Barangay elections revive Osmeña-Garcia war

CEBU CITY — The Commission on Elections’ green light to hold the barangay elections as scheduled in May also signals a return match of sorts between Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Alvin Garcia, the man he unseated by a mere 3,030 votes.

The erstwhile close friends and political partners are expected to take their now smoldering personal grudges to their allies in the barangays.

Anticipating a battle royale at the grassroots level, Osmeña has started meeting councilors of his Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) party to discuss potential candidates to field against the entrenched barangay leaders who are mostly with Garcia’s Kusug party.

Of the city’s 80 barangays, 61 are led by chairmen belonging to Kusug while Osmeña enjoys support in only 19.

That the overwhelming advantage enjoyed by Garcia in the number of barangay heads under Kusug actually failed to deliver the votes for him in the May 2001 elections is little consolation for Osmeña who has never been as shaken in his political career than by his hairline victory.

To ensure no repeat of a close fight that can go either way, emerging BOPK leaders in the barangays are now being thoroughly assessed regarding their chances of winning against the mostly incumbent Kusug ba—rangay captains, according to BOPK councilor Gerardo Carillo.

Carillo said the party will soon get into the process of forming complete line-ups for each barangay.

Although the barangay elections are supposedly non-partisan, Carillo said parties such as the BOPK cannot do otherwise but extend assistance to their barangay leaders.

The 19 barangays that backed Osmeña in the last elections were Babag, Basak San Nicolas, Basak Pardo, Bulacao, Buot-Taup, Calamba, Duljo-Fatima, Ermita, Guadalupe, Mambaling, Paril Pitos, Kalunsan, Lusaran, Luz, Sambag II, Sto. Niño, Sudlon I and Talamban.

Garcia, still smarting from his close defeat to Osmeña, promised to actively campaign for his allies in gratitude for their support in the elections.

Jose Navarro, a Kusug member who sits in the city council as president of the Association of Barangay Councils, said the only way Osmeña can make his candidates win and gain control of the barangays is to flood them with money during the elections.

But Navarro said Kusug also has its own means of ensuring that Osmeña gets frustrated in his bid. He did not elaborate, saying only that he himself will not reject any offer of financial support.

But while Garcia controlled 61 of the barangays to Osmeña’s 19, Osmeña still managed to unseat Garcia, garnering 128,724 votes against the latter’s 125,694 votes.

Osmeña and Garcia used to be close friends and political partners, having launched their political careers together by forming the BOPK and running in tandem and winning the top two positions in the city in 1988.

With Osmeña as mayor then and Garcia his vice mayor, the two established a political dynasty of sorts, eliminating all except token opposition from half-hearted contenders.

In 1995, Osmeña gave up on what appeared to be a sure third term and stepped aside in favor of Garcia.

Garcia won a second term in 1998 but shortly thereafter, his partneship with Osmeña began to sour. — Freeman News Service