Rama allies eye key posts

A FORMER chief of staff of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and the son of former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia are both gunning for top posts in their respective fields after winning in last month’s barangay elections.

Barangay Tisa chairman Philip Zafra is said to be the top choice by the mayor’s Team Rama camp to run for president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC).

Incoming barangay Camputhaw councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, expressed his interest to run for president of the Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines (BCLP) Cebu City Chapter.

Rama said he will be “comfortable” if both Zafra and Garcia run for these posts. Elections for the ABC and BCLP are scheduled next month. The new sets of barangay officials will assume office on Dec. 1.

But Rama said while he supports Zafra for ABC president, he won’t “abandon” Punta barangay captain Jose Navarro, a former ABC president.

While he won’t say if he will include Navarro in the Team Rama slate for the ABC, Rama said he intends to continue working with Navarro whom he described to be a loyal party man and a seasoned public servant.

Former mayor and Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) leader Tomas Osmeña said the ABC election won’t be a big thing for his group.

He said Team Rama now has majority of the barangay officials so it won’t come as a surprise if they win the ABC presidency.

After the Oct. 28 election, Team Rama had 41 winning barangay chairpersons on their side while BO-PK only had 39.

“They have the numbers so why will we think of something that we have no control? We will just observe,” Osmeña said.

He said he would rather “count their blessings that we have almost half.” Correspondent Edison delos Angeles