That has been the fear of the Edgardo Labella-Michael Rama alliance under Partido Barug (1) from run-up to the filing of COCs for the 2019 elections and (2) in the second year of the term of the victorious Labella-Rama tandem as the 2022 election loomed.
Mike Rama’s settling for the vice mayor’s post solved the problem in the first case. The matter of Labella’s health rendered the problem moot in the second.
Rama ultimately gave way to Labella for the 2019 elections but in the last quarter of 2020, he repeatedly said he wouldn’t run for the same VM seat in 2022. Conveniently for Barug, the mayor passed away, after a series of Labella medical leaves, removing the potential Edgar-or-Mike crisis, though not entirely as it soon turned out.
Monday, December 13, a Freeman news story said “Edgar’s men support Tumulak,” in effect junking incumbent Mayor Michael “Mike” Rama, who is serving the unexpired term of mayor Labella. The development seemed an offshoot of former city administrator Floro Casas Jr.’s outburst in a November 26 pre-funeral speech that deplored an alleged betrayal to the supporters of the late mayor.
There is some basis for the threat, which unleashed the fear, although Mike Rama initially denied any turbulence within the party.
BOPK’S SIMILAR PROBLEM. The threat that BOPK faces is in some respects similar to Barug’s, although the votes concerned are for the vice mayor, not the mayor.
Last December 3, in a meeting before Carbon Market vendors and residents, BOPK chief Tomas Osmeña worried that votes for Franklyn Ong — running mate of standard bearer Margarita “Margot” Osmeña — might go to Bimbo Fernandez, who’s also running for vice mayor. Much as Bimbo has been a friend, Tomas said he was asking BOPK partisans to vote for Ong, not Bimbo. He said Ong’s rival, Councilor Raymond Alvin, of Barug might win, if the BOPK votes were split between Franklyn and Bimbo.
Fernandez, a Tomas Osmeña loyalist who served for a time as his city administrator, is given by observers the chance of an independent, being outside the two major parties from which election winners in Cebu City usually emerge.
Bimbo earlier told Explainer he likes to believe that Cebuano voters are intelligent, “dili mapalit, dili mailad, dili malhulga, supak sa corruption,” which some people studying election results regard as crap. His avowed “walay kwartahay” has been said by idealistic politicians, often with dire results. His loyalty to his boss prompted him to slide down from mayor, the original post specified in his COC, to vice mayor. He wouldn’t collide with Margot but he’d slug it out with her running mate Ong.
HOW LARGE THE THREATENED VOTE and how well-grounded is the threat of loss of votes?
The news story about Labella loyalists throwing their support to Tumulak didn’t specify the number of Barug partisans who’re reportedly falling behind Dave. One can’t have an idea how much share of the votes it would cost Mike Rama when he alienated the affection of some appointees of the late mayor.
Labella didn’t have a party but his bloc joined the coalition among Barug, Kusug and Panaghiusa, the last two being idle for so long and activated mainly for the 2022 elections. How many people does each group have? Nobody knows and, unlike the City Hall individual workers who can answer to a headcount, supporters for each group identify themselves by the leaders they’re backing.
They are, namely, Mayor Rama for Barug, Councilor Garcia and his dad former mayor Alvin for Kusug, and former councilor and MCWD chairman of the board Jose Daluz III for Panaghiusa. The Labella supporters, supposedly led by former city administrator Flore Casas Jr., must be identified with Panaghiusa as he was announced last December 7 as its party president.
RAMA’S DISCRETION, PART OF GOVERNANCE. Cerwin Eviota, the city’s new public information officer, said the news story “refers to those it quoted” and “understandably it opens conjectures.” The biggest conjecture being whether the entire Labella force is dropping Mike and picking up Dave.
That is not confirmed by the heir-to-founder-of-the-party Joey Daluz who last December 8 said that Panaghiusa will honor its commitment to Barug and he himself thinks Mike Rama is “the best candidate” for mayor.
Casas, Panaghiusa head and the Labella clan’s surrogate in the coalition, has not spoken out to contradict the party position although he has made thinly-veiled hints of the Labellan group’s dissatisfaction with the way they’re being treated by the Rama administration. It was Casas who tearfully talked of “betrayal” and “big news in the days to come.”
Eviota told Explainer Monday, December 13, he understood the “kasagmuyo” — frustration and disappointment, with some anger — of Labella’s supporters over being replaced. Mayor Rama’s publicist said it’s their right to seek other options, “especially in realizing the new dispensation has no confidence in them.” Eviota said that when one governs an LGU, “some can be displeased, as sadly they were,” by the mayor’s decision.
THE TAKER, FROM WHOM. BOPK chief Osmeña fears that Fernandez would collect the votes that should go to BOPK’s Ong, thus helping elect Garcia to the VM post. On the other hand, Karlon Rama — in Garcia’s communication staff — told the Explainer last December 5 the councilor “is aware that this (Fernandez’s running) is merely a ploy by the other camp to draw away from his votes that won’t otherwise go to Ong.”
Garcia’s commitment on the 93-1 land swap with Capitol, is “to fulfill his functions” in two bodies in the City Council that are directly involved in settling the 93-1 issue. Councilor Raymond was present in talks between the City and Capitol, which were going on until November 2, and facilitated the guidelines on distributing the lots to beneficiaries. Publicist Rama said they didn’t want to say — but said anyway — that Garcia is “the best bet for the 93-1 beneficiaries because of both qualifications and linkages,” noting that people will “reach that conclusion themselves.”
Both candidates can claim support from the urban poor: former city administrator Fernandez, who has worked extensively to help the urban poor, and Councilor Garcia whose first two years of his three-year term as Sanggunian housing committee chief and vice chairman of the local housing board enabled him to make substantial accomplishments for the said sector.
The Raymond Garcia camp cited numbers on, among others, land titles distributed (177), certificates of entitlement and lot awards issued (716) through the resolutions the councilor filed (2,772), and medium-rise buildings for tenement housing nearly completed (two).
HOW IT WOULD AFFECT VM RACE. The contrasting claims though won’t tell for now whether Fernandez would take away urban poor votes, which would otherwise go to Garcia, or Ong would lose votes to Fernandez, which could help make Garcia win.
Let alone tell how the taking and being stripped of votes would affect the result in the Cebu City’s vice mayor’s race.
