Scrolling down: the hard-to-believe speculation that Abellanosa would yield to Margot Osmeña the Cebu City south congressional slot and he'd run for vice mayor to Tomas; why Barug-PDP Laban alliance might not pick Mike Rama as vice mayor bet; use of "Barug" as party name explained.
BEFORE that, regarding the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) timeline of its recommendation for "an immediate forced evacuation" of residents from the disaster-struck area in Tinaan, Naga City:
* Memo to MGB regional director from two geologists dated September 19 was set to be delivered to the Naga City mayor September 20. It was uploaded on MGB Central Visayas website on September 23.
* An "exit conference" on September 18 was attended by Cenro Jehan Repollo and representatives of MGB and Apo Land & Quarry Corp. No one among the attendees rushed to inform the mayor to act on the recommendation. Or did they by phone or text immediately tell the mayor?
The landslide occurred September 20. See why they missed the chance to avert the disaster?
Ong, Santos, Tumulak
In Cebu City, in the fight between BOPK and Barug, it's still not certain as to who will be the candidates for vice mayor.
The short list in BOPK is said to be topped by City Councilors Franklin Ong, Mary Ann de los Santos and Dave Tumulak.
Ong is a newbie in the City Council, coming from the ABC or the barangay councils group, which just elected Ong its president and rep in the city legislature. De los Santos and Tumulak are not BOPK "orig," having defected from Team Rama (now named Barug), which, the rumor says, has raised some resistance from veteran and non-defector BOPK members.
It's BOPK chief and Mayor Tomas Osmeña who calls the shots but he has not been talking to media lately. Leaks, however, suggest one unexpected and hard-to-believe but possible twist: Representative Bebot Abellanosa taking the VM slot instead of another term in the House as south district congressman and Margot Osmeña taking Bebot's place.
Not likely for Bebot to give up the House seat where he could round off the three-term limit with his last run in 2019. On the other hand, Jason Monteclar of dyCM radio thinks it would put Bebot closer to the mayor's seat, which Jason says has been the life-long dream of the "rakenroler"-turned-congressman.
Could Digong back Mike?
In Barug-PDP Laban, it's not definite that Mike Rama would be the choice. While Mike and a few other opposition personalities said it's a done deal, others see the difficulty of Mike being endorsed by President Duterte who earlier named the former mayor a drug lord protector.
There are Barug stalwarts who say Mike would be more of a liability than an asset. He would surely be, if he'd split the opposition down the middle and drag it down with him.
They'll go by 'Barug'
"Barug," minus the "Team Rama" second name, is being applied for with Comelec, according to Councilor Joy Pesquera who talked about hearings at the poll body in an earlier dyCM interview.
The new solo name will be used by the camp of Edgar Labella in its liaison with PDP Laban in next year's election. They'll go by the name Barug and the coalition will be Barug-PDP Laban. However, Councilor Jun Alcover said, blocs or individual members within Barug may use it differently, such as Barug Team Rama or Barug Team Labella, "but we belong to only one group." Alcover cannot be a Barug-PDP Laban because he hasn't joined Duterte's national party.
But during COC filing, the Labella group, except maybe Alcover and Mike, may use only PDP Laban as it is the registered party name, not Barug. Councilors elected under that name will be replaced -- in case of death, dismissal or any other permanent vacancy -- by nominees of PDP Laban. Similar to the Team Rama-Una arrangement in 2016.
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