Bacaltos drops out of race for family

A FORMER Provincial Board (PB) member and former Talisay City mayoral aspirant backed out from filing his certificate of candidacy (COC) last week due to various reasons, including his disappointment over the decision of his party not to field mayoral and congressional candidates in his city and in the first district of Cebu.

But former PB member and lawyer Raul Bacaltos clarified that the primary reason he didn’t push through in filing his COC last week was his mother’s plea not to run.

Bacaltos, who ran for Talisay City mayor in 2010 but lost, told reporters that he had already prepared his COC, but supposedly as an independent candidate. Bacaltos refused to elaborate what position he was supposed to pursue.

But when he consulted his mother, Miding over his desire to run again, she advised him not to push through as it will “complicate” their situation as a family. Raul’s younger brother, Antonio Jr., is running for city councilor under the Alayon Party.

When the time of the filing of COCs arrived, Bacaltos again sought his mother’s opinion, but she remained steadfast on her decision. Bacaltos decided to follow his mother’s advice.

“Sorry kaayo sa mga tawo nga nagtan-aw nato nga mudala nila (I’m sorry for those who expected someone to lead them),” Bacaltos said.

Approached

Bacaltos said that before deciding to run as an independent, he was approached by incumbent city officials under his party, the Liberal Party, to run with them in 2013.

But he decided to decline the LP’s offer due to the party’s allegedly unprepared slate for next year’s elections and also the statement of LP Cebu chairman Hilario “Junjun” Davide III that the party won’t field mayoral and congressional candidates to challenge Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas and his grandson, Gerard Anthony “Samsam” Gullas.

“Kung ikaw sad kuno, ganahan kaha kang mudagan kung ing-ana nga sitwasyona (If you were in my shoes, would you like to run if that was the situation)?” Bacaltos told reporters yesterday.

However, he added that the voting public, not the political party, will help a candidate win.

If he had filed his COC, Bacaltos would have wanted to raise awareness on the plight of vendors selling their wares in the New Talisay City Public Market in Barangay Lagtang.

Gubernatorial bet

Bacaltos also told reporters that while he supports the candidacy of Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, he has yet to decide on whom to support between Third District Rep. Pablo John Garcia and Davide for governor.

While he had campaigned with Davide during the last elections, he admitted that he doesn’t personally know the LP gubernatorial bet.