Albay Governor Grex Lagman launches first election bid for province’s top post

ALBAY, Philippines – Albay Governor Edcel Greco “Grex” Lagman filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) in his first ever bid to get elected as the province’s chief executive on Thursday afternoon, October 3.

Lagman filed his COC under the administration Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), and was flanked by his supporters who were dressed in green. 

Lagman was elected vice governor of Albay in 2022 but rose to become governor that same year by way of automatic succession after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified Noel Rosal for violating election spending rules during his time as mayor of Legazpi City. 

Rosal had unseated then-governor Al Francis Bichara by a wide margin of more than 200,000 votes but was later disqualified by the Comelec en banc.

Rosal filed his COC earlier on Thursday, with his wife Geraldine, who is seeking to reclaim the mayoral seat of Legazpi City. – Rappler.com

Reinnard Balonzo is a senior journalism student at Bicol University-College of Arts and Letters. An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024, he is also chairperson of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines-Bicol.