SCROLLING DOWN: It looks like it might be Mary Ann de los Santos, not Bebot Abellanosa, against Mike Rama in the race for Cebu City vice mayor; Mike was the man whom Mary Ann blamed as party leader in a 2015 City Council speech for the "massacre" and "abuse" on her person; shot down is the speculation that Bebot would give way for Margot in Cebu City south slot in Congress; BOPK's surprise instead is that the mayor's wife may drop out from elective office and won't run
FIRST, look at interesting numbers.
* DOWN. President Duterte's ratings, per the September 1-7 poll of Pulse Asia: approval rating down by 13 points (75) and trust rating by 15 points (72). The plunge is highest in Class D: approval down by 13 points (74) and trust by 16 points (71). The president's lowest score since September 2016.
* UP. Inflation rate for August soared to 6.4 percent, a nine-year high.
* DOWN. The Philippine peso, against the US dollar, was down to P54.21 on September 25, from P54.23 on September 24, from P54.42 on November 22, 2005). Lowest since September 2016.
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Mary Ann vs Mike
It's Mary Ann de los Santos, city councilor who will be Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña's running mate in 2016 and Barug Mike Rama's opponent next year.
That shoots down speculation that the BOPK bet for vice mayor would be Representative Bebot Abellanosa who'd be replaced by Councilor Margot Osmeña for the House seat bid.
Instead, Margot announced Tuesday (September 25) she'd be dumping plans to run for an elective office in 2019: for reelection as councilor or for a higher office such as the vice mayor's seat.
Surprise about Margot
The surprise that turned up was not about Councilor Margot Osmeña running for congresswoman and Bebot Abellanosa for vice mayor.
It was about Margot giving up elective posts and retiring to private life. People doubt if she could stay retired when or if her husband Tomas would cry for help, as campaigner or as candidate.
Mrs. Osmeña has been the mayor's not-so-secret political weapon. And she'd be a useful "sub" or "temp," even for her husband's slot.
Why Mary Ann
Torni Frank Malilong, main host of dyCM radio's "Frankahay Ta," said Mary Ann was picked over Councilor Dave Tumulak, who outpolled her in the "surveys," because she comes from the north while Dave hails from the south. Tomas, being from the south, needs a running mate from the north, a conventional wisdom that politicians don't reject despite lack of solid evidence.
(Much earlier, Mayor Tomas "floated" wife Margot as his vice mayor. Not only does Margot come from the same district as his, she's the wife he sleeps with at their Guadalupe home).
Not 'a BOPK orig'
Some BOPK stalwarts reportedly raised eyebrows over the choice of Mary Ann as its bet for vice mayor. She is not a BOPK "orig." She publicly announced her defection to BOPK from Team Rama on August 22, 2015, after her "massacre" privilege speech five days earlier.
Had she stayed with Team Rama, she would probably have been Mike Rama's running mate in 2016. Tomas Osmeña, who with wife Margot recruited Mary Ann, said the councilor refused Mike's offer, with the catchphrase reportedly said by de los Santos, "Lahug is not for sale."
This time, Mary Ann would've a crack at the No. 2 seat and, possibly, the mayor's post. But that might be a long wait. Tomas would still have until 2025 to reach term limit.
Been there
MAYOR, CONGRESSWOMAN. De los Santos didn't just run for councilor (in 2013 and 2016) and won. She ran for Cebu City mayor in 2007 and congresswoman in 2010 in Cebu City's north district, which she both lost.
But the experience in campaigning for all those battles -- on top of her 15 years as barangay official -- must have been vast. So what's so daunting about a vice mayoralty bid?
She's a political science graduate and a bachelor of laws degree holder. She's single; when asked in a CDN interview in 2015 if she'd marry someday, she said, "Are there still good men out there?"
'Assassinated'
Finally, in that August 17, 2015 privilege speech at the City Council, de los Santos poured out what Team Rama did to her when she was still its member.
She said she was "assassinated," "massacred," "bullied, traumatized, nerve-wracked," "hurt, betrayed, abused, abandoned, alienated, deceived" and left to suffer "being alone." She said all that, except being "tarred and feathered" and "molested."
Less than week later, on Aug. 22, she made it public: she was already a full-fledged BOPK turncoat.
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