Osmeña wants Arroyo to take oath in Cebu

CEBU CITY — City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will invite President Arroyo to take her oath of office here, possibly at the South Reclamation project site, if she tops the presidential race.

"I will try to do something that no other mayor has done. I will invite the President to take her oath of office in Cebu because it is in the Visayas, specifically in Cebu, where the administration ticket scored high," Osmeña told reporters.

Meanwhile, Osmeña reassured his constituents that the city council, expected to be composed of all Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan bets, will not be a "rubber stamp" body.

Osmeña expressed confidence that despite the precarious slot of BO-PK north district council aspirant Augustus Pe, the latter would still make it to the "Magic 8."

Based on the quick count of the Cebu Citizens’ Involvement and Maturation in People’s Empowerment and Liberation (C-Cimpel), Osmeña was leading in the mayoralty race over former mayor Alvin Garcia of Kusug.

Meanwhile, death threats via text messages to city election officer Simaco Labata have prompted the police to throw a tight security blanket over the Cebu Normal University where the canvassing of votes for Cebu City is being held.

Labata received the threatening text messages shortly before noon Friday.

The messages started streaming in minutes after arguments erupted between lawyers of the BO-PK and Kusug over the lack of signatures or thumb marks of some members of the different boards of election inspectors on the election returns.

This was not the first time Labata had received threats to his life.

During the 2001 face-off of Osmeña and Garcia, Labata was similarly accused of being biased in favor of a BO-PK lawyer whenever a legal question was raised during the canvassing. — Freeman News Service