Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista will run for Congress to represent the city’s District 3 after his term ends in 2019, City Hall sources said Wednesday.
District 3 Councilor Allan Benedict Reyes, a last-termer, will be running against Bautista in the next local elections, the Manila Standard sources added.
District 2, meanwhile, will be a star-studded race of congressional hopefuls.
Councilor Precious Hipolito-Castelo, a former child star, actress and newscaster, will run to replace her husband, incumbent Rep. Winston Castelo.
She could be facing another former celebrity, Councilor Roderick Paulate, who is seeking to represent District 2, composed of barangays Bagong Silangan, Batasan Hills, Commonwealth, Holy Spirit and Payatas.
According to city officials, actor Dingdong Dantes, a commissioner of the National Youth Commission under the Aquino administration, has been visiting some areas of District 2 and talking to a lot of people.
“I believe [Dantes] is running, too,” one of the sources told Manila Standard.
In District 4, former councilor Jesus Emmanuel “Bong” Suntay, a lawyer and president of the Philippine National Taxi Operators Association Inc., will take on last-term Councilor Marvin Rillo for a seat in the House of Representatives.
District 4 Rep. Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr., the former House speaker and QC mayor, earlier told Manila Standard he would no longer seek any elective position after his full term in 2019.
With about 20 months to go before the May 2019 elections, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, daughter of Feliciano Jr., is certain to run for mayor, with District 3 Councilor Gian Carlo Sotto, son of Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto, already tabbed as her running mate.
A son of a prominent family in Quezon City will also join the vice mayoralty race, sources said.