IN HIS DEFENSE. Former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama says he will hold a press conference today for updates on his case.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
AMID suggestions that a petition for recall may be the more expedient way of protesting against the victory of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, defeated mayoral candidate Michael Rama said he is not considering a recall election but rather is hoping his election protest will prosper.
He said that unlike Osmeña’s protest against him, which he described as “just an afterthought,” his camp has ample basis for filing the election protest against Osmeña.
“It is good that it is moving. If it is moving fast, and whatever the result, we will be happy. But we won’t be dictating as well because they have their own pace at Comelec. At least, we’re very happy,” Rama said in an interview.
Earlier this month, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division ordered a recount of 167 precincts after it found Rama’s protest to be sufficient in form and substance.
The pilot precincts are the protested clustered precincts which Rama wants the votes to be recounted.
Rama pointed out several surveys done by his camp prior to the elections which showed that he would win over Osmeña.
The same surveys, he said, also showed that only three councilors under the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) slate of Mayor Osmeña would get a seat in the city council – two in the north district and one in the south district.
Another reason why his protest should prosper is because several other losers in the elections complained of having their votes robbed from them, including defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
“His (Osmeña’s) protest was an afterthought. He already conceded that he lost. But our protest was not an afterthought. It was really the talk,” Rama said alluding to the 2013 election protest filed by Osmeña against him.
As to a possible recall of election, Rama said they have not considered it because it can only be done one year after the official sought to be recalled assumes his post.
Osmeña has recently been threatening Team Rama councilors that he will initiate recall proceedings against them if they do not approve the land swap deal he entered into with Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III to resolve the long-standing 93-1 lot dispute.
Rama criticized this as “undemocratic” and “dictatorial.”
Councilor Sisinio Andales, an Osmeña ally, said that while he thinks the mayor’s threat was borne out of anger, it is still possible that the affected beneficiaries can really initiate a recall against the councilors since the 93-1 issue has been nagging them for so long already.