THE HEAT IS ON

Just as the summer heat is starting to be felt across Cebu, local politics begins to sizzle as well.

Opposing and friendly political groups have launched their series of campaign activities starting yesterday, Easter Sunday, a day after the campaign period for local positions officially began on Black Saturday, March 26.

The Commission on Elections in Central Visayas (Comelec-7) set the tone for the campaign period by reminding local candidates to observe decency in the conduct of their campaign, especially during their respective “miting de advance.”

Comelec 7 Director Jose Nick Mendros said candidates must avoid hurling unfounded charges against their opponents.

“They must be issue-based and must focus on their platforms in their campaign rather than mudslinging with other candidates,” Mendros told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

This early, however, the camp of reelectionist Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama (Team Rama) launched his first rocket directed at his erstwhile-ally-turned-opponent,  former city Mayor Tomas Osmeña (Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan), by releasing yesterday a letter from the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas, which informed Rama that the anti-graft body has filed criminal and administrative complaints against Osmeña for allegedly indirectly receiving two Chrysler Dodge Charger sedan from Big Foot Entertainment Phils. Inc., a company that entered into a lease agreement with City Hall over a piece of the city-owned South Road Properties (SRP) while Osmeña was still the mayor of the city in 2007.  (See separate story on page 2.)

Osmeña, when reached for comment, responded with a text message that said: “I don’t see their point at all. Let me read it first.”

Earlier yesterday, Osmeña told CDN he would make sure to make himself a campaign a priority this election, having learned his lesson from the outcome of the 2013 election, where he lost by a slim margin to Rama.

Osmeña said that campaigning for Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas will be a second priority.

“My priority is me. I already learned my lesson from the last election.  I organized campaigns for other candidates including (Cebu Gov. Hilario) Junjun Davide but I lost. Enough of that already,” Osmeña told CDN by phone.

“Last time, I made sure that everybody wins except myself,” added Osmeña, who lost by only 6,000 votes to Rama in 2013.

BO-PK is now focused on grassroots campaigning to make sure that he especially will win in the election, said Osmeña.

“You have to realize that we have a hand-to-hand combat here,” he told CDN.

Today, BO-PK candidates and supporters will converge for a 3 p.m. Holy Mass at the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish church to officially open their “grassroots” campaign.

“There will no proclamations or hand raising. We will just be there to hear Mass,” Osmeña said.

Team Rama, on the other hand, announced it will kick off its campaign on Tuesday in a big rally set at Plaza Independencia.

Cebu City, a highly urbanized and independent city with close to 900,000 population, has 547,681 registered voters.

Meanwhile, Osmeña belied rumors he would join the camp of presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with the proliferation of campaign posters with his and Duterte’s face on them and printed with “Just DO (Duterte-Osmena) it.”

He admitted that Duterte’s popularity in Cebu is making his job in campaigning for Roxas “even more difficult,” but he stressed he would continue to support the LP standard-bearer.

“If Mar is not running, I’ll have to admit that I will be all-out for Duterte,” he said, but right now, he still believed that “Mar is better for us.”

Among those who have kicked off their campaigns yesterday were Talisay City Mayor Johnny de los Reyes and the One Cebu Party of gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia.

De los Reyes, who dropped Roxas in favor of Duterte, began his campaign with a 4-hour caravan along the city’s main thoroughfares and capped it with a rally at 7 p.m.

De los Reyes said Duterte will be returning to Talisay City at a still-unspecified date next week for a bigger rally.

Garcia’s One Cebu slate opened their campaign in Borbon town with Vice Mayor Noel Dotillos, the party’s mayoral candidate, via a motorcade around town at 2 p.m.  The team will be in the southwestern city of Toledo today for another caravan. At the same time, One Cebu candidates in Consolacion will also hold its own caravan in the town at 8 a.m.   One Cebu will cap its first campaign day with a torch parade in Cordova at 6 p.m. to end in a rally at the Cordova Sports Complex on Mactan Island.

Today, it will be the turn of the LP Cebu provincial slate led by Davide and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale to open their campaign with a Mass at the St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church in the southern Cebu town of Argao, Davide’s hometown. LP mayoral candidates from the second district, a known bailiwick of the Garcias, will attend the Mass.

Tomorrow,  Davide and his slate will hold a caravan from Barili to Daanbantayan in northern Cebu and on the third day, from Bogo City to Liloan town.

Sixth district Rep. Luigi Quisumbing (LP), now running for mayor in Mandaue City, and  Mayor Jonas Cortes, who is seeking to swap places with Quisumbing, will likewise begin their campaign today with a Holy Mass at the San Roque Parish Church in Barangay Subangdaku before proceeding to their rally set at  6 p.m. in Barangays Subangdaku and Paknaan.

Their opponents, led by mayoral bet Lollypop Ouano-Dizon (United Nationalist Alliance)  will have their opening salvo on April 3.  It will begin with a Holy Mass at the National Shrine of St. Joseph at 8 a.m., followed by a motorcade and a rally in the evening at a vacant lot near the Ouano residence in Barangay Opao.

San Fernando Mayor Antonio “Abe” Canoy, who is challenging the  reelection bid of Cebu first district Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas (Alayon),  announced his support for presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe, but stayed mum on whom he would support for governor.

In a press briefing yesterday, Canoy said he decided to give his support to Poe since he is now a member of National People’s Coalition (NPC) that backs Poe for president.

Canoy was earlier allied with  Davide but had since a falling out.  Davide announced his support for Lakambini “Neneth” Reluya after Canoy decided to leave LP for NPC. Reluya is running for San Fernando mayor against Canoy’s son Miko.

With the campaign now in earnest,  Mendros again reminded the candidates of their responsibility to ensure that they follow the proper sizes of their campaign materials (posters, tarpaulins, etc.) posted in Comelec-designated common poster areas in each locality.

The Comelec only allows the following sizes for campaign materials: 12 feet by 16 feet or not exceeding a total area of 192 square feet for candidates with political parties and for partylist groups;  and 4 ft. by 6 ft. or not more than 24 square feet for independent candidates.

Mendros also reminded the candidates to observe the allowable expenses for local candidates, which is P3 for every voter and P5 for every voter for those who do not belong to any political party.

For Cebu province, since it has 2,722,288 registered voters, the allowable expenses for candidates running for the position of governor and vice governor will be P8,166,864.

Mendros likewise reminded the candidates to submit their contracts with media outlets specifically concerning on their political advertisements, which is limited to 90 minutes for radio and 60 minutes for television.

Lawyer Marchel Sarno, the election officer of Cebu City’s north district, also stressed that even Facebook posts made by the opposing parties could be used to substantiate a complaint for the violation of election laws.