BOPK supporters ‘temporarily disrupted’ portion of Cebu City road

Former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. Photo from congress.gov.ph

CEBU CITY—A portion of Osmeña Boulevard where the Cebu City poll offices are located was closed due to vehicular traffic shortly before noon on Thursday.

READ: BO-PK launches lineup after Mass

People in yellow T-shirt filled the portion of the road to show support for Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) candidates led by former Mayor Tomas Osmeña. Osmeña of the Liberal Party is challenging the second re-election of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

Osmeña lost by about 6,000 votes to Rama, who was his former ally, in the 2013 elections.

Cebu City has a voting population of 516,232 as of the 2010 elections as per records from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

BOPK candidates gathered for a 9:30 a.m. Mass at the St. Therese Parish in Barangay (village) Apas, Cebu City.

Candidates and their supporters converged at the Plaza Independencia around 11:00 a.m. and walked about 100-meter distance to the Commission on Elections Cebu City offices to file their certificate of candidacies (COCs), temporarily disrupting traffic flow in the area.

Osmeña’s running mate is Nestor Archival, the top councilor for Cebu City’s north district.

Candidates under Team Rama of Mayor Michael Rama will file their COCs on Friday morning. RAM