IT WAS no surprise to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano that as of yesterday afternoon, no one filed a certificate of candidacy (COC).

But Sun.Star Cebu chanced upon Capitol consultant on information and revenue generation Rory Jon Sepulveda requesting copies of COCs at the provincial office. The COCs were for governor, vice governor, district representative for Congress and for Provincial Board (PB) member.

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Rene Espina Jr., the son of former governor Rene Espina, also visited the Comelec provincial office to get a copy of the COC. He intends to formally file his COC for Cebu sixth district representative next week.

In Cebu City, the Comelec north district office received the COC of businessman Crisologo Saavedra, who is running for mayor as an independent candidate.

At the Comelec office in Mandaue City, incumbent administration Councilor Jimmy Lumapas was the first candidate to file his COC.

In Manila, nine candidates for president and three for senators were accepted by the Comelec as of 2 p.m. yesterday, the first day of the filing of COCs for the 2010 elections.

Teacher/preacher Rigoberto Madera Jr., 61, from Pagina Jagna, Bohol, was the first to file his COC at 8:40 a.m..

He intends to run for the highest position in the land and claimed that he was endorsed by the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. Among his other plans is to succeed US President Barack Obama.

Another presidential wannabe, Vicente Fabella, 46, from Maybunga, Pasig City said that if the Comelec will not allow him to run and declare him as a nuisance candidate, it will be the end of the world.

The first batch of would-be presidential bets also include Oliver Lozano, who said that his campaign funds will be paid to him as attorney’s fees amounting to about P5 billion.

Lozano said that he has a chance to win. “The Presidency is both divine will and destiny. Lincoln (former US president) lost many times before he became the best US President,” he said.

Another candidate for president is masseuse Josefina Murillo, 56, of Quezon City.

For his part, taxi driver Wendell Lope, 34, said he wants to be the leader of the country because he can do a better job than the current crop of politicians.

However, the Comelec law department did not accept all the COCs filed, saying some applicants failed to complete the documentary requirements.

Change

In Cebu, Sepulveda would not comment on who the COC for vice governor is for. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. are having a rift.

“I’m just preparing it,” said Sepulveda when asked about the COCs.

For his part, Rene Jr., said he is prepared to run against the congressional hopefuls in the sixth district, including former PB member Luigi Quisumbing.

“Tell Luigi that I will give him a run for his money,” he said.

Calling himself an activist and idealist, Rene Jr. wants change in his district.

“Congress will be my instrument for genuine change,” he said, explaining that he does not have a long-term plan of being in politics and just wants transformation in the sixth district.

He wants to transform Mandaue City into the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong. Consolacion will be an industrial hub while Cordova will become a tourist haven under his leadership, he said.

“I want to reform and economically transform the district,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.

Early

Rene Jr. will run under the theme “Ibalik ang Garbo sa 6!” with the motto, “Vision without action is a daydream; Action without vision is a nightmare.”

Rene Jr. is an economist with post graduate diplomas from Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is married to Mary Zeery. They have two children together and two grandchildren.

Meanwhile, Saavedra said he will announce next week his complete slate composed of the city’s top lawyers and members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

“As a leader, I would like to be an example to file my candidacy the earliest possible so that they will follow soon,” he said.

Saavedra, who exposed the overpriced lamppost purchase for the Asean summit, doesn’t consider himself a nuisance candidate.

He said he has a platform and the Comelec knows that he is a serious candidate and a good citizen of the city who has been fighting corruption alone.

Party

Mayor Tomas Osmeña, for his part, said the people will be the boss in next year’s elections.

Asked if Saavedra can handle Cebu City if elected into office, the mayor said: “I don’t want to belittle anybody. They say I’m an arrogant person, sige na lang (that’s okay). Maybe he can do it, maybe he can’t.”

Meanwhile, Lumapas filed his COC yesterday since he will be leaving the country on Monday and will be back in December yet.

He still has no party nomination but he gave Atty. Francisco Amit a special power of attorney to amend his COC once Mayor Jonas Cortes’ party issues individual certificates of nomination.

Lumapas, a former La Tondeña Distillers salesman, joined politics in 1998 as Bakilid barangay councilor.

He became number one councilor there before he became a city councilor in 2007, when he ran under Cortes.

Meanwhile, an errand boy visited the Comelec office yesterday asking for a COC for Provincial Board member.

When asked, the errand boy said he worked for former basketball player Elmer Cabahug. (JGA/PDF/OCP/(Sunnex)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 21, 2009.