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Saturday, April 19, 2008
Rama is new VM League president
CEBU CITY -- After campaigning intensely across the country for almost a year, Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama was elected national president of the Vice Mayors' League of the Philippines (VMLP) Friday night.
His wide margin came as a surprise to his allies, who expected a close fight between him and Antipolo City Mayor Danilo Leyble.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Rama won with a lead of 251 votes, despite the alleged vote buying from the other camp.
With 588 votes, Rama was proclaimed winner at around 7:30 last night amid a loud applause from vice mayors from the Visayas and Mindanao, where majority of his votes came from.
Leyble got 337 votes, mostly from Luzon, in the three-hour election done by secret balloting.
Rama credited his victory to the support of Mayor Tomas Osmena, the city councilors and the Cebu vice mayors who campaigned for him the past two days. For other vice mayors, his people skills made him win.
"They really stuck it out with me. And of course, the withdrawal of Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna from the race inevitably helped me a lot because I was the only one from Vis-Min, so we got a solid vote there," he told reporters after his proclamation.
A month into the election, Fortuna decided not to run for the league presidency, a position that eluded Rama in the VMLP elections in 2002 and 2004.
Rama admitted this election was the one that he prepared for the hardest, which is why he brought the mayor, councilors, former councilors and some barangay officials and City Hall department heads with him.
Seventeen city councilors were assigned one region each in campaigning for Rama among the country's vice mayors.
Osmeña, an honorary Muslim sultan, used his influence to campaign for Rama among the vice mayors from Mindanao, where he got a wide margin.
The mayor also brought former Ilocos governor Luis "Chavit" Singson, who helped campaign for Rama.
"The councilors and the mayor really gave me courage, which you need when you are in a place and event where you have to deal with cultural differences. Having the mayor in the campaign is like having a father to guide you. He added an element of confidence in everything," said Rama.
The supported translated to votes and he got a landslide victory in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
Rama got the votes of all 46 vice mayors from the Caraga region, 31 of the 33 votes cast from the Davao region, 55 of the 56 votes from the Autonomous Region of Muslin Mindanao (Armm), 49 of the 53 votes from northern Mindanao and 28 of the 40 votes from Zamboanga.
In Central Visayas, he got 75 of the 83 votes, 59 of the 84 votes from Western Visayas and 91 of the 94 votes from Eastern Visayas. He also got 11 of the 12 votes from the National Capital Region (NCR).
Minglanilla Vice Mayor Elanito Pena, who ran unopposed as public relations officer for the Visayas, and Rama's other runningmates from the One Action Party also won. For the councilors, all their efforts and their three-day absence from City Hall paid off.
Vice mayors from other provinces said it was Rama's public relations skills and how he welcomed them that earned him their support.
From the first day of the convention, Rama's campaign staff, mostly barangay officials, already welcomed delegates with banners and a Sinulog dance number at the airport and at their respective hotels.
He also hopped from one table to another to discuss his platform with the vice mayors in between sessions during the three-day convention at the Manila Hotel.
"Bilib ako kay Mike kasi kilala nya kami, kahit first name namin tandang-tanda nya. Ngayon nanalo na, akala ko wala na pero ito nagte-text nga nagpapasalamat. Hindi nakalimot. Naalala pa ako at may first name pa," a vice mayor from Samar said (Mike knew each of us by our first names. He even sent us 'thank you' messages after he won. He remembered us).
Leyble graciously accepted his defeat and gave Rama a hug after the proclamation. "You deserve to win," he said repeatedly. Accompanied by his wife, Leyble also shook the hands of the city councilors during the winner's ball.
In his term, Rama said he would help league members with programs that can enhance its efficiency through continuing education and capability building.
Together, they would also strive for excellence in local legislation through information communication technology.
"We should always place public service above self, work on governance with conscience and safeguard our local legislations," he told some 1,100 vice mayors Friday. (LCR of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (April 19, 2008 issue)
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