March 24, 2022
PRAYERS, caravans, and even handshaking events prohibited amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
These are among the ways Cebu candidates plan to kick off the 45-day campaign for those seeking local elective positions for the May elections on Friday, March 25, 2022.
In Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama’s Partido Barug will attend a mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral at 6:30 a.m. while opposition party Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan led by mayoralty candidate Margot Osmeña will have its own mass at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 9 a.m.
After the mass, Rama’s Partido Barug and running mate Raymond Garcia will meet thousands of staff at Cebu City Hall and then residents at Barangay Ermita, where a boodle fight will be held for lunch.
On the other hand, Councilor Nestor Archival, the council’s minority floor leader, said that after their mass, there will be a meet and greet with their supporters from various barangays and people are expected to flock around the church in Guadalupe.
Independent mayoralty candidate Dave Tumulak will have his mass at the Holy Cross Parish Church in Barangay Basak Pardo, Tumulak’s bailiwick, after which he will meet supporters at the church wearing the group’s orange color.
Tumulak’s group will then visit his supporters in Barangay Inayawan for the traditional handshaking.
Lawyers Floro Casas Jr. and Jose Daluz III of the Panaghiusa Party will have a mass at the San Roque Church in Barangay Mambaling at 7:30 a.m., after which they will head for the barangay’s Viking gym to meet supporters.
Party president Daluz said they will support the tandem of Rama for mayor and Councilor Raymond Garcia for vice mayor along with Rey Gealon, reelectionist Councilor Renato Osmeña Jr., Simeon Romarate and Raymundo “Gikom” Crystal for councilors in the south district.
Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu
Team Mandaue led by reelectionist Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes will hold its opening salvo Friday at the Jamestown open field at 6:30 p.m. after Cortes and his slate attend mass at 6:30 a.m. at the National Shrine of St. Joseph.
They are also expected to do handshaking at the city’s Public Market after the mass.
In Lapu-Lapu City, reelectionist Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan’s Team Libre will kick off its campaign in front of the mini Hoops Dome in Olango Island on Friday.
Chan’s group will have a caravan around the island at 2 p.m. and will conclude with a grand rally by 7 p.m.
Rep. Paz Radaza’s Team Deretso, on the other hand, will conduct a consultative meeting with residents and a campaign rally in Barangay Gun-ob. Radaza is challenging Chan for the mayoral seat on May 9.
Talisay
In Talisay City, reelectionist Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr.’s Team Alayon will start its campaign Friday by attending mass at the Sto. Niño de Cebu-Mohon Parish in Barangay Mohon. Team Alayon will then stage a caravan that will end with a proclamation rally in Barangay Lagtang in the evening.
Gullas opponent and incumbent Vice Mayor Alan Bucao’s Barug Lumad Talisaynon, on the other hand, will have its rally in St. Scholastica’s Academy in Barangay Tabunok on Sunday, March 27.
Bucao’s team will also attend a Mass at the Sto. Niño de Cebu-Mohon Parish to be followed by a caravan.
Preserve health, relations
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Aimee Ferolino reminded candidates to follow the minimum health protocols to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In an interview with Cebu reporters Thursday, March 24, Ferolino also asked candidates to maintain good relations with their opponents and avoid confrontations, saying elections happen only once every three years but that relations with neighbors and fellow candidates “will last a lifetime.”
The commissioner also reminded candidates to follow the prescribed sizes for tarpaulins and to place them in the designated Comelec-authorized poster areas.
In a press conference in Manila Thursday, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia reminded local bets that as part of the social distancing protocol, handshakes, kissing and taking selfies remain prohibited under the commission’s more relaxed campaign rules.
Last week, Comelec amended its guidelines for safe campaigning by allowing full venue capacity for campaign events in areas under Alert Level 1 and 70 percent capacity for areas under Alert Level 2.
Previously, only 70 percent capacity was allowed for campaign activities in areas under Alert Level 1, while 50 percent capacity was permitted under Alert Level 2.
The whole Cebu is under Alert Level 2, except for the highly urbanized Cebu City, which is under Alert Level 1.
Mass intentions
Over at the Archdiocese of Cebu, Archbishop Jose Palma said he sees no problem with priests reading the intentions offered during masses by candidates for the May 2022 elections.
Palma said it is their practice to read the names of those who would offer the mass.
“In the process, for instance, the priest would read the intention offered by a candidate. I don’t see any problem,” he said in an interview on Wednesday, March 23.
But he said it would be too much for a candidate seeking an elective position to offer masses in several churches, if not all in the province, for instance.
“We will only read one intention where he or she is present,” he said, stressing that it would still depend on the circumstances.
Palma said he trusts the wisdom of the parish priests in dealing with candidates who offer masses as well as in terms of acknowledging the candidates’ presence during the mass.
The Archbishop said they often remind themselves that they are the center of unity and charity.
“So during elections, as much as possible, we should also show that we are not an example of disunity,” he said.
Security
As for security during campaign sorties, the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas expressed willingness to provide this but asked candidates to inform their office ahead of their planned activities.
Local candidates are expected to conduct separate rallies and policemen throughout the region will have their hands full securing the crowd of supporters and curious onlookers.
In Cebu City, Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, deputy police director for operations, called on candidates holding rallies that would gather a large crowd to first seek the permission of the Emergency Operations Center prior to their sortie so they can assign police personnel to secure the area for the activity.
Parilla said only one congressional candidate in Cebu City had so far asked for security for political rallies.
In Cebu province, Col. Engelbert Soriano, Cebu Police Provincial Office director, warned politicians running in the May elections against employing private armed groups or the New People’s Army, labeled by President Rodrigo Duterte as a Communist Terrorist Group.
Soriano said they are now monitoring a municipality in Cebu that would possibly be declared an area of concern due to crime incidents involving a politician. (MKG, IRT, TPM, AYB, TPT)