Joey Daluz
At least 60 of the 80 barangay chairmen of Cebu City are now identified supporters of Team Rama.
“From 38 during the May 2013 elections, the barangay captains with Team Rama are now 62,” Team Rama campaign manager Jose Daluz III told reporters over the weekend.
He said their ranks have increased because barangay officials were turned away away by stalwarts in the rival Bando Osmena-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) who are no longer in power like founder and former mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Daluz said barangay chairmen in Pulangbato, Budlaan, Sudlon II, Tabunan, Tisa, Poblacion Pardo, Pahina San Nicolas, Kakunasan and Lorega are now part of Team Rama.
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“With these additions, we have a very good chance of winning the 2016 elections. It’s Mayor Michael Rama’s last term. They can see that he is active, visible, and there are really a lot of projects. So why not continue his last term?,” Daluz said.
Loyal
If there is a change in administration, Daluz said chances are the projects that Mayor Rama started since his first term in 2010 will be discontinued.
Among these projects are the recovery of sidewalks and reblocking of fire-damaged sites, and the improvement and beautification of downtown Cebu City, he said.
Daluz said some barangay heads still remain loyal to BO-PK.
They include Michael Gacasan of Guadalupe, Victor Buendia of Labangon, Manuel Guanzon of Capitol Site, Gremar Barete of Buhisan, Jessielou Cadungog of Tejero and Pancho Ramirez of Sto. Nino.
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The new additions were confirmed by Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) Cebu City Chapter president Phillip Zafra, a Team Rama ally.
Politics is addition
Mayor Rama said more barangays may switch sides.
“Politics is addition not subtraction. The whole Team Rama has always been moving towards addition. I’ve been telling them the best formula for victory is letter H not letter A.
That is humility not arrogance,” Rama said. But BO-PK stalwarts are not as convinced with the numbers.
Councilor Margot Osmeña, Tomas’s wife, said barangay chairmen are not the only gauge to winning the elections.
“If they are referring to the barangay chairmen, that may be so and it is not surprising. It’s understandable. If that automatically means the people in the barangays, mmm, let us see,” she said.
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City Councilor Sisinio Andales, a BO-PK ally, said the barangay chairmen are just asking for projects and are not really loyal to Team Rama.
“They are entitled to their own fearful imaginations. We are not afraid of that as long as we perform, BO-PK is okay and we have no anomalies,” he said.