WELL-PLANNED, SAYS MABATID. Upon losing to former congresswoman Rachel "Cutie" del Mar in Cebu City's north district, Councilor Niña Mabatid alleged "hidden plans" were made against her. "Something went wrong, something happened," Mabatid said in her post conceding to del Mar, and it was "well-planned."
Yet she didn't blame anyone, Niña said, "not even my party (Barug) who turned their back on me."
When I asked her Thursday, May 12, for specifics, she sent me photos of what appeared to be leaflets and sample ballots showing Mike Rama and Richard Yap, another rival of Mabatid, indicating the mayor was supporting Yap, not the official candidate. She alleged that people of Milo, the mayor's liaison with the barangays, distributed the materials.
Congresswoman-elect Cutie del Mar trounced Niña by more than 50,000 votes but Mabatid wasn't questioning Cutie's numbers. What must surprise her was that Yap, who did little campaigning compared to her extensive and noisy sorties, polled in a decent 50,830 votes.
3-YEAR-COLD REVENGE? Niña Mabatid still has until June 30 to complete her term as councilor, a seat earned in 2019 when she landed #2 in her district. It was not she then but some of her teammates who complained of "back-stabbing." It could be revenge, served three-years cold.
Mayor Mike has a favorite phrase for that, "tit for tat," which this time he must no longer confuse with "tete-a-tete," which he also loves.
Pastor Alcover Jr., former party-list congressman and city councilor, tail-ends the north district list of City Council winners. He was among the Barug colleagues who complained against Niña in 2019 for allegedly having gone solo to get to the top.
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HAS MARGOT CONCEDED? Not in so many words or anything precise and specific.
BOPK's Margot Osmeña, whom Mike Rama beat in the May 9 election, reportedly told news outlet CDN, "We will do what is best for Cebu."
No specific concession, no mention of her rival. Which was basically the same as then mayor Tomas Osmeña's comment on May 13, 2019 after Labella defeated him in the mayor's race. He told his supporters in a Facebook post not to feel sorry for him as he was fine and would be fine -- and there's SRP (South Road Properties), which like a mango tree, he said, could provide for the city's children.
BRIDGE, DIDOY, ADIDOY. CCLEX, or the Cebu-Cordova bridge, helped Mayor Mike Rama win. Apparently, it hasn't saved Cordova, Cebu Mayor Techie Sitoy-Cho, who lost to Didoy Suan (Lakas) by more than 4,000 votes (21,222 against 17,052). Also rejected by Cordova voters is Em-em Sitoy, the bet for vice mayor.
Not helping enough to bring down the winner was Adidoy Suan, independent, whose near-total similarity in name to mayor-elect Didoy Suan lured in only 1,359 votes.
SITOYS, CREUSES. Which is older than 48-year rule of the Sitoys in Cordova? Maybe the reign of the Creuses in Malabuyoc, Cebu, which is "di na ma-ihap" (innumerable or too many to count)?
But don't anyone say the Sitoy, or Creus, rule is ended. To most dynastic political clans, it "ain't over till it's over." For now, it's only suspended, until the next fight. A Sitoy, Celsi Sitoy, is Lapu-Lapu City's vice mayor-elect. Maybe the Creuses have already started prepping for 2025.