government in general," Fernandez said.

Besides Belmonte who is the incoming mayor of Quezon City, other congressmen who also won as city mayors are Eduardo Gullas (Cebu), city mayor of Toledo City; Grace Singson (second district, Ilocos Sur), Candon City; and Amadeo Perez Jr. (fifth district, Pangasinan), Urdaneta City. — Perseus Echeminada