One Cebu confirms Abunda-Gwen meeting

One Cebu Party confirmed the meeting between Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and showbiz personality Boy Abunda in Manila last week.

But party spokesman Rory Jon Sepulveda said it was a personal meeting between two personalities who hail from the Visayas. Abunda is a native of Samar.

Sepulveda denied reports that Abunda was hired to be Governor Garcia’s public relations handler for her senatorial bid in 2013.

“Pero engaging him, even if we wanted, di mi ka-afford uy (we can’t afford him). Boy Abunda is Boy Abunda. Of course if ever he supports the candidacy of Gov. Gwen, we will welcome it,” Sepulveda told Cebu Daily News.

Whatever commitments Abunda gave the governor, “it’s between the two of them,” said Sepulveda, who is also the Capitol’s spokesman.

“Pero mga personal nga mga commitments sa usag-usa, sila ra ang nakahibalo. Wala ta kahibaw ana (When it comes to personal commitments, they are the ones who know about it. We really don’t have any idea about it),” he said.

Sepulveda said it was the right time for the governor to get inputs on her candidacy for the Senate.

“You get to listen to their views, opinions, advices from your acquaintances, friends and even those who are not in favor of what you’re doing,” Sepulveda said.

“This is the opportune time to know what is the feedback especially after the announcement that she will be running under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) ticket as a senatorial candidate.”

The governor accepted the invitation to be included in the UNA senatorial slate for next year and made several visits to provinces across the country.

It was in Abunda’s ABS-CBN talk show, “The Bottomline” last year, that Garcia first revealed she was “keeping my options open” about a national position after her term as Cebu governor ends in 2013. She told Abunda it was the first time she was saying this “because I like you.” Abunda later asked her if she considered herself the “best governor” Cebu ever had, to which she replied “yes.”