@banaterossasmni: CEBOOM! CEBOOM! Shalalalala CEBOOM! CEBOOM! In a stunning turn of events, two suspended Mayors of Cebu island were convicted by the Office of the Ombudsman, as reported just hours ago by Cebu news outlets, for more or less the same offense. Both were meted out the sentences of, “perpetual disqualification from seeking or holding public office.” One of the two is Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes who is a staunch ally of Cebu governor Gwen Garcia, the matriarch of the Garcia clan who have been lording it over Cebu province politics for almost two decades now. Jonas was even present during Gwen’s One Cebu party convention yesterday where he was listed as One Cebu’s standard bearer for Mandaue City Mayor in the 2025 elections. Interestingly, Jonas is rumored to be in a historic fight against Jonkie Ouano for the mayorship of his city, reviving what was thought to be a long dead rivalry between to ancient political clans: the Corteses and the Ouanos. Noteworthy as well, is the fact Jonkie Ouano is the brother in law of Speaker Martin’s wife Yedda as she is the sister of Jonkie’s wife. Mayor Mike Rama on the other hand has been at loggerheads with Gwen Garcia for a time now. Credit to Mike he is the only remaining Cebu political stalwart of what was then the strongest political party during PRRD’s incumbency, PDP Laban. Upon Rama’s suspension, Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia — nephew of Gwen — is now Acting Mayor and is rumored to be running against Mike Rama and two other candidates for Mayor of Cebu City. With Gwen having no viable opposition in the province, insured therefore of a no-contest win, it is now possible for the Garcias to pour their resources unto her nephew’s candidacy in the city to assure the Garcia’s control of Cebu City —the only city in the province autonomous from provincial control and administration. If and when that happens, Gwen Garcia will become the undisputed champion of political maneuvering essentially in control of the entire province of Cebu. The implications of such a scenario will be very profound as Gwen will now have all the leverage to impose her interests on the national leadership, with Cebu islands as the most vote-rich province in the country outside of NCR. Will this threaten the dictatorial trio of Liza Araneta, Martin Romualdez, and Bongbong Marcos? Maybe. I have observed the demolition job against VP Sara by the Dic•3•tors of Malacañang disguised as House Committee hearings and never have I seen any one Cebu Congressman or woman participating, asking questions at the very least. Of the 12 Congressmen in Cebu 11 were officially declared as standard bearers of Gwen’s One Cebu Party. It seems to me, Gwen and Martin have some sort of a quid pro quo, with Gwen having the upper hand in “not participating” on national issues, as she has categorically stated, in order to make her way back to VP Sara’s fold in the 2028 elections. In other words, Gwen is leveraging her dominance in Cebu politics, “upang maka pamangka sya sa dalawang ilog” in what could be another potential turncoating of Cebu’s Queen Mother of All Political Butterflies in 2028 — to VP Sara’s camp. Well played madam governor. Kumusta na pala ang utang mo sa HSBC?

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Thursday 03 October 2024 12:19:08 GMT