MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Former Cebu City administrator Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez was the first to file his certificate of candidacy (COC) for Vice Mayor as an independent candidate at the Comelec North District on Monday, October 4, 2021.
Fernandez said that he decided to run for the city’s second top position following the decision of former Cebu City Councilor Margot Osmeña to seek for the mayoralty post.
Though he had other reasons, Fernandez said he allegedly met with former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena and Margot the night before he filed his COC.
“Og mo file ka, di ko mosukol nimo. Di ba? Kay kauban gud mi’g 40 ka tuig unya ang among agenda pare-pareha, nganong mag away man mi?,” Fernandez told Osmeña.
(If you will file, I will not run against you. Right? Because we have been partners for 40 years and we have similar agenda, then why would I go against you?)
It can be recalled that a multi-sectoral group here urged Fernandez to run for mayor for the 2022 elections.
READ: Sectoral groups urge Bimbo Fernandez to run for Cebu City mayor
The former city administrator, who clarified that he was not a Bando-Osmena Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) but only a supporter of Osmena, earlier said that he was open to run for mayor.
READ: Bimbo Fernandez ‘open’ to run for Cebu City mayor
Fernandez said among the reasons why he pushed through with the filing of COC was due to Vice President Leni Robredo of the Liberal party, who is set to file her COC for President probably on Thursday, October 7.
“Mao man ni ang usa sa rason nganong mopugos gyud ko paglansar para dunay tao diri si Leni diri sa Cebu,” he said, stressing that he is the only one who runs under the said party here.
(That is the reason why I was forced to run so that Leni will have a candidate here, a candidate here in Cebu.)
“Usa ni sa nakadasig gyud nga molansar ko. Usa na ka rason si Leni. Ang akoa ra gyud niini gusto ko nga malimpyo ang politika, nga di ba ang mga tawo dili magsalig sa kwarta ba, unya dapat ang mga politiko, murag servant sa mga tawo, di ba? Kay sovereignty ang hari lungsod. Dili mahimo ang politiko maoy maghari,” he said.
(This is one of the reason why I run. One reason is Leni. What I really wanted from this is that the politics will be clean that the people will not depend on money, and the politicians would be like servants to the people. Right? Because soverignty rests on the people. The politicians should not be the king.)
Fernandez, however, clarified that he would still support Margot in her bid for the mayoralty post.
And while he runs as an independent, Fernandez said that there was no such thing as a disadvantage for him as he noted that voters would not have specifically a lineup where they would vote for everyone under the same party.
“Well ang akong giingon, nganhi sa Pilipinas, dili man gud partido atong gibutaran. Ang atong gibutaran, personal,” he said.
(Well, I am saying here in the Philippines, it is not the party we are voting. Our votes are personal.)
“Duna tay chance pero sa pagkakaron ang ato, ako wa ta’y kwarta, wa ta’y makinarya, wa ta’y partido, wala ta’y unsa pero ang atong gisaligan ang momata ang mga tawo gamiton nila ng gahum,” he said.
(We have a chance but for now we don’t have any money, any machinery, we don’t have a party, we don’t have anything but what we depend on is that the people would awaken and they will use their power.)
“Urban poor, mga batan on, mga middle class ug mga intelligence sa akong pagtuo ana nila, ang ilang kasingkasing dia nato mapakahilom lang sila kay mahadlok sila nya ilang negosyo madaot,” he said, stressing that the crucial here are the voters from middle class, low income workers, and the youth.
(Urban poor, the youth, the middle class and the intelligence of our beliefs for them, their hearts, are with us, they are silent because they fear that their businesses would be affected.)
When it comes to changes or substitutions, Fernandez said his decision was final, stressing that he did not like to make confusion to the public.
“Ako wa ko mauyon kanang ingon ana nga paagi ba. Nganong ato mang linlang-linlangon ang mga tawo gud,” he said.
(I don’t like that kind of process because why would we dupe the people.)
Fernandez admitted that Margot did not agree with him as to why he would run for vice mayor instead.
“Ang akong linya, limpyohon ang atong politika. So og iwakli ko ninyo, sa ato pa giwakli ninyo ang paglimpyo sa aotng politika kay dili mahimo nga biyaan nato ang Cebu nga ingon ani nagkagidlay nga ang kwarta maoy magbuot,” he said.
(My line is I will clean the politics. So if you reject me, it will mean that you reject a clean politics because we cannot leave behind Cebu that has been suffered like this because it is the money that rules it.)
Fernandez said the role of the vice mayor was not just being a spare tire, stressing that it has the power to investigate.
“Daghang mahimo. Kon vice mayor ka, makahimo ka anang plata porma unya ang vice mayor dunay katungod sa pag imbestigar. Wala lang nila gamita pero maka imbestigar ta,” he said.
(We can do many things as a vice mayor. I can make a platform for vice mayor and the vice mayor has the right to investigate. They just did not use the power to investigate.)
“Dako kaayog mahimo, dili tinuod ang vice mayor spare tire ra ka. Spare tire ra ka pero duna kay daghang mechanism,” he added, saying that he will try his best should he be elected as such.
(It should be and it is not true that the vice mayor is just a spare tire. He may be a spare tire but he has several mechanisms.)
“Akong hinaot, fair play ning atoa ba, ug wa mo mauyon sa akong gibuhat, pero magpadayon tang amigo. Unsa maning politika gud nga atong awayan. Total di man ko maki kontra ninyo ba. Kay sa ako’y city administrator, ug unsay tuyo ang urban poor, inyo man gyu’ng paminawon,” he stressed.
(What I hope is fair play and if you do not like what I did, but we will continue to be friends. What is politics that we have to fight over it? Anyway, I am not going to fight you. Because when I was the city administrator and what the urban poor wanted, you listened to me.)
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