Admit or deny it, the midterm polls are just few months away. Ask a candidate, or would-be candidate, if he or she has been going around the towns, cities and provinces especially those who are running for a Senate seat. Tarps of candidates are already posted on the walls or posts along roads.
For those who are running for city mayor, city councilors, or municipal mayors, municipal councilors, they have probably started shaking hands and saying hello to old friends, relatives and new acquaintances in their localities. Someone has even commissioned a poll survey for possible mayoralty candidates in Cebu City.
One of the oldest local parties in Cebu City, Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), already made up its bet for the mayoralty race. Former mayor Tomas Osmeña, the forerunner of BOPK and for reasons of his own, endorsed No. 1 North District Councilor Nestor Archival as the party’s standard-bearer. Osmeña is settling down as Archival’s running mate.
Suspended Mayor Michael Rama perhaps did not lose a day in his life while continuing to serve his six-month preventive suspension because he has been moving around in the city as shown on his FB posts. Rama has been shaking the hands of children and, of course, their parents.
From the information I got from a fellow Rotarian, although subject to further verification, in that poll survey commissioned by a politician outside of Cebu City’s political arena, Archival is said to be only a few percentages behind Rama while the rest, those who are also eyeing the mayoralty seat, are way far behind.
Even if preventively suspended, Rama, being the incumbent, has the upper hand and is expected to lead the survey among the rest of possible candidates like former city councilor and Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) Chairman Joey Daluz, Yogi Ruiz and Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, the current acting mayor.
From the information that fell right on my lap, so to speak, Rama is allegedly wooing Daluz and Garcia back to the coalition just like in the last national elections wherein they won over former city councilor Margot Osmeña, wife of Tomas, the BOPKs bet for city mayor, because they were together
The BOPK of Tomas is still a party to be reckoned with in Cebu City politics. With Councilor Archival as the standard-bearer for BOPK and Tomas as his vice mayor, they could be a difficult team to beat in next year’s elections. This is probably the reason Rama, even if he is leading the survey, is courting back Daluz and Garcia to the coalition. Daluz heads the Panaghiusa Party, while Garcia chairs Kusug Party. Rama’s party is Barug.
In any election, a party with a strong machinery matters a lot since this can affect the end result. BOPK, being an established political party, could have the advantage over the rest and could even dominate the seats at the City Council.
I seriously doubt though if Rama and Daluz could be together again after Rama moved for the removal of Daluz and some other members of the board from the MCWD. But if Rama and Daluz could swallow their pride, perhaps they could coalesce again.
Archival could catch up with Rama in the polling survey if he would start spending, said my source. The declaration of Archival lately that he would not be a puppet of Tomas Osmeña if elected mayor could propel his popularity to the voters.
So, will Vice Mayor Garcia reconsider his option and remain Rama’s running mate for vice mayor?