“I HAVE to face the consequence of having people disappointed and sad over the decisions I have to make,” said Gov. Hilario Davide III.
Davide said he apologized to San Fernando Mayor Antonio “Abe” Canoy last Sunday, Oct. 4, after telling Canoy that he was not the choice of Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas to run for congress in the 1st disctrict.
This cost LP a loyal supporter.
A disheartened Mayor Canoy filed his COC for the congressional seat under a new party, the National People’s Coalition of presidential candidate Grace Poe.
His son, Mico, will run for San Fernando town mayor next year.
Canoy got the bad news the day before the start of the filing period for COCs.
Canoy was displaced by non-LP member Rep. Samsam Gullas of the local Alayon party.
Samsam’s grandfather, former Rep. Eduardo Gullas, is a family friend of the late senator Gerardo Roxas, Mar’s father, and Gullas who belonged to the Nacionalista Party had crossed party lines before to honor the relationship to support him.
Canoy, who is outnumbered as the lone LP mayor in the 1st district, was not issued a certificate of nomination by the Liberals.
The district includes the cities of Talisay, Carcar, Naga as well as Sibonga and San Fernando towns in south Cebu.
Canoy said LP’s sudden decision dismayed him and gave him a “big headache” throughout the week, until he was offered a spot by the NPC.
“I’d be a liar if I told you I didn’t have any hard feelings for LP. I do,” he told reporters.
The mayor supported Davide and the Liberals in 2010 and 2013, a record which sharpened his disappointment.