CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña called Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) a "professional balimbing" for changing allegiances every time a new president is elected.
In a news conference yesterday, Osmeña said shifting allegiances is Gullas's style so he sees no point in inviting the congressman to join the Liberal Party (LP), where incoming president Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is from.
"Whenever there's a change of administration, he (Gullas) will change," Osmeña said.
Gullas, when sought for comment, said he left the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD to support the presidential bid of Sen. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP).
"I resigned from Lakas-Kampi-CMD last February because I was supporting Villar. My Alayon Party entered into an alliance with Villar's NP," Gullas said.
Osmeña, the congressman-elect of Cebu City's south district, said the style of Gullas is the reason he called the newly formed Cebuano bloc in the House of
Representatives a "hollow block."
The Cebuano bloc, which was organized by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia's One Cebu Party, is composed of six Cebuano congressmen, who seek to unite their voices in the selection of the new House speaker.
During the recently concluded elections, Osmeña said Gullas, although a member of the One Cebu Party which endorsed administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr.,
supported LP gubernatorial bet Hilario Davide III and Aquino.
"You didn't know that? That's their style… He doesn't like Gwen, I know that. He hates me more but he doesn't like Gwen," the mayor said.
Meanwhile, Osmeña described Gullas as inutile for claiming to have conceived the South Road Properties (SRP).
"You know, si Gullas is inutile. You know he's been claiming he's responsible for this, but if you will see the projects that were approved by him, the south (district) is completely neglected," said Osmeña.
The mayor told reporters yesterday he did not envision the SRP but rather the South Coastal Road project. Osmeña said the SRP was conceived by his grandfather, the late president Sergio Osmeña Sr.
But Gullas is now confused about Osmeña's claims.
"Which is which? His or Don Sergio's?" Gullas said in a text message to Sun.Star Cebu.
Osmeña also said Gullas did nothing in the creation of the second Mactan-Mandaue Bridge, which is now called the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge.
"The second Mactan Bridge, I'm sorry. He had no effort at all.
And I challenge Gullas to prove, show any feasibility study for the second Mactan Bridge that was done during his time. There was none," said Osmeña.
In an earlier interview, Gullas said when he chaired the Regional Development Council 7, it created the Central Visayas Regional Project with two components, including the Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP) 1.
The MCDP 1 includes the SRP, Cebu South Coastal Road, Cordova Reclamation Project and the second Mactan-Mandaue Bridge which connects Barangay Opao, Mandaue City and Barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City.
Gullas called for a press conference last Sunday to correct reports that made it appear the SRP was Osmeña's brainchild.
"He (Gullas) just likes to claim everything," said Osmeña. (PDF/ with GC)