CEBU, Philippines - Top candidates of One Cebu Party in Tuburan are confident of unseating the present administration in the northwestern town.
Former Tuburan Mayor Rosemarie Gerona Suezo and runningmate Daphne Arias Lagon call their tandem the “power house team”.
They also attribute the confidence to the increasing number of registered voters in the town, which they said proves that Tuburan residents want change.
“Daghan na kaayo ang nagparehistro nga bag-ong botante sa Tuburan kay gusto sila og kausaban,” Suezo said.
The Commission on Elections is yet to release the official total number of registered voters.
Suezo is running against reelectionist Demo-crito Diamante while Lagon is running against Diamante’s brother, Danilo, for vice mayor.
In a separate interview, Diamante downplayed his opponents’ claim saying it is but their opinion.
“We will just see in the May 2013 election,” Diamante said.
Diamante said information reaching him have it that the new registrants have come from the neighboring towns of Tabuelan and Asturias and from as far as Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan and the Province of Antique.
There were reportedly at least 1000 registrants from Asturias but only around 400 were eventually able to register by deadline last October 31.
The mayor said it is possible that the absence of strong candidates to oppose Asturias Mayor Allan Adlawan and Tabuelan Mayor Casiano Rex Gerona could be the reason why voters have transferred registration to Tuburan.
Gerona is the brother of Suezo.
But Suezo claimed that the failure of the present administration to fulfill its promises is the driving force behind the people’s clamor to participate in the elections.
It is this clamor, she said, that prompted her and Lagon to accept the challenge of running against the present leadership.
Lagon is new in politics, but her concern for the people of Tuburan is what proves the sincerity of her intention, Suezo said.
Lagon, for her part, assured that she will assist Suezo in addressing the problem of health services in the town should she win.
Lagon is married to a successful businessman involved in a big telecommunications company in the country. —JMO (FREEMAN)