Despite shifting alliances in the province in favor of Davao City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte, the Gullas-led Alayon Party in Cebu’s first district is still solid for Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas.
Former congressman and governor Eduardo Gullas, founder of Alayon, said that he doesn’t think his local party will jump ship to Duterte even if others in the province already have.
“As of the moment, I don’t think so,” he told reporters after a candidates’ forum at the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation-Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center (RAFI-EADSC) yesterday.
Gullas added that they have already given Roxas their word and they aren’t going to go back on it.
Earlier this year, Talisay City Mayor Johnny de los Reyes, although a member of LP, dropped Roxas after he was snubbed in a sortie in Mandaue City and chose to support Duterte instead.
The Garcia-led One Cebu, on the other hand, recently announced that it was supporting Duterte after dropping Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
Even One Cebu founder Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, who also happens to be a founding member of UNA, took a leave of absence from her national party to fully support Duterte.
Gullas said the results of the national election are still very volatile, adding that it is going to be a very close race.
Aside from LP’s Roxas and UNA’s Binay, Duterte, who is running under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), will also be up against Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Duterte, who has roots in Cebu particularly in Danao City, has gained the lead in recent surveys. Roxas, on the other hand, is currently at the fourth spot, overtaken by Poe and Binay.
Gullas said Roxas’s victory will depend on whether the first, second, sixth, and lone Lapu-Lapu City districts can deliver votes for him.
“If the four can deliver, then Secretary Mar has a chance,” said Gullas.