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Thursday, January 29, 2004
Labella in, Legaspi out of BO-PK slate
By Gingging A. Campaña
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AFTER consulting his father, relatives and friends, former ombudsman director and former councilor Edgardo Labella decided yesterday to replace Manuel Legaspi in the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) slate.
It was his father’s ailment that delayed his decision to go back to politics, but his father said he will only agree to his son’s running again if Labella will not transfer to another party.
“I have never severed my ties with BO-PK. Although I have been flattered by all those offers from other groups, I haven’t found a good reason to leave the party where I belong,” he told reporters at the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office yesterday.
Labella ran and won in the 1998 elections under the BO-PK ticket, with Alvin Garcia as mayor.
He left Garcia, together with other councilors, when the latter and Mayor Tomas Osmeña split sometime in 2000. Garcia later formed a new party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo.
All of Osmeña’s line-up except for Councilors Nestor Archival and Sylvan Jakosalem, who were absent, and Councilors Procopio Fernandez and Rodrigo Abellanosa, who came late, marched with Labella to the poll office to file his certificate of candidacy.
Osmeña, his wife Margot and son Miguel led the group to ensure that all documents needed for Labella’s candidacy are in.
Legaspi, for his part, appeared delighted as he went with the group to withdraw his poll papers at 1:20 p.m. yesterday.
As announced earlier, Legaspi cited his family’s decision as the reason for not seeking his last term as a local legislator.
“There has been no misunderstanding with my partymates, only that I committed a mistake of not discussing seriously with my family, especially with my wife, my intentions of running again. You have to listen to your family,” said Legaspi of the north district.
He promised, however, that he will support the candidates of BO-PK and even campaign for them in the south district.
Osmeña, in a separate interview, said he is waiting for Garcia to insult Labella “just like he insulted the Muslims for declaring me sultan of Cebu.”
“I’m waiting for him to accuse me of buying and stealing his candidates. Labella is a sure winner. He never left BO-PK even if he was asked to run for vice mayor and congressman. He’s happy just being with us,” the mayor told reporters.
(January 29, 2004 issue)
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