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It will be a solo, non-traditional campaign for Cebu City's mayoralty seat in next year's elections for John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña.
Osmeña told CEBU DAILY NEWS yesterday he won’t have a lineup of councilor candidates or a runningmate because it would only be “confrontational down the line. Mas maayo pa nga wala na lang (It's better to have none at all),” he said.
Instead of pulong-pulong or barangay hall meetings, Osmeña said he would cut costs by using the Internet and multimeda to campaign for voters.
The former senator transferred his voter’s registration from Toledo City in the the province to barangay Camputhaw in Cebu City's north district last month.
Osmeña, who earlier said he may draw Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) candidates to his fold, is talking now about a one-man campaign.
“It will be much simplier if I run alone because I can approach the people of (north district representative Raul) del Mar and the other groups and ask them to support me,” he said.
Aside from posting on blog and on Facebook account, Osmeña said he would use the video-sharing site YouTube. Three-minute TV and radio campaign ads will soon follow.
“I've always maintained that in a campaign, we can skip the heads of barangays and go directly to the people by using radio and TV,” he said.
However, Osmeña said he won't refuse help from barangay captains, who he has been meeting.
“They say that they would support me at the last minute. But they won’t come out in the open now because they are afraid of Tommy because he is vindictive.”
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the BO-PK completed its lineup of councilors for the city's north district and will finalize the south slate in the next few days.
“The main objective is to prevent the other side (Kusug) from forming their slate. We will wait for the last minute so that there will be no more time for them to get our rejects,” said Mayor Osmeña.
Among their choices are barangay captains Nida Cabrera (Luz) and Alvin Arcilla (Talamban) and NGO leader Alvin Dizon.
The mayor is backing Vice Mayor Michael Rama and education consultant Joy Young for mayor and vice mayor respectively.
Businessman Jonathan Guardo said Lahug barangay captain Mary Ann delos Santos and him are going around the city introducing themseles as congressional aspirants.
But they also continue “consultations” and listen to feedback on whether they would run for mayor and vice mayor.
Guardo said former mayor Alvin Garcia could run for north district representation to replace delos Santos while he finds a susbtitue for himself in the south.
Mayor Osmeña said the opposition’s statements were just a publicity stunt to prepare for the eventual candidacy of Winston Garcia, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) general manager, who is allegedly eyeing the mayorship.
