The two highest incumbent officials of the Bulacan Provincial Government were the first ones in line at Tuesday’s filing of certificates of candidacy before the Commission on Elections at the Hiyas Convention Center in Malolos, Bulacan.

Incumbent Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando is on a mission to secure a third term in the upcoming elections in 2025.

He filed his COC alongside his second-in-command, reelectionist Vice Governor Alex Castro, and the rest of their congressional and board member slate under the National Unity Party (NUP).

They first heard mass at the Malolos Cathedral before proceeding to the Comelec venue.

“Hindi namin sinasabing sureball kami so kinakailangan itaas namin ‘to sa Panginoon at siya ang bahala na mag-uupo pa rin sa amin,” said Fernando.

As reelectionists, their main agenda is to continue addressing the decades-old flooding problem in Bulacan.

Just over the last few months, several parts of the province were again heavily inundated due to rains brought about by the southwest monsoon, enhanced by typhoons Carina and Enteng

To solve this problem, the provincial government will be kickstarting massive dredging works this October to restore the heavily silted river systems in Bulacan under the Bulacan Flood Control and River Restoration Project.

It was supposed to be launched in May but Fernando admits that it was delayed because of some prep work that their private contractor, TCSC, needed to conduct first.

The recent storms also caused some disruptions to the project.

“May mga inayos pa. Unang-una, 'yung draga hinintay pa natin na (dumating) galing sa, I think Surigao, according to TCSC. Dahil itong sunod-sunod na nangyaring Habagat ay hindi talaga (ito) makadaong. Hindi naman po ito 'yung simpleng dredging machine lang. 'Yun po ay dragang malaki na, at least, makakahukay tayo nang mas marami at mas mabilis,” explained Fernando.

The tandem also plans to come out with an executive order and an ordinance requiring developers in Bulacan to build their own water impounding facilities.

“Hindi pwedeng puro development pero walang maayos na drainage system, water impounding. Look at what happened in BGC, maayos 'yung kanilang water impounding kaya nung panahon ng bagyo, walang baha sa kanila. So ngayon, may mga papasok na mga development dito sa Bulacan, we will require na ang mga establishment, development na ito ay magkaroon ng maayos na water impounding para hindi na dumagdag pa sa ating problema sa baha,” said Castro.

Fernando added that the National Economic and Development Authority has approved their proposed Mega Dike Project which would also benefit Manila and Bataan.

According to Fernando, he and his partymates will also be supporting the Senatorial slate presented by the Marcos Jr. administration.

“Nagkaroon naman ng coalition lahat sa national e. Yung mga partido na pinagkaisa ng ating mahal na Pangulo. So yun na rin… Katuwang kami ng pagkakaisang ‘yan,” he said.