Seares: Duterte risks political capital in Cebu City election for mayor

IT WAS more than the usual endorsement that President Duterte did for Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella last Monday (May 6) in Malacañang.

Unlike the almost mechanical hand-raising the President did last Feb. 24 at a PDP-Laban rally in Cebu City for the vice mayor, along with many other local candidates, the recent one at the palace was solely for Labella.

Labella, who is challenging reelectionist Mayor Tomas Osmeña, was granted the “important meeting” that he couldn’t skip. He had to put off an Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Cebu City debate with the mayor for the Manila trip. But the reward was bountiful.

Since then, videotape of the endorsement has been circulated. And details of Labella’s talk with the President, which dealt with plans for Cebu City that Duterte supports, have been published.

The development, five campaign days before May 13, is the sort that any candidate seeks out on the eve of judgment day. A surprise to both Labella and Tomas: a blessing to the challenger but a curse to the defending champion. It is a punch on the jaw that can send one reeling and dazed.

More valuable

The endorsement carried more weight because Labella was singled out, at least among all the Cebu aspirants supported by Duterte’s ruling party. And the symbolic hand-raising came with specific and strong words of support and a lash-out to the “enemy.”

Duterte not only praised Labella as “matarong ug dili corrupt,” who knows “the value of public service.” The President also blasted at the unnamed yet recognizable rival of Labella when he lumped Tomas with “despots” who have dominated the city for so long. Duterte made a twin appeal: help and support Labella’s candidacy and let go of the city’s present leader.

Wading in local politics

Presidents usually stay off local politics but in this midterm election, Duterte has waded in, mostly to secure the support of politicians in provinces and cities for his candidates for senators.

He has been trading off endorsements of local government units bets with pledges to make his favorite “senatoriables” win. Duterte’s drive to pack the Senate with his people is apparently aimed for his bold programs during the rest of his term, which include the choice of a next President who will not hound and send him to jail.

Gauge of popularity

In making the extraordinary endorsement in Cebu City politics, the President is in a way putting his political reputation on the chopping block.

If Cebu City voters would shun Duterte’s appeal and keep Tomas as their mayor, they would in effect reject his leadership. That would put them in a bind. Should they ignore the president’s plea and risk losing his support for the city in the next three years? How would Duterte feel being reversed on his choice of Labella?

Cebuanos can rationalize it, of course. They support the president as national leader but they still want Tomas as their mayor. Besides, the election result will be affected not just by the President’s push but also by crucial factors such as party organization and strategies.

Indisputably, the city vote on its mayor has now become a gauge of the breadth of Duterte’s influence: whether that can rub off on local issues such as the choice of Cebu City’s political leader.

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