Saturday, December 08, 2007 Pabling, Baricuatro rift to reach 2010 polls
THE conflict between Dumanjug Mayor Cesar Baricuatro and Rep. Pablo Garcia (Cebu, 2nd district) could be more than just about the SK Federation election.
Baricuatro’s son, Christopher will be running for Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president against Garcia’s nephew, Tony Garcia of Barangay Bitoon.
Baricuatro, in a radio interview, also confirmed that he is grooming his son to be his mayoral bet in the 2010 elections.
“Pero election man na. Kun modaug siya, maayo. Kun dili, maayo ra pod (But that’s an election. If he wins, that’s good. If not, then it’s still good),” Baricuatro said.
Endorsement
The mayor said he heard that Garcia’s son, Nelson will be running against Christopher.
But Garcia, in a separate interview, said it is too early to talk about 2010 and that he has not decided who he will be endorsing for mayor of the town.
Nelson ran against Baricuatro in 2004, but Garcia supported Baricuatro.
Garcia revealed that Nelson wanted to run for mayor last May but he stopped his son because they will be supporting Baricuatro in his last term.
Politicians
“Di ko gusto nga nay kontra. But if they insist nga makig-kontra nako, wan- a koy mahimo ana (I don’t want to have enemies),” Pablo said.
On the ABC elections, Baricuatro said as long as politicians will stay away from the activity, he is sure his son will win as ABC president.
He said some of the barangay captains who are now with the Garcias will actually be supporting his son.
Garcia assured he will not meddle in the election on Tuesday but said Christopher will not win over Tony because he has at least 22 of 35 barangay captains supporting him.
The conflict started during the SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) Federation election last Thursday when Baricuatro’s camp accused Garcia and Nelson of meddling in the supposedly non-political activity.
Chairpersons
The Garcias allegedly housed at least 20 SK chairpersons who supported Christian Quirante, who won over Melissa Cambalon.
Baricuatro admitted that he wants Cambalon to win, being an intelligent student, but he said he went to Manila on the day of the election so that he will not be accused of meddling in the activity.
Department of Interior and Local Government 7 Director Peter Noval said he will look into the alleged housing of the SK chairpersons.
But amid all the controversies, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said that although she is saddened by the turn of events, she will be consistent and stay away from an activity that should be non-political.
Involvement
“I do call on all those involved, all those that will be electing the next ABC to choose wisely, to choose a person that they can trust and the person who will always have the best interest of Dumanjug in his heart,” the governor said.
When asked about the conflict between her father and Mayor Baricuatro, Gwendolyn just said, “I’d rather rise above that. Let the men argue among themselves. In the end, they will need the nurturing touch of a mother that can heal unnecessary wounds of the heart.” (MBG)
