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Monday, April 05, 2004
Promdi to carry Sonny O. in ticket
By Karen M. Flores
CEBU CITY -- Because of the "foul" tactics opponents have used against his elder brother, Promdi chairman Lito Osmeņa said his party has decided to carry reelectionist Sen. John "Sonny" Osmeņa in the senatorial ticket they are promoting.
Lito said in a phone interview that in addition to the nine senatorial candidates of the Alyansa ng Pag-asa of presidential candidate Raul Roco, Promdi has included Sonny in the sample ballots they are printing.
The filing of a rape complaint against Sonny has raised "indignation" among of his partymates in Promdi even if he and Sonny haven't been talking for years, Lito said in a phone interview.
"That's foul. We have to negate that. They asked me if I am going to take that sitting down," he related.
Lito also said his colleagues in the party he created prevailed upon him to vote for Sonny this time. "Gitabangan ko nila (They helped me). I haven't voted for Sonny Osmeņa in a long time," he added with a laugh.
Lito said that even friends who are "normally apolitical" questioned the use of "dirty tricks" against Sonny by whoever influenced a "male escort" to charge him with rape for an alleged encounter that occurred more than a month ago.
Senator Osmeņa has denied the complaint and branded it as a form of harassment.
Lito added that while it seems difficult to believe former president Fidel V. Ramos could have instigated the filing of the case, as Sonny claims, "the people around him could very well be behind this."
"Having been close to Ramos, its rather difficult but I don't know. I don't want to be accusative," Lito said.
He served as economic adviser to Ramos from 1992-1998 after he lost his vice presidential bid as the former president's runningmate under Lakas-NUCD.
Lito said they may also carry reelectionist Sen. Robert Jaworski in their ticket.
Local 'comedy'
Meanwhile, he confirmed that while a sticker promoting the vice gubernatorial bid of Fernando "Nanding" Celeste as a partner of all three of the leading gubernatorial candidates came from their group, it is not an "official" campaign material.
The sticker bears the names of Gwendolyn Garcia, Celestino "Junie" Martinez Jr. and Vice Gov. John Gregory "John-john" Osmeņa for governor on the right side and Celeste's name on the left.
It appears as if Celeste is the runningmate of all three gubernatorial hopefuls.
Lito said with a laugh that this "started out as a joke, then somebody had it printed. It's a comedy. It should be viewed as such."
So as not to cause confusion, he said he decided to distribute stickers with the half bearing the names of the three candidates for governor cut off.
Celeste is running without a candidate for governor under the banner of Alyansa ng Pag-asa.
(April 5, 2004 issue)
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