An even three-cornered fight
FORMER governor Emilio “Lito” Osmeña running for governor next year provides an interesting twist to politics in the province. If another former governor, Gwendolyn Garcia, runs for the post also, the stage would be set for a three-cornered fight for the top provincial post, considering Gov. Hilario Davide’s intention to seek reelection.
Image-wise, this would make for a difficult choice for voters.
Osmeña is old, he is already a septuagenarian, and is many years removed from his glory days in the ‘90s. That means he has lost some of his political luster in the province and could be the weakest among the three in terms of organization. But he is Lito Osmena, once touted as a presidential timber because of his leadership qualities.
Garcia has been hobbled by accusations of corruption especially during her last term as a three-term governor, but her strength has been the support of a big chunk of the provincial constituents who see her as having delivered more projects than any of her predecessors. While her One Cebu party has weakened considerably, she still can rely on a better organizational support than Osmeña.
Davide is the incumbent and can rely on the support of the administration Liberal Party (LP) and the endorsement of President Noynoy Aquino. He is widely considered a good man but the consensus seems to be that he hasn’t done anything outstanding in his three years in office.
In this context, the strengths and weaknesses of each of these candidates can be considered as even. Each one has his or her upsides, but the downsides can also be weighty.
The maneuvering behind the scenes, though, is interesting. Davide is known as an ally of former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña, whose support was crucial in the LP taking over Capitol. How would that support hold with another Osmeña running against Davide? As for Osmeña ang Garcia, how would they structure their campaigns after having lost most, in the case of Lito, and some, in the case of Garcia, of their leaders?
But things may still change from now until the deadline of the filing of the certificates of candidacy early next year. Still, Osmeña’s announcement that he is interested in running for governor has complicated the political setup in the province.