Osmeña to run vs Rama in 2013

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña yesterday said he will run for mayor again if Mayor Michael Rama would seek reelection next year.

“I will do everything in my power to make all their candidates lose,” Osmeña told reporters at his residence in Barangay Guadalupe yesterday.

Rama said he will answer the issue when he returns from Malaysia. He is on vacation leave at present.

Used to be allies with the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), the relationship between Osmeña and Rama started going sour when Rama, then vice mayor, made a statement at the City Council that botched the land swap deal Osmeña was working on with the provincial government concerning the 93-1 lots. It soured further when, after winning as mayor in 2010, Rama struck a friendship with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Osmeña’s political enemy.

Yesterday, Osmeña said it was a mistake that he campaigned for Rama in the 2010 local and national elections, thus, it is reportedly incumbent upon him to oust Rama from the mayorship.

Osmeña recalled that before the 2010 elections, 66 of the 80 barangay captains in Cebu City signed a manifesto asking him to let his wife, current Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, run for mayor.

Osmeña heads BOPK.

Should he run next year, Osmeña said current Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young will be his runningmate.He refused to divulge his candidates for congressmen but current North District Rep. Rachel “Cutie” Del Mar reportedly would let her father, former Congressman Raul Del Mar, run next year.

Osmeña said he will be fielding the most popular candidate for the South District. Among those being eyed as candidate are his wife Margot and former city councilor Gerardo Carillo.

Osmeña said it would be difficult for Rama to find a runningmate from the city’s North District that can deliver the votes. Rama is from the South District.

Osmeña said he would also want “young and hardworking” candidates for councilor. Five slots will be available at the City Council by next year because Councilors Augustus Pe Jr. and Edgardo Labella representing the North District and Raul Alcoseba, Jose Daluz III and Rodrigo Abellanosa representing the South District are no longer eligible for reelection.

Pe, however, has decided to run for councilor in the South District while BOPK would need to fill the slot of Councilor Eduardo “Edu” Rama, the mayor’s nephew, who Osmeña said is presumed to be in Rama’s camp.

Osmeña has confirmed in an earlier interview that Barangay Kasambagan Councilman Franklin Ong will be in his lineup.

Several questions arose on why Osmeña still wants the mayorship despite the fact that he is already 63 years old. He said it is because his supposed successors, former mayor Alvin Garcia and now Rama – both he has severed ties with – have allegedly failed expectations.

“That is why I gave a chance to Mike Rama and Alvin Garcia. Palpak!” he said. (FREEMAN)