District 2 Councilor Winston Castelo is perceived to run as vice mayor in Quezon City against a relative—incumbent Vice Mayor Gian Carlo Sotto—in the 2022 local elections.
“That what appears on the ground,” IskoQC co-convenor Ariel Inton told the media.
Castelo, wife Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo and the other Castelos — incumbent councilors who ran and won in the 2019 elections under Mayor Joy Belmonte —have joined the Malayang Quezon City, an opposition group.
“(But) Things are still up in the air. Remember when (television host) Jopet Sison, all of a sudden, replaced Castelo, who backed out from the vice mayoralty race in 2019. There’ll be surprises at the last minute, too,” Inton said.
Castelo is a relative of TV host and actor Marvic Valentin Castelo Sotto, popularly known as Vic Sotto.
The incumbent Quezon City vice mayor is the son of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto, Vic’s eldest brother.
According to Inton, actor Arjo Atayde under the Belmonte banner would run for congressman in District 1 against Rep. Anthony Peter “Onyx” Crisologo; actress Aiko Melendez and comedian Roderick Paulate as councilor in District 5 and District 2, respectively.
Another notable candidate as councilor in District 6 is Vito Sotto, a grandson of the Senate President, he said.
He added incumbent Councilor Lala Sotto might run for Congress against ex-representative Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo and three-termer Councilor Marivic Co-Pilar.
