Albay First District Rep. Edcel Lagman (extreme right), newly elected Liberal Party president, raises his arms during the LP’s National Executive Council meeting at the Club Filipino in San Juan on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. He was joined by (from left) Jason Gonzales, LP director general; Mindoro Oriental Rep. Alfonso Umali Jr.; Teddy Baguilat Jr., former Ifugao representative; former senator Francis Pangilinan who was named the new chairman; and Lorenzo ‘Erin’ Tañada 3rd, vice president of External Affairs and former deputy speaker of the 15th Congress. Pangilinan ran for vice president as the running mate of then-vice president Maria Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo, in the May 2022 elections. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE