Thursday, February 19, 2004
Sonny to shun Gloria rallies
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
HE WON’T mind giving up his place onstage with President Arroyo. But he will certainly mind if he gets “junked” by Arroyo’s allies in Cebu.
Although willing to give in to the wishes of his political enemies in Cebu, Sen. John “Sonny” Osmeña warned President Arroyo that the “junking” of any senatorial candidate will affect the administration party, K-4.
“The whole controversy does not reflect well on your leadership because you are expected to have your local allies support your senatorial line-up,” the senator said in a letter to President Arroyo.
“If you tolerate junking in Cebu, it will replicate in the national level since there are many areas where there are multiple candidates supporting you. It will be confusing and damaging for your senatorial line-up,” he added.
Osmeña is a guest candidate of Lakas-CMD.
In Cebu, however, many of Arroyo’s allies have asked her not to let the senator join K-4’s political rallies. Osmeña’s local critics include his cousin Cebu City Mayor Tomas Os-meña, Gov. Pablo Garcia and Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano.
“Maluoy ang mga tawo nako ug duna ni’y backlash sa tanan nilang bugal-bugal (The people will feel sorry for me, and those who mock me now will suffer a backlash,” the senator said in a radio dyHP interview yesterday.
Attention
The refusal of some allies to share the stage with the senator reportedly forced President Arroyo’s camp to postpone a visit to Cebu on Feb. 27, with the K-4’s Senate ticket.
But the senator did not seem upset at getting the cold shoulder in Cebu.
“Magda gyud ko’g bukong (coconut husk) ba, tan-awa unya ninyo. Nagpabuhat na ko’g bukong para makakuha ko’g national attention. Pasalamat ko ni Tomas nga tagaan ko niya’g higayon nga mogawas sa TV. Ako’y kuninitan,” he said, laughing. (I want to thank Tomas for giving me a chance to get attention on TV.)
The senator also said in an interview over radio dyHP that in “one of the rare moments” he agrees with Governor Garcia, he also thinks President Arroyo doesn’t need to campaign in Cebu.
He urged her to come to Cebu only for the miting de avance, the senator said.
Surveys he commissioned already show that Arroyo got 49.7 percent while movie actor Fernan-do Poe Jr. only got 23 percent. (No other details about the survey were available, including who conducted it, when and with how many respondents.)
‘Weakness’
Osmeña’s inclusion in the administration’s ticket had surprised many, with Sen. Vicente Sotto III saying earlier that they had expected him to take care of Cebu for the opposition.
Despite his critics, the senator also has some local allies.
Unlike Tomas Osmeña, Ouano and gubernatorial bet Gwendolyn Garcia, gubernatorial candidate Celestino Martinez Jr., former governor Lito Os-meña, Vice Gov. John Gregory Osmeña and Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas said they will allow the senator to campaign with them.
However, Sonny said Cebu will never be declared a free zone since John-john is Lakas-CMD’s official candidate.
But to “set the record straight,” the senator said he never asked Arroyo to sign his son’s certificate of candidacy—a move apparently aimed to persuade him to join the K-4 ticket.
He also called a “sign of weakness” John-john’s decision to join the meeting called by Presidential Assistant for Central Visayas Felix Guanzon last Monday.
“Ni-angkon siya nga parehas sila og rango (He put himself at their level),” he said of John-john, who sent Provincial Board Member Josefina Asirit as a representative to that meeting, on the conduct of K-4 sorties in Cebu.
Martinez and Gwen sent their representatives as well.
Like the senator, his son, Martinez and Gwen have all professed their support for President Arroyo’s bid for six more years in the Palace.
(February 19, 2004 issue)
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