“I guess with Imperial Manila’s blessings, they are now Goliath,” said Cebu Rep. Pablo John Garcia yesterday.
He said he would just wait to be formally notified of the new alliance between Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and gubernatorial aspirant Hilario “Junjun” Davide III of the Liberal Party.
The two were presented to President Benigno Aquino III in Malacañang on Thursday afternoon following a meeting with top officials of LP and the Durano-led Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud) for a coalition to be formalized in Cebu on July 7, birthday of Bakud leader Rep. Ramon “Nito” Durano III.
Garcia, who had invited Magpale to be his runningmate in 2013, said One Cebu would wait for the Bakud party to relay to them what was agreed upon with the Liberal Party.
The LP-Bakud alliance, which leaves Garcia without a vice gubernatorial bet and One Cebu without a guarantee of the 5th district’s hefty votes, was the subject of months of speculation.
“Magpale and Bakud haven’t declined the position to us whether formally or informally. All we’re hearing is what we read in the papers,” said Garcia yesterday, expressing his surprise at a Cebu Daily News front page report about the shift titled “Pnoy favors Cebu tandem.”
Garcia recalled that in the 2010 elections, the LP portrayed the Cebu gubernatorial race as a “David and Goliath” fight that pitted Davide against reelectionist Gov. Gwen Garcia of the then administration Lakas-Kampi coalition.
Congressman Garcia did not mention any ready substitutes to run for vice governor under One Cebu.
“As an ally, One Cebu expects Bakud leaders to meet with us to announce any major change in alliances, in accordance with the spirit of openness and courtesy both parties exercised and have come to expect through the years,” he said.
“While we’ve been ready for a yes or no, we expected that it would be communicated to us in a meeting we had been requesting,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Nevertheless, Garcia said he is optimistic about his plans to become Cebu’s next governor and anticipated the Palace would throw its support behind Davide and Magpale if they formalize their tandem.
“Are we ready? I’ve been ready to run for governor for almost two months now while the Liberal Party was deciding on whom to field. We never expected otherwise or anything less because LP is the administration party,” the congressman said.
Meanwhile, outgoing Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Cebu’s 1st district who heads the Alayon Party said he will support Gwendolyn Garcia in her bid for a Senate seat in 2013.
“That has been my norm, I supported Lito Osmeña. I supported Dodong Maambong. For as long as there is a Cebuano, I will support her no matter what party or coalition she’ll be in ,” Gullas told reporters.
Garcia was included in the senate lineup of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). With Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus