Friday, March 23, 2007 Gullas files candidacy early
UNLIKE the two previous elections when he appeared at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the 11th hour or on the deadline itself, Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) yesterday filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) ahead of other reelectionist congressmen in Cebu.
With political allies in tow, Gullas handed in his COC, subscribed before lawyer Eufemia Cañete, to Cebu Provincial Election Officer Edwin Cadungog at 10:20 a.m.
“There’s nothing significant about my filing today, except that I’m free as well as the mayors and vice mayors in the first district,” Gullas said.
The first district local leaders came in full force, including Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez and majority bloc city councilors led by Vice Mayor Aberdovey Belleza.
Noting how hot it was in the Comelec office, Gullas said he will talk to his fellow legislators so the office can be provided soon with air-conditioners.
The Cebu Comelec office has been suffering from the lack of air-conditioning and telephone lines following a major fire that gutted the nearby buildings at the Provincial Capitol compound last December.
Local aspirants
Gullas filed his COC a week before the March 29 deadline for local aspirants.
He submitted his COC for Talisay City mayor on the last minute in 2001 and on deadline when he ran again for the first district’s congressional seat in 2004.
He won in both elections.
For veteran radioman Julian Daan, he believes Gullas filed his COC early as he sees no strong political foe yet.
Daan is running for one of two Provincial Board (PB) seats in the first district, in tandem with reelectionist PB Juan Bolo, under Gullas’ Alayon and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi).
Needs
Gullas told reporters he decided to file his COC early so he could readily attend to the needs in Congress especially when President Arroyo signs the national appropriation act.
The Cebuano lawmaker is the vice chairman of the appropriations committee in the lower House.
Former senator John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña recently announced that his son, former Cebu vice governor John Gregory or “John-john,” is challenging Gullas for the first district congressional seat.
However, there are talks this may not push through because of the pseudoepherine smuggling case the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) filed against the younger Osmeña at the Department of Justice.
The case was in relation to the seizure of more than P3.65 billion worth of pseudoephedrine, a shabu ingredient, at the Cebu port in 2004.
The first district, which comprises Talisay City and Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, Carcar and Sibonga towns, has been considered Gullas’ turf for years.
If John-john makes good of his running against Gullas, this will set a three-cornered congressional fight in the first district.
Ricardo Adlawan, a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation graduate, already filed his COC for Cebu’s first district seat last March 7.
So far, Gullas and Adlawan were the first candidates for congressional seats in Cebu who have filed their COCs, Cadungog said. (GC)
