Tomas Osmeña says: Erap backing is useless in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday that the endorsement of former president Joseph Estrada of some local opposition candidates is meaningless.

Osmeña, who arrived home yesterday after a check up at the MD Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, said Estrada never won in Cebu.

“Who is Erap, he is not even from here, Erap never won in Cebu, I don’t know his authority here,” Osmeña said.

He said Estrada was only number 25 when he ran as Senator and only got 10 percent of the vote when he ran for President in 1998.

The mayor said that he is unfazed by the endorsement of Estrada of former Mayor Alvin Garcia as mayoralty bet of Kugi Uswag Sugbo (Kusug).

Estrada also endorsed the candidacy of Jonathan Guardo as his bet for congressman in the South District.

The former president was in Cebu for the launching of his TV commercial endorsing a product being sold by Guardo’s company.

Garcia was vice mayor of Osmeña from 1988 to 1995 and was endorsed by his former ally for the mayoralty in 1995 and re-elected in 1998.

In 2001, when Osmeña and Garcia’s relationship fell apart, they ran against each other with the former retaking his seat.

Garcia challenged Osmeña when the mayor sought re-election in 2004 and again lost.

Guardo, served as Osmeña’s sports consultant when he returned to office in 2001 and occupied the post until 2005 when their relationship soured after the city co-hosted the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.

Guardo ran for congressman in the South District in 2007, but lost to Rep. Antonio Cuenco, who is now on his third and last term.

Osmeña did not like the comment made by Estrada, who alleged that his pal Fernando Poe, Jr., who ran for president and lost to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004, was cheated in Cebu by half a million votes.

“That is so unfair, people just don’t like them, I won by 80,000 votes against Mary Ann (de los Santos) and GMA won with 200,000 votes, ngano manikas man ko para kang GMA manikas na lang ko para sa ako,” Osmeña said.

On having his political rival Alvin Garcia as the mayoralty bet of the opposition, Osmeña said it is entirely up to them.

“If somebody runs it doesn’t mean he will win anyway.”

Osmeña also said that the plan to field Winston Garcia, brother of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia does not really impress him. 

“Winston, I’m not particularly impressed (with his record) all I know is he has a lot of money,” Osmeña said.

Minnie’s Sorties

The mayor also confirmed that his sister Minnie has been going out in the South, not because she is interested in a congressional post but for the mayoralty.

“Well it’s about time for her to start going out, but I couldn’t tell yet what position she is running, if both she and Mike will decide to run for Mayor then I will have a problem,” Osmeña said.

He however clarified that ever since he has been endorsing Vice Mayor Michael Rama as standard bearer of their party Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) in 2010.

“If they don’t like Mike, then he should work on it,” Osmeña said.

In the North District, Osmeña said there is already no problem as Rachel ‘Cutie’ del Mar, daughter of Rep. Raul del Mar will run for the post that her father will vacate.

“I don’t like to create any problem in the North, my problem is in the South because Guardo has been spending a lot of money there,” Osmeña said.

He said though that until this time, he still has not finalized his intention of running against Guardo.

The Mayor earlier announced the possibility of him running for congressman in the South, a position which would have been best filled by Rama, just to protect the development of the South Road Properties (SRP).

The SRP is seen as the economic engine not only in the Visayas, but the entire Philippines as it will host the best of urban living, business, economics and education center.

But for Guardo, Osmeña’s decision to run for congressman in the south is a clear indication of a personal and vested interest over the SRP and selfishness to cling on to power.

Rama, on the other hand, said he will continue to pursue his dream to become mayor of Cebu City and he is ready to fight former mayor Garcia if the latter would decide to challenge his bid.

No Decision Yet

Former Mayor Garcia, who was interviewed over radio station dyLA yesterday morning, said he is not decided yet whether he will run for mayor because of the uncertainty of automated polls.

Garcia said that the simple reason that he lost twice to Osmeña is because he was cheated, which was the reason why he decided to stop running for whatever position in the government unless the polls would be automated.

He said it is not a problem if he will decide to run as mayor because his political supporters in different barangays are always prepared and ready to support him. –/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)