“Nobody, nobody, nobody but Junjun Davide and Agnes Magpale,” said Liberal Party chairman Mar Roxas on Friday.
He also said the party’s support for Rep. Tomas Osmeña as mayoral candidate in Cebu City was clear.
Roxas, Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, said President Aquino would come to Cebu to campaign for these candidates.
Roxas, who was in Cebu City Friday evening had a breakfast meeting in Manila earlier in the day with LP Cebu province chairman Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, after which they had a brief meeting the President Aquino to discuss developments in Cebu.
“Maraming kumakalat na propaganda at panloloko na walang kandidato si P-Noy sa Cebu dahil sa mga coalition. Hindi totoo yun (There’s a lot of propaganda and false news saying that P-Noy has no candidates in Cebu due to a coalition. That’s not true),” he said
Roxas’s statement contradicted an earlier claim by Rep. Pablo Garcia of Cebu’s 2nd district that the National Unity Party (NUP) that he heads entered into an agreement with the LP to declare a “free zone” in Cebu.
Roxas said Osmeña was the “overwhelming choice” of the barangay officials and LP Cebu members in Cebu City who were consulted.
“Mike Rama is a friend of mine. I’ve known him for a long time and I don’t want to hurt him but we need to choose one candidate and we consulted the local leadership and our LP Cebu members,” Roxas added.
In choosing Osmeña, Roxas said the former mayor was their “first friend” who stood up and supported the P-Noy-Mar tandem even when it wasn’t that popular before 2010.
“He stood up against all flags here. We value that and we are thankful for that. Osmeña showed where he stood,” Roxas added.
“It’s understandable that he (Rama) will be disheartened but really I think he should ask his colleagues in the council. We asked those from Cebu who should be the candidate,” said Roxas.
Earlier, Mayor Rama complained that the LP should respect the rule of the incumbent and support his reelection bid as a loyal LP member who paid dues, unlike Osmeña who leads the Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan which remains independent of LP but is a strong ally.
Roxas admitted that he is “maka Tommy” or favors Osmeña but also said that Osmeña is an LP member.
“He attends all our meetings… Everybody pays dues but that doesn’t mean that anybody has the right to claim any position in the party or as candidate of the party,” Roxas said.
The DILG secretary and LP chairman also refuted Garcia’s earlier claim of a free zone in Cebu for areas where there are NUP and LP candidates.
The same claim was made by Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Cebu’s 1st district, who facilitated the coalition talks between the Nacionalista Party (NP) and LP.
“We only talked about those positions relative to the senatorial lineup. The President clearly has candidates in Cebu,” Roxas said on Friday.
He also said the President assured that he would campaign for Davide and Magpale in Cebu. In their Friday meeting with the President, Davide said he told Aquino the Cebu campaign was “doing good” and that Aquino wanted to know when was the best time for him to campaign for them in Cebu.
Roxas concluded his Cebu visit with a tour of the Mandaue City market with Davide, Magpale, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and other LP allies. With Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza