Thursday, May 08, 2008 Mayor Osmeña belittles Guardo dare to run against him for House seat By Rene H. Martel With Eva Marie Gamboa UP Masscomm Intern
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña belittled the dare by businessman Jonathan Guardo to run against him for the congressional seat in the south district in 2010.
For Osmeña, it is a no contest, so he will not take the challenge.
“My friends will laugh at me (if I run against Guardo). They will accuse me of child molesting,” he said in a message sent to Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
He said it would be like boxing icon Manny Pacquiao squaring off with a child who challenges him to a fistfight.
The mayor reminded Guardo that he even lost to incumbent Rep. Antonio Cuenco by 21,000 votes in last year’s election, like lawyer Aristotle Batuhan who also lost to Cuenco by 103,000 votes in the 2001 polls.
In a separate interview, Guardo said it was Osmeña who started it by telling reporters that the mayor will campaign against him in 2010.
“(But) if I’m really a lightweight (candidate), why would he campaign hard against me?” the sports patron wondered.
Last Tuesday, the mayor said he will not endorse anyone among the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) members as candidate for north district and south district representatives.
Accusation
But he said he will campaign against Guardo, whom he accused of trying to win by buying the votes and loyalty of south district residents in the May 2007 elections.
Guardo reacted by challenging the mayor, who is ineligible to seek another term as mayor, to run for south district congressman in 2010.
Yesterday, Guardo admitted that Osmeña is a “political Goliath.”
But he reminded the mayor that when he ran for south district congressman and when Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos ran against Osmeña last year, they were both neophytes.
While the 2007 polls was an uphill battle for them, he said 2010 will be different and will already be an even fight.
“I’m telling the BOPK that in 2010, it will not be a walk in the park for them,” he said.
And while there are no candidates for the opposition yet, he said he and de los Santos could run for mayor and vice mayor, if their partymates are agreeable to it.
“Anything is open, pwede mayor or vice mayor, although the south congressional seat is a likely position for me,” Guardo said.
Guardo said with their loss in the last election, the opposition learned crucial insights from lapses that could have been avoided.
“We learned a lot from our mistakes…. It was an uphill battle. But the odds for us now are just about even against BOPK,” he continued.
As answer to Osmeña’s allegations that he bough votes last year, Guardo gave relief goods to some 137 families in Barangay Sawang Calero who lost their houses to a fire last month.
The goods were purchased using his personal money.
Guardo said the opposition has been helping the people even before the elections, and showed that they will continue to do so even if the next election is still two years away.
He made it clear that his deed is not part of his campaign for the 2010 elections, as he was just showing the public that in times of need, his group is always ready to help.
Guardo also reiterated that he does not believe Osmeña’s earlier announcement that he will be quitting politics, saying it would just be a “temporary break.”
He also called the Michael Rama-Joy Augustus Young tandem for mayor and vice mayor as a “political stunt,” which is why the mayor announced it very early.
Guardo said that among BOPK’s members, many want to be mayor, vice mayor and congressman, which could result to a party break-up.
