■ MAYOR TAUNTS OPPOSITION, LABELLA ABOUT TUG-OF-WAR IN LOCAL PDP-LABAN

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña criticized the local opposition officials in the city over their conflict in the local leadership of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

In his news conference yesterday, Osmeña described Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella as a “bogus president” of PDP-Laban in the city. Labella, for his part, said he will raise the matter to the higher officials of PDP-Laban.

Osmeña said that the conflict between the two factions of PDP-Laban showed that city officials under Barug Team Rama who took oath before President Rodrigo Duterte’s party are not legitimate. “Ang balimbing ni (former vice president Jejomar) Binay went to PDP-Laban, diay they’re not legitimate. Now the original members of PDP-Laban are angry. That shows you how corrupt (House Speaker Pantaleon) Alvarez is, that’s the speaker of the House,” Osmeña told reporters.

In the 2016 election, Barug Team Rama councilors ran under Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance. Labella, after recently taking his oath a member of the administration party was appointed by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as PDP-Laban president in Cebu City. In a Facebook post, former Kamputhaw barangay captain Lorenzo Basamot announced his appointment as vice president of PDP-Laban Cebu City chapter. His appointment was signed by Lorna Roa Bacalla, the party’s chapter president in Cebu. /