One Cebu leader Winston Garcia and members of his slate pose with presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte following a 30-minute closed-door meeting at the Sugbutel Family Hotel in Cebu City. Also in the photo are Cary Kintanar and Fema Duterte, One Cebu bets in the Provincial Board. (CDN PHOTO/ VICTOR SILVA)
After weeks of speculation, the Garcia-led One Cebu party has finally decided to align itself with presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
One Cebu chairman and gubernatorial bet Winston Garcia met Duterte in a closed-door meeting at the Sugbutel Family Hotel along S. Osmeña Road in Cebu City last night.
“We discussed my programs, especially on a lot of infrastructure projects that I wanted to implement in Cebu,” Garcia told reporters in a press conference following his meeting with Duterte.
Duterte was at Sugbutel to attend a women’s and youth’s forum where the two sectors presented the respective agenda that they hoped the mayor would adopt in his platform should he become president.
Following the event, Duterte went down to see Garcia who had been waiting in an office inside the hotel while he was at the forum. Garcia was accompanied by allies Felma Duterte and Cary Kintanar, who are running for seats in the Cebu Provincial Board.
Garcia said Duterte fully supports his programs and that they have the same adverse view on “Imperial Manila.”
“I am comfortable with President Duterte who will give full autonomy to the local governments all over the country,” he added.
Garcia will call for an emergency meeting with One Cebu leaders today so they can come up with a unified stand on their support for Duterte.
Garcia’s running mate, Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, however told CDN by phone last night that One Cebu has already reached a consensus to support Duterte.
Duterte, on the other hand, said that nothing is final yet, but they are definitely working on an alliance.
“It has to be decided by some people who are not here. Maybe tomorrow or the day after, we’ll be able to declare that there is an alliance. That means we’re going to support each other,” he said.
The mayor did not raise the hand of Garcia during picture taking, explaining that there is no official endorsement yet.
Duterte said that last night was the first time he discussed an alliance with “any leadership in the (province)” and stressed he has not endorsed a gubernatorial bet in Cebu yet.
According to Duterte, he was very careful and kept quiet because he didn’t want to offend his long time supporters in Cebu.
The mayor said he still has to inform his party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), and its leaders, including Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. and Aquilino Pimentel III, Cagayan de Oro second district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, and Bukidnon Gov. Jose Maria Zubiri jr., among others.
“If it’s final, I have to make my calls tonight just to inform them out of delicadeza,” said Duterte.
Presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte is warmly welcomed into his city by Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy, regional chairman of Partido Kusgano – a local party that strongly supports Duterte’s candidacy, believed that the new alliance with Once Cebu could only further solidify Duterte’s hold on the Cebuano vote.
“Wa na ni mag-agad ug leader si Duterte because the Cebuanos have awaken,” (Duterte no longer needs leaders because the Cebuanos have awaken) Sitoy said.
According to Sitoy, Cebuanos are drawn to Duterte because of his Cebuano blood and his platform, which espouses federalism, which, according to Sitoy, “clicks” with the Cebuano voters.
“The Cebuanos are tired of too much concentration of power in Manila and are clamoring for the distribution of powers. Cebuanos are also tired of the upsurge in criminality and believe Digong can solve this problem,” Sitoy added.
Sitoy is among the hundreds of Duterte volunteers who have been spending their own money to help run Duterte’s campaign. The Cordova mayor presented to CDN a bunch of Duterte leaflets paid for by Sitoy himself which show a compilation of favorable published newspaper articles on Duterte.
Sitoy’s Partido Kusgano claims to have a membership of 2 thousand in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
In Toledo City, Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña, in an interview prior to Duterte’s arrival, told reporters that he would apologize to Duterte for supporting Vice President Jejomar Binay.
“I remain committed to Binay. I am not that traditional politician nga murag baki mag lukso-lukso (who is like a frog who jumps from one place to another),” he said.
However, this was what he said he would tell Duterte: “Dong, dako kaayo ko ug utang kabubut-on sa imong ginikanan apan pasayloa lang ko kay nahinayak man ko.” [I owe your parents a huge debt of gratitude and I am sorry because I can no longer back out from my commitment (to Binay)]
Osmeña hinted that his support for Binay will only involve putting the Vice President’s name on his printed sample ballot.
“A sample ballot is just a sample ballot. It’s not a command. It’s not a bible. It’s just a suggestion,” Osmena said.
“If they (Osmena supporters) will choose to support Duterte, I have no problem with that. The only thing I obliged them is to vote for me as mayor,” Osmeña added.
A private helicopter carrying Duterte touched down on a vacant lot at the back of the Toledo City Hall at past 3:30 p.m., Saturday. He then proceeded to meet briefly with Osmeña who, along with his slate, warmly greeted him in his office.
In the press conference that followed, Osmeña showed off to Duterte the ballers that were openly worn by the members of his slate, which bore the name of the Davao City mayor.
Pressed by national media on whom he would really support between Binay and Duterte, Osmeña replied with a curt, “Sa kapatid ko na walang alam, for a change, tama siya. (To my brother who knows nothing, for a change he is right).
Osmena’s younger brother, former Cebu governor Lito Osmena earlier told CDN that Sonny’s heart is really for Duterte.
Sonny’s close friendship with Duterte’s family dates back to 1971, when Sonny ran for senator before Martial Law, according to Cordova City Mayor Adelino Sitoy, a longtime friend of Sonny.
Sonny, he said, sought the support of Duterte’s father, Vicente, who was then the governor of Davao. In later years, Sonny would seek the support of the younger Duterte when he ran for senator.
“Kada lansar ni Sonny sa una, mularga gyud na siya sa Davao ug mag patabang. Nya mo-daug gyud na siya didto,” said Sitoy. (Every time Sonny ran for senator, he always went to Davao to seek their help. And he always won there)
Sonny’s supporters managed to gather around 20,000 people to attend the rally for Duterte yesterday in Barangay Poblacion, Toledo City.