Two senior LDP members, (Chief Executive Assistant) Roseller Natividad and (City Administrator) Antonio Orendain Jr, gave their advice after learning that Councilor Natividad has been issuing statements to the media attacking the person of Lobregat right after he was expelled from the city’s ruling political party.

(Roseller) Natividad further advised his cousin (Roel), to stop issuing statements that tend to malign the dignity of the mayor and instead focus on the issues as to why he was removed from the party despite his closeness to the Lobregat family.

(Roel) Natividad was once known as very loyal not only to the party, but also to the Lobregat family and was even considered as one of the closest friends of Mayor Lobregat.

But after serving the party for several years, Natividad was ousted recently due to his alleged non-support of the party’s program and has been continuously attacking Mayor Lobregat.

LDP sources said (Roel) Natividad became bitter with Lobregat who picked the late Councilor Mila Velasquez instead of him as his (Lobregat’s) running mate (for vice mayor) in the 2007 election.

LDP has gotten hold of a “tape-on-air” from a local radio station in which Elong was lambasting the Lobregat administration.

In the same radio interview, Natividad told radio listeners that he was expecting his removal from the party and was ready to face the consequences.

Orendain, on the other hand, advised Natividad to face reality and must start building his political image outside LDP.

Elong was former barangay chairman of Tetuan. He later ran and won as councilor under the LDP line-up of former mayor Maria Clara Lobregat.

(Roseller) Natividad clarified that Mayor Lobregat did not participate in the actual voting, and that (Roel) Natividad’s expuslion was more on the consensus of the members present during the December 29, 2008 LDP emergency meeting.

(Roseller) Natividad said the party had two options to choose on whether (Roel) Natividad still deserves to stay with LDP or not.

The first option was to create a committee in order to investigate him (Roel) and the second was to expel him outrightly based on his actuation.

Out of the more than 20 members present, 13 voted to oust Roel immediately and only seven voted for the creation of the special committee.

(Roseller) Natividad said that despite this, (Roel) Natividad) remains a friend of the LDP members and “I wish him good luck to his future political carreer.” — Jimmy Villaflores