Tuesday, February 13, 2007 ‘One Cebu’ head quits Lakas
SENATORIAL candidates in the lineup of the administration ticket must watch out, as Cebu’s new ruling party’s support for President Arroyo does not mean automatic support for them.
“We will maintain our right and duty to choose well, and choose carefully,” said Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, president of newly launched One Cebu party.
“We would like to establish a more principled way of having to deal by politics so, hopefully, even in politics there is what we call principles of which we stand. I’d rather lose some votes than lose my credibility,” she added.
Earlier, a member of the unity ticket who visited Cebu expressed that they will have a relatively easy campaign here, considering that they are affiliated with Arroyo and Cebu is solid for the president.
Inconsistent
Garcia left Lakas party, saying she finds its ways “inconsistent” with their efforts of “achieving a new age of politics here in Cebu.”
When asked what of Lakas she finds inconsistent with her ways, she replied, “Di ko musakay sa duha ka kabayo or mamangka sa duha ka ilog. If I support you, I support you all the way.”
Like the governor, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will not endorse any candidate who supports the Sugbuak bills, particularly his cousin and former senator John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña.
“Anti-Cebu”
Osmeña said he will support Garcia’s One Cebu political party in campaigning against any senatorial candidate who is in favor of splitting Cebu into several provinces.
The mayor anticipates Sonny to push for the bills in the Senate if he is elected, especially since the former senator is known to be anti-Cebu and anti-local government unit, he said.
“Before I make any endorsement, they have to make a categorical pledge that they will be against any proposal to split up Cebu. What people don’t realize is that the bills are not dead yet, especially if Sonny wins in the election,” he told reporters yesterday.
Osmeña fears that if the three Sugbuak bills are approved in the House of Representatives, these will be automatically approved in the Senate since senators don’t normally question bills of local application.
Governor Garcia launched last Saturday the One Cebu party, which claims to have 85 percent of all local elected officials in Cebu.
Covenant
A “non-negotiable” factor for a senatorial hopeful who seeks to get One Cebu’s endorsement is for him to sign a “covenant” expressing his commitment to block all moves to create new Cebu provinces.
“It is a season for promises so we will bind them to a signed commitment,” she said.
Capitol consultant and congressional aspirant Pablo John Garcia also cited that Speaker Jose de Venecia had once told them that the split-Cebu bills are dead, only for them to find out that de Venecia allowed the last-minute “maneuvers” of the authors.
The party will also “work and work very hard” against those who will be for the breaking up of Cebu province into four provinces.
Rep. Simeon Kintanar, author of Cebu del Sur, earlier said they will make sure the bills are re-filed in the next Congress.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay was also quoted as saying that Garcia’s defection from Lakas is “immaterial,” and Pablo John yesterday said senatorial candidates must be “extra careful” with what they say.
“It is the senatorial candidates who are immaterial to us. Di man magsakit among tiyan ug wa miy senador. The local party has an organization up to the precinct level… so they are immaterial not just to One Cebu but to all other local parties,” said Pablo John.
Pichay, who is from Lakas, is included in the administration’s unity ticket.
In his news conference yesterday, Mayor Osmeña scoffed at Sonny’s political advertisement where he claims to have the Osmeña brand of politics.
“He is anti-LGU, anti-Osmeña and he’s claiming to be Tatak Osmeña? Is he joking? He’s not just an Osmeña, he’s Sonny Osmeña, the one who chopped your internal revenue allotment,” said the mayor.
That Sonny supported ousted president Joseph Estrada when the latter ran for vice president against two Cebuanos, Sonny’s brother former governor Lito Osmeña and former chief justice Marcelo Fernan, shows that Sonny is anti-Cebuano, Osmeña said. (JPM/LCR)
