Sen. Paterno Hocog, Rep. Victor Hocog, and Ross Manglona are all running as Independent candidates but said they will work as “United Rota Mas Mauleg” team.
Last week, the GOP leadership in Rota announced it has no slate.
This came after Rep. Hocog and Steve Mesngon, who are both vying for the mayoral post, failed to reach a compromise on who between them would be the party’s official bet to become Rota’s next mayor.
“It’s hard to compromise when you are only given 24 hours to resolve [an issue],” said Rep. Hocog.
With their friends, relatives and supporters, the three filed their individual petition for candidacy.
Sen. Hocog is eyeing the same post. Hocog as Rota’s next mayor and Manglona as House representative for their island.
Rep. Hocog said their Independent team will support a gubernatorial candidate but he declined to identify him at this time.
When asked about the possibility of forging a tactical alliance with the GOP, Rep. Hocog said they will “only concentrate in the local level as a team.”
One team, One dream
Manglona who is the director of the Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Services, said their chances of winning this election remain high although the GOP did not endorse them as candidates.
Sen Hocog, for his part, said the United Rota Mas Mauleg is a “dynamic team and can forge a good working relations among the local leadership and provide better service in Rota.”
Rep. Hocog said their team’s main campaign core is summed up as PIPE or “People, Industry, Production and Energy.”
He said they basically want to promote a self-sustaining community in Rota.
The team launched its kick-off campaign on July 25 and will continue making house-to-house campaigns and will also hold pocket meetings with the community, thereafter.
As of yesterday, the Commission received about 50 petitions for candidacies, including that of the United Rota Mas Mauleg team.
Some of the candidates who filed their petitions are: Tobias DLC Aldan for mayor of Northern Islands; Teresita A. Santos for a Rota seat in the House of Representatives Rota; Roman C. Benavente for Saipan mayor; Rep. Justo S. Quitugua for a seat for Saipan in the Senate, and; Ramon Jose Blas Camacho as one of the members for the Saipan Municipal Council.
