Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Tomas: I’ll beat Mary Ann by 100T By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Rianne C. Tecson
EVEN with allegations of massive vote-buying by the opposition, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is looking forward to beating Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann delos Santos by at least 100,000 votes.
Delos Santos, though, is also confident that she will be the city’s mayor once the canvassing is over, if yesterday’s election and the counting of votes will be clean and honest.
“If it will be a clean, fair and honest election, I will win this one and I’m confident in telling you that 101 percent I will be the next mayor of Cebu City,” she told reporters shortly after casting her vote past 10 a.m. yesterday.
At the Camputhaw Elementary School, Osmeña told reporters that votes were being bought allegedly by the opposition for as much as P500 in Barangays Sambag 2, Cogon Pardo, Suba and Alaska Mambaling.
He also saw the huge tarpaulin streamer that covered the skywalk in Lahug, which had the words “Barangay Lahug supports Mary Ann for mayor” and her photo.
The mayor said he did not bother to have the streamer removed and the reports of vote-buying checked, as he is confident that the entire Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) slate will get a landslide victory in the north and south districts.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m giving her a chance because by tomorrow, Mary Ann is nothing…. That’s the sickness of all candidates. Everyone is confident to win and I’m one of them. But my criteria in judging my chances are that I ask myself, ‘Am I willing to change position with the other side?’ The answer is no,” he said.
Osmeña, his wife Margot and his sister Ma. Victoria, joined thousands of voters at the Camputhaw Elementary School yesterday morning.
From delos Santos’ office at the second floor of the Lahug barangay hall, the streamer bearing her name and face is visible but she said she will not have it removed unless the Commission on Elections (Comelec) orders her to do so.
She said she didn’t have a hand in the hanging of the two streamers, and that it was likely put up by her supporters “who want to show their love and support for their barangay captain.”
Delos Santos also said she does not believe that Osmeña will lead by as much as 100,000 votes, as this would mean that she would win only in her barangay and get very few votes in other barangays.
As for allegations that they have been buying votes, BO-PK’s accusations run counter to the mayor’s earlier pronouncement that she is running only to get money from donors to take care of the medical expenses of her ailing father, she said.
After the casting of votes, delos Santos will now focus on guarding the ballots and election returns during the canvassing of votes.
She is counting on her party Tribu Guardo’s close to 9,500 poll watchers and her siblings who came home from the United States to support her and help her in protecting her votes.
“There’s nothing I can do now but to be vigilant and protect the election returns. I told myself that I will not allow myself to be cheated, that’s why we will do our best to guard my votes. It’s okay for me to lose as long as it’s a fair, clean and honest election, I will accept that. But if I lose because I was cheated, that I will not accept,” delos Santos added.
As for Pasil Barangay Captain Romeo Ocarol, who left BO-PK for congressional aspirant Jonathan Guardo, he said all his efforts paid off.
Even while the votes were still being counted, Ocarol said he was sure Guardo will win.
He said he did everything he could do to ensure Guardo’s victory, even if it meant having to do all the work without funding from the party.
“I don’t need the money to make sure Guardo wins. I spent my own money because I want him to win,” said Ocarol, as he dismissed talks that he was given P2 million just to switch alliances.
“If the P2 million was there, wouldn’t all barangay captains switch?” he said.
While he denied they resorted to vote-buying, he told Sun.Star Cebu they gave money as a “gift” to their supporters.
“Pahinungod lang gud para sa ilang mga kahago,” Ocarol said when interviewed at the barangay sports complex. (With RCT)
