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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Cebu mayor says he won’t field BO-PK bets in next polls
By Rene H. Martel
CEBU CITY –- Contrary to what the opposition thinks, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will not be fielding candidates against his political enemies in the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections next month.
He said he will keep off the elections and will not support any candidate, especially when Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) members are the ones squaring off.
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“Ang importante gyud mogawas ang tingog sa mga tawo sa barangay. And personally, I don’t even think that it is to our best interest to try to artificially create one person winning not because the people want him but because of the pressure from the mayor,” he said.
“We’re creating a weak leader if that is the case,” he said.
The mayor also said the BO-PK members aspiring to become barangay chiefs “should stand on their own feet.”
If they use BO-PK supporters in their campaign, he said, they could be jeopardizing their candidacies since the support will naturally be divided.
The mayor likewise asked City Hall employees who are running in the coming elections to resign, adding that it is not assured that they could return if they would lose.
“Probably not, but it depends on their usefulness in the operations of City Hall,” he said.
The barangay and SK elections are set on October 29. The filing of certificates of candidacies will start on September 29 until October 18. The campaign period is October 19 to October 27.
Although the House of Representatives has passed a measure postponing the elections to 2009, majority of the senators are against the move, Senator Manuel Villar said during a visit to Cebu last Sunday.
The mayor said that aside from the synchronized elections being non-partisan, he also does not have the resources to extend any support to BO-PK members who wanted to become barangay captains.
He cited the case of Apas, where Barangay Captain Clemente Rosales is barred by the three-term limit to run again.
Councilors Ramil Ayuman and Jing Cabigon, both BO-PK members, are set to contest the post that will be vacated by Rosales, who will run for barangay councilor under Ayuman’s ticket.
“I told them that in the first place, I don’t have the resources to support them. Second, the election is supposed to be non-partisan. But people who are personally close to the mayor, if they get elected, then I will support them,” he said.
“Whichever of them will win, I will be happy,” he added.
He also did not say whether he will support the candidacy of Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Eugenio Faelnar, who is seeking another term as Guadalupe barangay captain.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Cebu City Director Patricio Gabuya recently said Faelnar is not one of 27 Cebu City barangay captains who could no longer seek reelection as they are in their third terms.
Although Faelnar has served Guadalupe as barangay captain for three terms, he said it was interrupted by a complaint for electioneering after he won in the 1997 elections.
He said he only assumed his post in February 1998 after the case filed by then barangay councilor Anthony Luy was dismissed.
Section 2 of Republic Act (RA) 9164, or An Act Providing for the Synchronized Barangay and SK Elections, provides that no barangay elective officials shall serve for more than three consecutive terms, which “shall be reckoned from the 1994 barangay elections.”
Faelnar has asked the DILG for clarification.
DILG 7 Director Pete Noval Noval said Faelnar was not barred to run because their central office has not yet given its decision on his candidacy. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (September 25, 2007 issue)
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