CEBU, Philippines – It's a must-watch competition between two administration candidates in the race for the presidency of the Association of Barangay Council (ABC) post that will be va-cated by Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio Faelnar Jr.
Barangay Captains Elidorio "Yody" Sanchez of Busay and Michael Ralota of T. Padilla are vying for the post.
Sanchez, who is now on his third and last termed barangay captain, told The FREEMAN that based on his initial head count as of yesterday morning, he is confident that he will win.
Sanchez said that out of the 16 leaders from the mountain barangays, he has the support of 13 captains while of the 30 northern barangay captains, 14 pledged support for him. In the south, he is banking on the support of Basak San Nicolas Barangay Captain George Rama who is actively campaigning for him.
Ralota, an architect by profession and on his second term, also claimed to have the numbers especially in the lowland barangays. He believes he is more capable in han-dling the presidency.
The ABC federation president sits as ex-officio member in the Cebu City Council along with the federation president of the Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council).
The election of the ABC board will be on December 7 at the grand convention ballroom.
After yesterday's ABC board meeting, Faelnar and members of the board ex-pressed their support to Sanchez. Ralota was no longer there and he did not join the fare-well lunch of the group.
Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan dominates the ABC with at least 77 of the city's 80 barangay captains. Rep. Tomas Osmeña, BOPK founder, said he would prefer that the next ABC president would come from the north district.
Osmeña and Mayor Michael Rama said they would not endorse any candidate for ABC president.
The former mayor already said he could not prevent anyone from seeking election since the ABC election is a democratic exercise. He added that he would not intervene because he wants to listen to the sentiments of the barangay captains.
But a barangay captain who refused not to be identified told The FREEMAN that the Osmeña's staffmember texted the barangay captains to ask for their top three choices for the ABC presidency.
In the text message, the staffmember asked the barangay captains to state their reason for choosing their top three.
According to the message, the response of the barangay captains will serve as the former mayor's guide in his choice for the ABC presidency. (FREEMAN)