‘3-way contest’ in the south district

“WE WILL campaign hard.”

This is what Cebu City Councilor Jose Daluz III said after his announcement that he is ready to run for the south district congressional seat following Antonio “Tony” Cuenco’s withdrawal of his candidacy.

Daluz said that City Councilor Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa, Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan’s (BOPK) bet, has enough financial resources to fuel his bid.

Asked about his chances against Abellanosa who is already making rounds in the barangays together with other BOPK members, Daluz said he’ll leave it up to the elections in May.

“Bebot has been a three-term number one councilor. Pero one on one man ni (But this is a one-on-one fight). I don’t know. But Team Rama will campaign hard,” he said.

Rich versus the poor

Cuenco, through his son James, said he is retiring from politics because of health problems. He also endorsed Daluz to take his place.

James said Daluz will be the candidate for the poor.

“Actually, when we were trying to convince him na siya na lay puli (that he will replace my father), the lack of resources compared sa pikas (the rival) was brought up. It has become a money contest… in the south district. But our rallying cause now is the rich versus the poor. Daluz para sa kabus (for the poor),” he said.

Asked if he will start making rounds in the south district, Daluz said he’ll wait until Mayor Michael Rama, who heads their group, returns from his five-day trip to Xiamen, China on Tuesday.

Daluz said he’ll make his decision once Team Rama is convened.

Not like his mother

Daluz, who is the campaign manager of Team Rama, said he has yet to attend the group’s gatherings in barangays. However, he said he’s the one who arranges the meetings with leaders.

He said it’s not too late to introduce a new candidate (for the south district) since the polls are eight months away and the filing of the certificate of candidacies is not until next month.

Abellanosa, when asked about the prospect of facing Daluz in next year’s elections, said Daluz is not as strong an opponent as Cuenco.

“Daluz does not have an advocacy and does not have the mass appeal of his mother Inday Nita,” he said.

Daluz’s mother Nenita “Inday Nita” Daluz was a veteran radio broadcaster and a popular figure against the Marcos dictatorship.

Agenda

In a separate interview, former transportation and communication undersecretary Aristotle Batuhan said he respects Cuenco’s decision not to run and wished the latter well.

“As I and other proponents of people empowerment observe today the first anniversary of our Abante Barangay Movement, I will continue to maintain my political independence and accelerate the sectoral consultations and grassroots organizing I have started,” Batuhan said.

He said political alliances will come at the proper time, especially since he is pursuing new politics partly in response to the challenge from a priest of Guadalupe Church.

The Abante Barangay volunteers have conducted river and coastal cleanups in the past months to show people how important the environment is.

Batuhan and Cuenco ran against each other in the 2001 and 2004 congressional elections in the south district.

Cuenco won with the backing of then mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Next year, Batuhan will likely face Abellanosa and Daluz.

Of the three congressional hopefuls, Batuhan appears to be acceptable to both followers of Team Rama and BOPK.

On Daluz and Abellanosa, Batuhan said he doesn’t want to judge anybody’s chances.

“I just concentrate on preparing my programs. By the time I will go out to campaign, I will be ready to present to the people my legislative agenda once I become a congressman,” he said.

It’s good that people know how a candidate will perform in Congress once elected, he said.

But Cuenco’s “retirement” announcement was criticized by Osmeña’s son Miguel in his father’s program over radio dyLA yesterday.

‘Inconsistent’

Miguel said that Cuenco is inconsistent because his Facebook account states he will continue his congressional bid.

James said his father does not control his Facebook account.

“Di jud na siya kahibaw (He doesn’t know about such matters). Wa man gani na siya’y (He doesn’t even have an) e-mail address,” James told radio dyLA.

Miguel also questioned why Cuenco would announce the withdrawal of his candidacy while Rama is out of the country.

This was also raised by his father, who heads the BOPK, and Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young.

“Why only now? And why should he do it in a letter, write it on the night before he left for Indonesia when he could have announced it?” Miguel said.

James said the sealed letter was supposed to be handed to Rama last Thursday, but the mayor had already left for China.

He said Rama knew about his father’s decision.

James said his father wants to return to media work, his “first love,” after his duties in the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (Aipa) ends in 2013.

James said his father received offers to be the deputy secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Asean after his term at Aipa, but nothing is final yet.