Lawyer Jose Daluz III wants Basak-Pardo barangay captain Dave Tumulak as his political running mate for the 2025 midterm elections. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Despite telling the public that he is still awaiting a “sign” to announce his candidacy for the mayoral position in the 2025 midterm election, Lawyer Jose Daluz III told CDN Digital that he is already considering Dave Tumulak as his political running mate.
Daluz expressed his intention to run alongside Tumulak, citing his desire to introduce a fresh name in politics and offer new leadership with demonstrated capacity.
“Kami ni Dave Tumulak, kauban na mi ana niya. You know, if I will run, I want fresh nga mga tawo, kanang mga bag-o ba. New leadership man kaha? So moprovide ta og new names nga naay mga capacidad,” Daluz said on Tuesday, February 13.
(We, Dave Tumulak and I, we are colleagues. You know, if I will run, I want people, who are fresh, people who are new ones. We want new leadership? So we provide new names who have the capacity.)
Dave Tumulak is the incumbent barangay captain of Basak-Pardo. He ran for the mayoral position in the last election and has previously served as a Cebu City councilor and worked in the media industry.
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According to Daluz, he has been talking and consulting with several people regarding his decision and one consistent feedback he received from these individuals is their desire for new leadership.
“Sad to say ni Mayor Mike Rama, people are wanting for a new leadership. I don’t know kita ba’y mofit aning want sa mga tawo, but that is ang nadawat nako nga feedback sa akong suroy suroy; nga muingon sila nga ganahan sila ug new leadership,” he added.
(It’s sad to say about Mike Rama, (but) people are wanting for a new leadership. I don’t know if we fit the want of the people, but that is what feedback I received in our places that we visited; they say that they want a new leadership.)
He also noted that he did not want his decision to run to be associated solely with his political differences with Mayor Michael Rama. Instead, he woul seek motivation rooted in his belief that he would have something valuable to offer for the betterment of Cebu City.
Daluz even shared his three main platforms, indicating that he had already prepared initial strategies to address Cebu City’s longstanding issues with traffic, water, and electricity.
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Daluz said that he was not seeking votes based solely on personality, but rather on the relevance of his proposed deliverables to the people.
“I believe ang issue sa Cebu City is number one is traffic. Mao nang among gitun-an if we can provide a solution improvement of the traffic. Number two is the water. Water is life, while I am here sa MCWD, I will admit nga MCWD cannot solve the problem of water in the service area; it should be in the national and local government. Unya electricity sad, we will experience shortage by 2030 if dili ta makaprovide ug generate og more power so mao na ato ng tanawon,” Daluz said.
(I believe the issues of Cebu City is number one traffic. That is we studied and if we can provide a solution improvement of the traffic. Number two is water. Water is life, while I am here in MCWD, I will admit that MCWD cannot solve the problem of water in the service area; it should be in the national and local government. And electricity also, we will experience shortage by 2030 if we cannot provide and generate more power so we will look into that.)
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Meanwhile, when questioned about the potential repercussions of his decision to run in light of his political differences with Rama, Daluz acknowledged the slim probability of reconciliation.
He, however, pointed out that their opposing stances in the political sphere would make it unlikely for them to reconcile.
“Tingale sa politika dili na gyud mi magkuyog kay naglain na ang maong barugan but we will remain as friends, ang politika lumalabay ra man ni,” Daluz said.
(Perhaps, in politics we will not be together because we now have different beliefs, but we will remain friends, politics is just a passing thing.)
CDN Digital has already reached Dave Tumulak; however, no official response has come from him as of press time.
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