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Who will the One Cebu party of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia support for the presidency?
She’s talked to Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party and Joseph Estrada of the opposition but made no promises.
“It’s wise to listen to everybody. But when we’ve chosen our presidential candidate, we will stick to that candidate come hell or high water,” she said.
A One Cebu party convention will be called before Dec. 1 – the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC).
“As far as it is practicable, we will be asking our members to support our presidential candidate,” she said but the choice will not be imposed.
“Our priority is support for our local candidates,” she said.
Garcia is provincial chairman of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD national party, whose presidential bet is former Defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro.
After Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. said “I have burned my bridges” with Garcia, One Cebu will be looking for a running mate for the governor’s reelection bid.
In a press statement the other day, Sanchez said he was leaving One Cebu for a “thousand-and-one reasons”, including his opposing views on the Balili lot purchase fiasco, his mothballed Trans-axial Highway project and the family-controlled nature of the party.
“One Cebu is not really One Cebu. Its rules, politics and decisions are dictated by One Family.”
Garcia yesterday said she was not worried and that One Cebu was “stronger than ever.”
“The difficulty is not in looking for candidates but in choosing who among them would best fit the position. There are many who are qualified, competent, honest and willing to serve,” Garcia said.
She declined to give names, saying it may prematurely “close our doors” to others with equal potential.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he believed that Sanchez would make a strong tandem with Hilario Davide III of the Liberal Party in challenging Garcia’s reelection.
Osmeña said province voters already know Sanchez’s reputation and those who work in Cebu City can spread the word about Davide as a “good person who is not involved – not even an allegation – with corruption.”
“If you are popular in Cebu City, it will spread to the province because the city is the center of mass communication, such as television, newspapers and radio stations,” Osmeña said.
He said that most opinion makers, high-level executives, professionals, and owners of land in the province are based in Cebu City.
Governor Garcia said there was no more chance of reconciliation between her and Sanchez. She denied reports that mutual friends, such as Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district) and his sister, Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung, tried to patch things up between the two.
In her press conference, Garcia also said she welcomed Mayor Osmeña’s plan to attend the next Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting, scheduled on Dec. 17 at the Capitol Social Hall.
Osmeña plans to voice his stand against the proposal to put up a Light Rail Transit system for Metro Cebu.
“It will be good for him to come and visit the Capitol again,” she said.
Osmeña is an RDC member but has not attended for years since his falling out with Garcia over a failed land swap deal.
