POLITICIANS who considered themselves allies of suspended Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama felt they were abandoned following his announcement of his potential lineup for the midterm elections in 2025 during a radio interview.
Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, who was Rama’s running mate in the 2022 general elections, said it appeared to him that Rama’s allies have been abandoned.
Garcia told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, that he will look for other options, but he did not elaborate.
Garcia, the elected vice mayor, became the acting mayor after Rama started serving his six-month preventive suspension along with seven City Hall officials and employees ordered by the Ombudsman last May.
The preventive suspension is scheduled to end in November, or sooner if it is lifted earlier.
Garcia said he will focus on his work as acting mayor for the remaining three months.
Rama announced during a City Hall’s Family Day event last Feb. 17 that Garcia would remain his vice mayoral candidate for 2025. This came just a day after Garcia indicated that he would not part political ways with Rama.
Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr., in a separate interview, said he respected Rama’s decision but clarified that it was Rama who left them, not the other way around.
“Iyaha man nang desisyon. That means na-prove namo nga kanang iyang giingon nga kami ang nibiya, wa mi nibiya niya. Siya ang nibiya namo (That’s his decision. That means we have proven that what he said about us abandoning him is not true. He is the one who left us),” said Alcover.
Last July, Rama said he felt abandoned by Garcia. The rift between the two running mates has widened since Rama’s suspension.
Potential lineup
The announcement of Rama’s potential 2025 lineup, made during a radio interview on Monday, Aug. 19, did not include specific positions for the candidates.
However, among those named were his nephew Rep. Eduardo Rama Jr. (Cebu City, South District), son lawyer Mikel Rama, Acting Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros, and Councilors Joy Pesquera, Francis Esparis, Philip Zafra, Noel Wenceslao, Bacayan Barangay Captain Winston Pepito, Cogon-Pardo Barangay Captain Harry Eran, Maria Pino, Cebu City Medical Center chief Dr. Peter Mancao, Harold Go and Jessica Resch.
Rama also mentioned a potential alliance with ex-officio Councilor Franklyn Ong, who is known to be a member of Bando Osmeña–Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK). When asked for a reaction, BOPK member Councilor Joy Augustus Young refused to comment, saying the alliance was not confirmed.
Meanwhile, Eran expressed gratitude for being considered for Rama’s council slate.
Pino also confirmed her inclusion in Rama’s lineup, stating that her leaders and organizations support her decision to run in the upcoming elections. / JPS