Osmeña’s former ally is now rival’s running mate

CEBU CITY — The enemy of your enemy is your friend.

Thus, former mayor Alvin Garcia and former city attorney Ramiro Madarang ended up in each other’s arms, both having had at different times a falling out with Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Last Friday, Madarang formalized his defection to the Garcia camp by filing his certificate of candidacy for vice mayor as a substitute for Norberto Homecillo who withdrew as Garcia’s running mate.

Madarang’s entry in the Garcia slate considerably boosts the strength of the opposition party Kusug owing to his (Madarang’s) greater prominence over the relatively unknown Homecillo.

Moreover, Garcia’s son Raymund, a political neophyte, similarly withdrew his candidacy for councilor in favor of the veteran Manuel Guanzon, barangay captain of Capitol Site.

Garcia, who is raring for a rematch with erstwhile friend Osmeña, to whom he lost by a mere 1,000 plus votes in 2001, said Homecillo and his son Raymund had been prepared to yield their slots in the Kusug slate for the interest of the party if better candidates who were being courted eventually agreed to join their ticket.

Homecillo said he holds no rancor against the party for substituting him with Madarang, saying he will instead concentrate on being its campaign manager.

With Madarang and Guanzon now in the Kusug ticket, party members feel they can now put up a good fight against the powerhouse slate of the ruling BOPK party of Osmeña, made up largely of re-electionists.

"The die is cast. A deep sense of patriotism compelled me to make a last-minute decision to accept the draft as the running mate of mayoralty candidate Alvin Garcia under the banner of Kusug-KNP. I’m answerable to no one but my conscience, and mindful of what I perceive to be in the best interest of the Cebuanos," Madarang said. — Freeman News Service