MANILA, Philippines — San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora has formalized his second bid as local chief executive of San Juan after filing his certificate of candidacy at the local commission.
In a statement sent to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Zamora expressed his confidence in his reelection bid regardless of who runs as his opponent as he runs under the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan or PDP-Laban.
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Zamora is running alongside whom he described as "proactive [and] progressive" candidates including:
- Lawyer Bel Zamora for congresswoman
- Vice Mayor Warren Villa
- Angelo Agcaoili, Paul Artadi, Ryan Llanos Dee, Raissa Laurel, Ervic Vijandre and James Yap for councilors of District 1;
- Don Allado, Totoy Bernardo, Bea de Guzman, Macky Mathay, Kit Peralta and Franco Yam for councilors of District 2
Bel, incumbent San Juan Congressional District Office Head, is Zamora's sister while Artadi, Allado and Yap — former teammates in the Philippine Basketball Association — were once basketball players like Zamora.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of his filing, Zamora promised a term of continuity, saying public health would remain his administration's number one priority should he be elected for another term.
"San Juan needs to be managed properly so that we can finally cross our city from this pandemic," he said. "Only the people of San Juan can say if I, they think, have served well as mayor...I am confident that our service is really felt by our people, so I hope that we will be given another chance."
Zamora beat out former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada's daughter Janella Ejercito Estrada for the mayoral post in 2019.
The Estrada clan dominated San Juan politics for some 50 years before Zamora's win. It is unclear if they intend to challenge Zamora in the forthcoming elections.
Under Zamora's leadership, Metro Manila's second-least populated political subdivision was the first to surpass its vaccination targets and eventually achieved city-wide herd immunity by late August this year.
San Juan was also the first city to open its vaccination services to residents of other cities and later was the first to roll out Moderna vaccines under its local chief executive.
As it currently stands, 217% of San Juan's target population has been vaccinated with their first dose and 177% have been fully vaccinated.