It is unfortunate that former Congressman Tony Cuenco decided to withdraw from the Cebu City south district congressional race because he was a formidable candidate and a shoo-in winner for the district. I think his reason for withdrawing is something that is justifiable and was considered kindly by Team Rama though many are worried about his decision and will miss Cuenco.
Admittedly Cuenco was a great loss to Team Rama because he still had command over the barangay leaders in the south district and is a valuable candidate of Team Rama. With Cuenco’s withdrawal, the slot for the south district candidate is now open for Councilor Joey Daluz or lawyer Totol Batuhan and either of the two will be a strong candidate and will help Team Rama towards victory despite the fact that they may be considered only as a substitute.
I was informed that Team Rama is still weighing whom to choose to take the place vacated by former congressman Tony Cuenco because both aspirants – Daluz and Batuhan – are strong candidates. But whoever will be chosen will surely bring strength to Team Rama. Good luck to whoever will be chosen by Team Rama.
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I think Gov. Gwen Garcia is giving up on her aspiration to run for Senate in next year’s election and may opt to contest the 3rd district congressional seat in the Province of Cebu. Clearly the chances of bagging the Senate slot is more difficult for the governor especially that she has to have more exposure in national politics and will spend a lot to run for the Senate. Seeking a seat in the House of Representatives to represent the 3rd district is a better option for her in terms of winning and finances.
I think she did a smart move when she transferred registration to the town of Barili from Dumanjug. I think she was just toying with the idea of running for the Senate but was more serious in eyeing the House of Representative slot.
The petition by the mayors not to let go of her presence in the province may be considered as a show in order for her to have a graceful exit in the senatorial race because she can always say that she can’t turn her back to the Cebuanos. But whatever it is, I think her staying here would be good for Cebu because we need her more than the national constituents.
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I think the investigation of the Office of the Ombudsman on Rep. Tommy Osmeña is of his own making. The congressman should have been more circumspect in accepting the donation of the two cars coming from the owner of the Bigfoot. In answering the query surrounding the two cars, the congressman instead challenged those who questioned the donation to sue him thus some sectors took his challenge and indeed sued him before the Office of the Ombudsman.
There is nobody to blame but the congressman himself for accepting the said donation. But they have been changing the circumstances of the donation. Osmena said the donation was made by the owner of Bigfoot but he did not accept it and eventually it was sold to his sister, Minnie and nephew, Paulo.
Now, the issue has caught the attention of the public and the Office of the Ombudsman is investigating the issue.
Many, however are not taking the Ombudsman seriously because many think that the Ombudsman may not have the will to prosecute a very powerful politician like Osmeña.
Mayor Mike Rama is not leading the filing of a complaint against Osmeña because he does not want the complaint to be tainted with politics.
But some sectors insist that the mayor should file a complaint because the action of Osmeña directly affected the city government. But Mayor Rama is the type of political animal who refuses to put political color in his action especially against his political rival.
But I think many sectors will fill in the gap left by the mayor because there are many Cebuanos who are still courageous to fight against the wrong doings in government and many of them think that what Osmeña did was wrong.