In a press conference held at their residence here Wednesday, Eduardo
Ong Jr., said he decided to seek the town’s second highest elective post after
consulting with family members.
He is reportedly being groomed by his father, Eduardo Sr., to
replace him in the mayoralty seat after the end of his much-anticipated third and
last term in 2022. He is a nephew of incumbent Leyte 2nd District Rep. Henry
Ong.
In 2016, his father and uncle successfully toppled the clan of
Sergio Apostol, former lawmaker and cabinet official, who ruled the town for
years and dominated the legislative district for decades.
“I believe that an apple does not fall far from the tree. Just
because our family is in politics, it doesn’t mean that we are bad. Our heart
is in the right place,” Ong Jr. told reporters.
The father-and-son tandem filed their Certificates of Candidacy on
Monday, accompanied by family members, and hundreds of town and village
officials clad in white shirts.
“I may not have the experience in local governance, but I really
want to help and I am very willing to learn,” he said.
The young politician is largely counting on guidance from his
father and uncle to woo more than 34,000 voters in Carigara, a second-class
town in central Leyte. Carigara was the first municipality established in the
Eastern Visayas region.
Ong Jr. is a fresh graduate of business management of the De La
Salle University in Manila where he grew up. In the past two months, he’s been
running a comedy bar with 10 workers in Metrowalk, a commercial hub in Pasig
City.
Managing business runs in their blood. His father’s family owned
Cherry Foodarama, which has been in the business since the early 1950s and is
considered one of the pioneers in the grocery business. In 2015, SM Investments
Corp. acquired the business.
His mother, Leny, owns two convenience stores in Metro Manila. (SQM/LAAA/PNA)
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