By Tracy Cabrera

Following the appointment of Cavite governor Juanito Victor ‘Jonvic’ Remulla Jr. as secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), vice governor Athena Bryana Tolentino took over the reins of the provincial government as the first and youngest chief executive of the province.

Tolentino took her oath as one of the country’s youngest public servant before a judge in Tagaytay City yesterday. She had won the vice gubernatorial race in the last electoral exercise in 2022 and assumed office on June 30 of the same year. She was councilor of Tagaytay from 2019 to 2022.

On October 7, 2024, Tolentino dropped her re-election bid for vice governor in anticipation of her elevation as governor after her predecessor was appointed DILG secretary by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., following the resignation of Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos Jr. to file his senatorial bid in the forthcoming midterm election in May next year.

Tolentino is a daughter of Philippine Olympic Committee chairman and Tagaytay mayor Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino and wife Tagaytay vice mayor Agnes Delgado-Tolentino and a niece of Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino.

Tolentino vowed to continue the programs and projects of Remulla in bringing the provincial government of Cavite closer to the people and providing medical services and other developmental initiatives that would uplift the lives of all Caviteños.