Gomez open to reconciling with Zamoras

MANILA, Philippines - San Juan Mayor Guia Gomez said yesterday she is open to reconciling with her ally turned political foe, Rep. Ronaldo Zamora.

“I think it is now time for healing. Let’s heal the wounds. Because it is very hard for us if we remain divided. We should be one family again,” she said in an interview.

“Let’s move on now for the sake of the city and the people,” the mayor added.

Gomez won by a margin of 1,233 votes against Vice Mayor Francis Zamora, the congressman’s son, who filed a protest Wednesday. He accused Gomez’s camp of cheating and vote buying.

Gomez denied the allegations and accused the Zamora camp of vote buying, saying her camp has “no money to engage in such acts.”

Days before the election, the elder Zamora said he would initiate a reconciliation with the camp of former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada regardless of the outcome of the polls.

Gomez has a son by Estrada, Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito. Estrada himself is facing an electoral protest filed by former mayor Alfredo Lim.

Gomez said she is waiting for an emissary from the Zamoras to start reconciliation talks.

She also said she decided not to hold a victory party because “I don’t want to rub salt on open wounds.”