Osmeña slams Ong for joining Barug: ‘Driven by personal ambition’

Former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña. | File

CEBU CITY, Philippines – They used to be good friends and political allies.

But Kasambagan Barangay Captain Franklyn Ong has already left Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) and is now considered as among the “probable” candidates under Partido Barug Team Rama of suspended Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

According to BOPK head and former mayor Tomas Osmeña, Ong’s decision to join Rama’s group was driven by his “personal ambition.”

READ: Why Franklyn Ong is now with Barug, not BOPK?

He said that Ong’s decision to bolt BOPK was tainted with “opportunistic motives.”

Still, Osmeña said that he respects Ong’s transfer to Barug.

“That [is] his right and I respect that. What disappoints me is [his] licking the ass of people who have sprayed his showroom in the election. Now we know what drives him,” Osmeña said.

READ: Rama ends coalition with Garcia for 2025 elections

Osmeña was referring to an incident that happened in May 2019 when armed men peppered bullets on the Chevrolet showroom in Mandaue City owned by Ong.

Partido Barug Team Rama

Ong, the president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) in Cebu City, run for vice mayor under BOPK in the 2022 elections.  He was in tandem with Osmeña’s wife and former Cebu City Councilor Margot Osmeña.

READ: Partido Barug in Cebu City unveils slate for 2025 elections

Last September 24, Ong was presented as among the “probable” candidates for the 2025 midterm elections under Partido Barug Team Rama.

In a press conference that was held after the presentation of “probable” candidates, Ong said that he decided to leave because he no longer felt that BOPK was a viable political group.

“First and foremost, after the last election from our side, when I ran under the party [BOPK], after that we were made to believe and understood that BOPK was no more and we were independent,” he said.

BOPK is not a political party

But Osmeña disputed Ong’s statement. The former mayor clarified that BOPK “is not a political party and has never been registered.”

“You cannot dissolve what has never existed. He just left. Period,” he said.

Osmeña said that BOPK is an advocacy that prioritizes loyalty to the people of Cebu, without being aligned with any national party.

He said that their group is guided by their principle: “Walang Iwanan.”

Osmeña said that they also give importance to the voice of the minority.

“In a democracy, the majority rules but the additional principle of BOPK, the majority rules but the minority has rights,” he said.