House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez officiated the oath of allegiance over the weekend at the Iloilo Convention Center for the over 4,000 Iloilo officials joining the ruling PDP-Laban.
Many of the officials were Iloilo City barangay officials who joined at the behest of Iloilo Lone District Rep. Jerry Treñas, who joined the party following the election of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin was also among the officials to join the mass oath-taking.
Meanwhile, Alvarez said it is unclear if Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog can join the party, considering he is still among the officials named by the Duterte administration as allegedly having links to illegal drugs.
Mabilog, alongside four other mayors from Panay and Basay Mayor Beda Canamaque in Negros Oriental, were featured on the most recent narco-politicians list./WDJ