One of Raul Roco’s staunch allies is former Cebu Gov. Emilio "Lito" Osmeña of the Probinsya Muna Development Initiatives (PROMDI). In fact, radio commentators have received calls from the Visayas asking whether Lito Osmeña would take the place of Raul Roco in case he quits the race. Whether Lito O would take up the cudgels and run for president in lieu of Raul Roco though late in the hour is a question begging for an answer.
Since the campaign period has begun, Vice Gov. John-John has been linked to the loss of P5 million in provincial funds through a bogus Perdido Lex Foundation and also to that American fellow who operated an Internet girlie café, where nude Filipinas were shown in various poses. While these scandals weren’t directly linked to him, the names of his office employees surfaced in all of them. There’s no question that all this fingerpointing is affecting his candidacy. But he is not the only one involved in the controversy.
One of the major issues plaguing Cebu politics is the entry of "revolutionary taxes" of the New People’s Army (NPA) right in the middle of the political campaign. Since I started my career in journalism, I’ve always been fighting the cancer that is the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which has only caused untold misery and death in this poor country of ours. But after all the many elections in Cebu, this is the first time ever that we’ve heard that the NPA is openly collecting its stupid revolutionary taxes… now they’re mulcting politicians.
The latest victim of the NPA tax collection is allegedly Bogo town Mayor Celestino "Tining" Martinez III, as reported by military intelligence. Mayor Tining is the son of gubernatorial candidate Celestino Martinez Jr. who, of course, was quick to pin the blame for this on their family’s political rivals, Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia and Daanbantayan’s Maria Luisa Loot. Of course, Mayor Tining denies the accusations that he paid P4,500 in revolutionary taxes. Looking at this measly figure, it’s hard to believe that the NPA would accept such a tiny sum when his father is also running for Cebu governor and his mother, Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez, is seeking another term in the fourth district of Cebu.
Actually, one link that Mayor Martinez cannot deny is his closeness to the Bayan Muna party-list group, which has been tagged by Presidential Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as one of the communist front organizations. So his rivals are now saying that the NPA collected a minute sum from him after a large discount! Of course, it doesn’t get juicier than this!
If any, the only gubernatorial candidate who hasn’t been hit by a smear job is Gov. Garcia’s daughter Gwen who is taking things in stride. Though her only negative is that she’s practically a neophyte in Cebu politics and therefore, a vote for Gwen is really a vote for Pabling who can no longer seek another term. At this point, Cebu’s serious gubernatorial candidates are batting for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA), which is why she can truly claim the Cebuano votes. Meanwhile, there are no official surveys out in Cebu right now in order to find out who is ahead in the gubernatorial race, except for a few radio stations that conduct their own. In a couple of weeks, we shall see who really is ahead in the race for Cebu governor.
Well, the latest news to come from Nenaco is that it is planning to file charges against Tsuneishi president Kenji Kawano, which will include a formal letter of complaint to the Japanese ambassador and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for trying to seize its ships during the Holy Week. It just makes me wonder what kind of formal letter Nenaco officials would send to the Japanese ambassador. We can only reckon that it would be filled with half-truths and falsehoods about Tsuneishi’s harassing the shipping company’s passengers. Again, let me point out that Tsuneishi is the real victim here… not Nenaco!
What’s worrisome in this case is that Nenaco has used our slow system of justice to rehabilitate their ailing company and has succeeded. Yes, Metro Pacific has secured a court reprieve on the payment of its P2.5-billion debt, and appointed Sulficio Tagud Jr. as rehabilitation receiver. Wait! That name sounds familiar? Hmm, we’ve ran out of space to tell you more about this.