BEFORE THE SPLIT: Vice President Jejomar Binay (right) and the Garcia family shared the same stage in this Feb. 16,2016 photo where One Cebu gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia (background LCD) declared support for Binay as Rep. Gwen Garcia and former House Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia applauded. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
One Cebu has broken ties with the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President and presidential candidate Jejomar Binay over serious differences in the handling of the campaign in Cebu.
A source close to One Cebu said the reason for the breakup was because “UNA was disloyal to the conditions of the coalition” between the two parties.
The breakup of the alliance, which was heralded with fanfare only a month ago, is expected to be announced today in a press conference called at 8 a.m. by the members of the Garcia family, led by their patriarch, Pablo “Pabling” Garcia, according to sources.
“Good afternoon, FYI tomorrow March 21, Monday, 8 a.m. Winston, Pabling, Gwen, Pablo John and other One Cebu officials will have a presscon for a major announcement…” read a text message received by Cebu Daily News yesterday.
It is expected that the “major announcement” would be the breakup of the One Cebu-UNA coalition, according to sources.
None of the Garcias were available when CDN tried to reach them through their cellphones.
“I will neither confirm nor deny,” said Pablo John Garcia, One Cebu secretary general, however replied via a text message to CDN last night when asked to comment about the reported split.
One Cebu has not yet decided who will get its support but it would likely be a choice between Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (PDP Laban) and Sen. Grace Poe (independent).
Leoncio Evasco Jr., the mayor of Maribojoc town in Bohol and the campaign manager of Duterte, confirmed he talked yesterday with Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia, Winston’s brother, and was informed by the latter that they, One Cebu and the Garcia family, were breaking away from Binay.
Evasco, however, declined to say if they were in negotiation with One Cebu for the Garcia-led group to throw their support behind Duterte.
“Let the (Garcia camp) do the talking,” he said in his text exchange with Nico Alconaba, the Mindanao bureau chief of Philippine Daily Inquirer, CDN’s sister publication.
Rep. Ace Durano of Cebu’s fifth district, Poe’s campaign manager, was also mum on reports reaching CDN over ongoing talks of possible alliance between their camp and One Cebu.
A source close to One Cebu said the group will only be choosing between Duterte and Poe. However, they will not make a decision immediately and will weigh it carefully because some members of the local party are for Duterte while others want to support Poe.
One Cebu will likely announce its choice before the local campaign starts on March 26, or on Black Saturday, according to the source.
EXPECTED
Tomas Osmeña, the mayoral candidate for Liberal Party Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) supporting the presidential bid of Mar Roxas, said he was not surprised over the development and said One Cebu will most probably support Duterte of the PDP Laban, because he was the more popular candidate right now.
“It’s more convenient for them if they go for Duterte,” Osmeña said when reached for comment.
Osmeña also said it is improbable for One Cebu to support the candidacy of Poe because her vice presidential candidate, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, is “so bwisit (angry) with Gwen (Garcia)” because the latter allegedly reneged on her promise to include Escudero in their sample ballots during the 2013 election.
The CDN source agreed with Osmeña and said One Cebu would most likely support Duterte rather than Poe because the latter is aligned with Bakud, which is supporting the reelection bids of Gov. Hilario “Junjun” Davide Jr. and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, who are being challenged by Garcia and his running mate, Nerissa Soon Ruiz.
MISCOMMUNICATION
One Cebu ally Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Cebu’s fourth district, in a phone interview, confirmed that a “miscommunication” occurred between Winston Garcia and Binay, which, according to reports that reached him from One Cebu, happened on Friday night.
“I heard of a miscommunication between Binay and Winston but I do not know how serious it was or if it was just a misunderstanding. I hope that it will be ironed out,” Salimbangon said.
Salimbangon’s sources from One Cebu had told him that the dispute was caused by a lack of communication between Binay and the Garcia camp.
Salimbangon, who was in Medellin on a campaign sortie last night, tried to reach Garcia to ask about the reported fallout, but Garcia’s phone was out of reach.
Salimbangon is running for reelection under the National Unity Party, formerly Lakas-Kampi. He has affiliated himself with One Cebu.
Asked if he would also break ties with Binay and join One Cebu, Salimbangon said: “It’s too early to comment because we still have to know.”
THE SNUB
The CDN source close to One Cebu said Ronnie Puno, who is now the campaign strategist of Binay, has been ignoring One Cebu in their campaign sorties in the
different towns in Cebu province.
The source added that Puno’s strategy is to rely more on incumbents, even if these incumbents are not allied with One Cebu.
One Cebu vice gubernatorial candidate Soon-Ruiz, in a telephone interview, confirmed that UNA never coordinated with One Cebu during their campaign sorties, but refused to comment further on the falling out between the two political parties.
Soon-Ruiz said they were not invited to the UNA rally scheduled this evening at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City.
But according to Tinago Barangay Captain Joel Garganera, the UNA rally tonight is initiated by the Cebu City chapter of the party, with Mayor Michael Rama organizing the rally. He said he was asked to help bring supporters.
“We are bringing our supporters since we are the host and it is incumbent upon us to help mobilize a crowd,” Garganera said.