Atty. Abante on Honey-Isko split: ‘Mayor didn’t cheat!’
How can you fix something that you didn’t break…”

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna’s spokesperson, Atty. Princess Abante, insisted that the current mayor should not be the one to fix her split with former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, because she didn’t “cheat.”

During Machra’s Balitaan at Harbor View on Tuesday, March 25, Abante, who also serves as chief of the Manila Public Information Office (MPIO), was asked if he thinks Lacuna can still restore the good relationship she and Moreno once had.

“The Mayor (Lacuna) didn’t cheat. So why are we being asked if we’re the ones to fix it, right? So I think I can’t answer that. Because how can you fix something that you didn’t break? It was never the mayor’s intention to break any relationships,” Abante replied. “So, the mayor has no problem. He is not the problem here. He is not the problem. Both personal and political. Because those are two aspects,” he added.

According to the mayor’s spokesperson, political separation is currently the trend and it is part of Philippine democracy.

“That happens, and separations and reunions, that also happens. I can’t answer that because it is not up to us to fix that. Personally, I can’t answer that either because, again, the Mayor wasn’t the one who betrayed,” he said.

Abante also said that Moreno allegedly “never” consulted their Asenso Manileño party when he decided to fight Lacuna as mayor of Manila in the upcoming 2025 midterm elections, even when he allegedly ran for president of the country in 2022.

“The former mayor never consulted the party even when he ran for president. He did not consult us when he ran for president, he definitely did not consult us when he decided to run against Mayor Honey,” Abante insisted.

It will be recalled that in 2019, Moreno and Lacuna ran as running mates for mayor and vice mayor of Manila, respectively, where they both won. In 2022, Moreno ran for president and chose Lacuna as his successor as mayor of the city.

Lacuna and Moreno are currently competing for the mayoralty of Manila, with the former running under the Asenso Manileño party while the latter is running under the Aksyon Demokratiko party.

In this regard, Lacuna recently said that he felt “betrayed” when Moreno confirmed that he would also run for mayor of the city.

The 2025 midterm elections are expected to be held on May 12, 2025.