Mike Defensor joins PDP-Laban in QC

VETERAN politician Mike Defensor has been sworn in as the new president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan party in Quezon City’s District 3.

District 1 Councilor Anthony Peter “Onyx” Crisologo said Defensor has joined the ruling party and took his oath before Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño, PDP-Laban Luzon chairman, and Quezon City Rep. Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo, District 1 party president.

Defensor as part of the administration party “does not necessary mean he is running for any elective post” in the May 2019 elections, the younger Crisologo clarified.

“But one thing is for sure, he will support my dad,” the councilor said.

In 2010, Defensor ran but lost against current Mayor Herbert Bautista.

He was a former Quezon City councilor before becoming a congressman, environment secretary, and presidential chief of staff during the Arroyo administration.

He was one of the so-called “Spice Boys” in Congress, identified closely with then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The older Crisologo has confirmed his bid for the mayoralty in 2019 against last-term Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, who earlier said the “next logical step” for her was to run for the city’s top post.