Tomas Osmeña seeks to get back Cebu City mayoral post from Rama

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A portion of Osmeña Boulevard where the Cebu City poll offices are located was closed to vehicular traffic shortly before noon on Thursday.

People in yellow T-shirts filled the portion of the road to show support for Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) candidates led by former mayor Tomas Osmeña. Osmeña of the Liberal Party is challenging the second re-election of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

He lost by about 6,000 votes to Rama, a former ally, in the 2013 election.

Cebu City has a voting population of 516,232, according to the 2010 election records from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

BOPK candidates gathered for a 9:30 a.m. Mass at the St. Therese Parish in Barangay Apas, Cebu City.

Candidates and their supporters converged at the Plaza Independencia about 11 a.m. and walked 100 meters to the Comelec Cebu City offices to file their COCs temporarily disrupting traffic flow in the area.

Osmeña’s running mate is Nestor Archival, the number one councilor for Cebu City’s north district.

Candidates under Team Rama of Mayor Michael Rama will file their COCs on Friday morning. SFM