CEBU City Councilor Nestor Archival, the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan’s (BOPK) candidate for the city’s mayoral post in the 2025 midterm elections, has revealed his partial list of candidates running for various posts in the north and south districts.
Archival’s running mate is former city mayor Tomas Osmeña, the BOPK chief who is running for vice mayor for the first time in his political career. Osmeña last ran for mayor in 2019, seeking a second straight term; however, Edgardo Labella defeated him.
The BOPK slate includes City Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos for North District representative; Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa, South District representative.
BOPK’s initial list of candidates for the council are Alvin Arcilla, Alvin Dizon, Sisinio “Bebs” Andales and Jessielou “Jingjing” Cadungog for north district; and Jose Abellanosa, Ian Osmeña, JR Pepito and former police official Pablo Labra II for south district.
‘Experienced lineup’
Archival still has to name four more candidates for north district and another four for south district.
The City Council is composed 16 elected members (eight from each district) and two ex-officio members (presidents of the Association of Barangay Councils and Sangguniang Kabataan Federation).
Archival said in a news forum on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, that former South District city councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. could run again under the BOPK ticket.
He said most of BOPK’s candidates had experience in public service and were seasoned politicians.
Some of the Archival ticket’s notable names include Rodrigo Abellanosa, who served the south district as its representative from 2013 to 2022.
The other is Cadungog, who in 2018 survived an assassination attempt by police officer Eugene Calumba. Cadungog was a councilor of Barangay Tejero at the time.
Cadungog’s driver was able to retaliate and kill Calumba.
Labra, a former police official, last served as chief of Police Regional Office (PRO) 13 (Caraga in Mindanao) in 2022 with the rank of brigadier general.
In 2023, Labra was among the 18 high-ranking police officials whose resignation was accepted by President Ferdinand Marcos. Jr. These officials were alleged to be involved in illegal drugs.
After Abalos appealed to high-ranking PNP officials to submit courtesy resignations in January 2023, 953 responded as part of the police organization’s internal cleansing following the controversy surrounding the seizure of 990 kilograms of shabu in a raid in Manila in October 2022.
A five-man advisory group formed to review the records of the involved police officers advised that the president accept the resignations of 18 of those under investigation.
Seven of the 18 officers had worked in either the Cebu Police Provincial Office or the PRO 7. They include three brigadier generals (Remus Medina, Randy Peralta, and Labra) and four colonels (Rex Derilo, Rodolfo Albotra, Marvin Sanchez, and Rommel Ochave), according to a Vera Files report.
‘Not a puppet’
Archival dispelled rumors that he would be a “puppet” of Osmeña if he wins the election, saying the latter is confident that the councilor can run the City Hall on his own.
“Wa ko kasabot unsa nang puppet nga unsay isulti ni Tommy kay maoy mao ang akong buhaton. The only thing that me and Tommy have talked about is nga ‘tom wa gyud ko kahibaw nga imo kung i-endorse because during that time, wala ko kahibaw unsay direction’ nag-meeting lang mi kay we want to have a clear direction og unsay buhaton,” Archival said.
(I don’t understand what this puppet thing is about, where whatever Tommy says, I will do. The only thing that Tommy and I have talked about is that “Tom, I really didn’t know that you would endorse me because during that time, I didn’t know what the direction would be.” We just had a meeting because we wanted to have a clear direction and know what to do.)
“Sa meeting, giingnan niya ang among kauban nga, ‘look, my mine is still sharp, but look dili man ko physically fit na... Nestor is fit; let him run, and I know Nestor can do that,” he added.
(In the meeting, he told our colleagues, “Look, my mind is still sharp, but I’m not physically fit anymore... Nestor is fit; let him run, and I know Nestor can do that.”)
During the forum, Archival revealed key points of his platform:
• Citizens’ hour: Implementation of a public forum during regular council sessions.
• Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project: Appointment of a dedicated person for project monitoring and liaison with the Department of Transportation.
• Annual budget: Managing the City with a P8-10 billion budget; opposing tax increases.
• Flood control: Short-term solutions include continued declogging efforts, while long-term plans involve mini dams and detention ponds upstream.
Archival also called for an updated comprehensive drainage master plan in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways and neighboring local government units.
The councilor criticized the current administration’s handling of the CBRT project and questioned the delay in implementing flood control measures during the recent dry season.
Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia is currently the acting mayor, while Mayor Michael Rama is serving a six-month preventive suspension starting in May this year. / EHP