Gwen on dropping Senate bid: ‘My duty is to lead Cebu’
CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday announced her decision to drop out of the Senate race, saying it was “my duty to lead Cebu” to preserve gains made since her first term in 2004.
She spoke at a Student Marketing Convention in the Cebu International Convention Center.
For the past two weeks, she said, her closest friends and allies have asked her to revisit her plans to seek higher office when her term ends on June 30, 2013.
She said the idea of a having a Cebuano fill a Senate seat was “irresistible” a few months ago but “the good fight is here, in the province.”
“At this crucial time, the task of sustaining Cebu’s unprecedented gains and progress as the number one province in the entire country requires that I be here, at all times, if necessary.”
“In short, my duty to lead Cebu needs my undivided attention.”
With this, “I have decided to discontinue my bid for a seat in the Philippine Senate,” Garcia said.
Her statement came a day after Vice President Jejomar Binay confirmed that the governor notified him and other leaders of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) that she would be running for the 3rd congressional seat in Cebu instead of the Senate.
Garcia, in an indirect reference in her speech to polling results that placed her in 25th for the 12 available Senate slots, said she knew the odds were great but “I have not been known to run from a good fight just because it was difficult.”
“But as my most well-meaning friends and allies have pointed out, the good fight is here, in the province I have pledged to serve well.”
The governor said her decision was not based on low ratings in national surveys.
“Even the most discouraging surveys – and believe me, the surveys can sometimes be discouraging – have shown that a great majority of them approved of my bid. I thank them, even as I must say that my future political plans have ceased to be about my future, but about Cebu, here and now,” Garcia said.
She thanked mayors and officials under One Cebu especially in the 3rd district for “unanimously giving an opportunity” to her to represent them in Congress.
Garcia will run for the seat to be vacated by her younger brother Rep. Pablo John Garcia, who was chosen by One Cebu to run for governor.
Her arch critic, Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district, said he was no longer surprised with Garcia’s decision because she had known long ago that she “had no chance of winning.”
Osmeña said he was amused with endorsements by some One Cebu mayors who later ended up asking Garcia to stay in Cebu. “That’s why I call it the great Gwen Garcia puppet show,” he said.
Osmeña said even if the governor backed out of the Senate race, Cebuanos will still be well represented in the Senate because his elder brother, Sen. Serge Osmeña, is still there. With Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac
