Saturday, March 17, 2007 Editorials: Mary Ann vs. Tom: round 1
LAHUG Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos has yet to formally announce her candidacy for the top Cebu City Hall post, but Mayor Tomas Osmeña has already pushed her out of her comfort zone using his patented verbal jabs.
That statement about de los Santos wanting to run for mayor because she needs money for her sick father is typical Osmeña hit: ruthless and calculated.
But de los Santos, who has long been dueling politically with the mayor in her turf in Lahug, should not be surprised because, by titillating the public with the possibility of her running for mayor, she made herself a marked personality.
Formidable foe
What she is getting now could even be mere appetizers because after she files her certificate of candidacy, Osmeña may hurl more than just personal insults at her.
And parrying the insults may only be the least of her problems.
If she runs, de los Santos will have to range her lack of experience in city politics and her hastily set up organization with Osmeña’s political savvy and his formidable machinery in the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan.
Add to these the resources that incumbents usually have at their disposal and which de los Santos can surely not hope to match even if she accepts the reported P5 million initial funding that the city’s opposition head, Jonathan Guardo, dangled at her.
May back off
This is the reason why many so-called political analysts are giving her their unsolicited advice: that she should not run for mayor in this election.
And if she does heed the advice, she would be the third personality to back off from the race after former congressman Jose Gullas and former mayor Alvin Garcia.
Which in turn would be unfortunate considering the need for the political opposition in Cebu City to put up, if not a complete slate from mayor down to the last councilor, at least somebody that will make the race for City Hall’s top post interesting.
Testing her resolve
Of course, whether the initial verbal exchange between her and Osmeña will fire up de los Santos or make her decide not to run will be known in the coming days yet.
But surely, it has tested her resolve in tangling with what she earlier described as Goliath to her David.
