CEBU City barangay captains who want to run for city councilor but will not be carried in the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) lineup can expect to get more projects before the elections.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he can make it up to them by giving additional projects, especially to those who already expected to be part of BOPK’s councilorial slate.

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He explained that he wants to refrain from getting barangay captains to run for councilors to ensure BOPK’s victory in their respective barangays.

“I can give them more projects. There are always ways of making up for something,” Osmeña told reporters last week.

BOPK has come up with a short list of possible replacements for five city councilors, who are on their third and final term and are therefore not eligible for reelection.

Of the five possible candidates to fill up the slate, three are barangay captains, including first-time village chiefs Jose Marino Benedicto of Zapatera and Barangay Captain Nida Cabrera of Luz.

Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio Faelnar, Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president and City Council ex-officio member, is also in the short list.

Disappointed

Some more senior barangay captains were reportedly disappointed since they expected the mayor to choose third-term or more experienced barangay captains.

Others have reportedly started talking to opposition leaders to possibly switch parties.

“Naa sila’y (They have a) point. I would feel the same way if that’s the impression they get. But in the first place, based on observation, when a barangay captain runs for councilor, they will abandon their barangays and we will lose there,” said Osmeña.

He recalled that when Mambaling Barangay Captain Rudolfo Estela and former Luz Barangay Captain Nemesio Pagador Jr. ran for city councilor before, he lost in the two barangays.

“And it’s not accidental, because the candidate will bring with them their most committed, trusted leaders in the barangays to their campaign sorties all over the city, so no one will campaign for us in their barangays, so mapildi gyud ta (we lose there),” he said.

In a recent press conference, opposition leader Jonathan Guardo said they will accommodate BOPK barangay captains who will not be carried in the lineup, but they will have to evaluate their choices carefully to make sure they don’t get “robots or rubber stamps” of the mayor.

Other possible BOPK candidates are non-government organization worker Alvin Dizon and Department of Social Welfare and Development 7 Information Officer Jaybee Carillo, wife of City Councilor Gerardo Carillo.