MANILA, Philippines — Stressing it is time to end corruption and incompetence in governance in Caloocan, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV announced yesterday that he will run for mayor of the city in the 2025 midterm elections.
Trillanes made his announcement during the mass oath-taking for new members of the Magdalo party-list in Caloocan.
A resident of Caloocan’s Barangay 169, Trillanes said he decided to throw his hat in the mayoralty race as he wants to stop the corrupt practices so that public funds could be utilized properly for social services and infrastructure projects that will benefit the city’s residents.
He lamented the high crime rate in Caloocan as well as roads in the city riddled with potholes. Trillanes also accused local government officials of favoritism in the distribution of financial assistance.
He will go up against Mayor Dale Gonzalo Malapitan, the son of Caloocan 1st District Rep. Oscar Malapitan.
Trillanes also raised the problem of garbage and floods in Caloocan. Unlike other cities in Metro Manila which regularly give financial benefits to its constituents, residents in the city are always short-changed by the government.
A graduate of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1995, Trillanes was a leading opposition figure and critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte and the latter’s war on drugs.
When he was still in the military, he and other junior officers led a rebellion against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.