Guardo says Osmeña can have SRP if south district gets divided

CEBU, Philippines - After Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will be supporting the split of barangay Guadalupe, opposition leader Jonathan Guardo said yesterday Osmeña might as well work on splitting the entire South District into two.

“He can now have the whole SRP to himself. SRP ra diay gusto nimo, na hala, imo na na. I’ll run the old South District and him on the new south district. This time, we will not fight over senior citizens, basketball boards and dead people,” Guardo said.

In a gathering of barangay captains of the south district last week, Osmeña expressed intention to run for a congressional seat in the city’s south district so he can continue working for the development of the South Road Properties.

Guardo said that if Osmeña will work on splitting the south district, he can have the SRP all to himself, as the new south district will be composed of barangays Pardo, Mambaling, Duljo-Fatima, the coastal barangays, and the SRP.

Guardo said he will have the “old” south district composed of barangays Guadalupe, Tisa, Labangon, Punta Prinsesa, Calamba, and mountain barangays.

Osmeña, however, said he is not interested.

“I am not interested in splitting up the South and abandoning half of them. Why doesn’t he get Olango, or even better Siargao,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña said he would rather concentrate on splitting barangay Guadalupe since, culturally, there is “little bonding” between sitios Englis and Banawa. Osmeña said he intends to split Guadalupe into three barangays before his term ends next year.

He said he will make sure that sitio Englis will still belong to the same parish once the split is in place.

Osmeña said splitting a barangay does not need action from Congress.

 “Let the people of Cebu City decide. We can’t just let Tony Cuenco decide what’s good for us,” Osmeña said.

The relationship between Osmeña and South District Rep. Antonio Cuenco turned sour after the mayor accused Cuenco of allegedly abandoning the barangays in the south district during the 2007 barangay elections.

Still, Guardo said Osmeña’s sudden turnaround on the issue of splitting Guadalupe could be because the mayor believes that doing so would earn him more votes in next year’s polls. – Ferliza C. Contratista/JMO (THE FREEMAN)