100ARAW.com

By Ritche Salgado

Teodoro and Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia. Photo grabbed from blog.mygibo.ph.

“1 million votes for Gibo.”

That was the promise of Governor Gwen Garcia during the administration candidate Gibo Teodoro’s two-day stint in Cebu last April 27 and 28.

This amid the growing ‘disloyalty’ among her allies, most prominent of which is Mandaue’s Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, who, together with other opposition candidates of the province’s industrial city, are raising the hands of Nacionalista Party’s Manny Villar.

And then there is the Gullas clan of Cebu’s first district raising the hands of – take this – both Liberal Party’s Noynoy Aquino and NP’s Villar. Although the clan is quick to deny that they are backing Aquino.

Ok, so how about gubernatorial opposition, Junjun Davide, the son of the famous former chief justice Hilario Davide, Jr.?

Well, it is a known fact that Davide is simply a pawn of Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña who is up in arms in removing the Garcias (if not Gwen) from Capitol. That, if not for Osmeñas prodding, he would not have taken the challenge of running against Gwen, so, Davide is really not a real threat for the Garcias.

So, they thought.

But as former chief justice Davide would put it, “Miracles can happen.”

The Davides are confident that their son would win in their hometown of Argao with roughly around 40,000 voters. If this is so, then that would mean 40,000 plus votes for Noynoy, as well.

The Martinezes of Bogo also could boast of 40,000 sure votes for their candidate, although their influence in this Northern city is being challenged by Garcia’s staunch supporter, the Salimbangons.

Already, the Martinez’s were dethroned in the district, and now, the Salimbangons are about to fully erase the Martinez’s from Cebu’s political map. The Salimbangons are supporting Gibo.

The governor’s declaration is like saying that these equally influential political families, in total, can only generate at most 800,000 votes for the other candidates, with Cebu province having around 1.8 million voters.

And then there’s the family issue wherein three from the governor’s family, per se, are said to be supporting NP’s Villar, her mother, retired judge Esperanza Garcia, and two brothers – Winston of GSIS and Byron whom she removed as consultant of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. Her cousin, Alvin Garcia, who is running for mayor of Cebu City against Osmena’s Mike Rama, is also openly endorsing Villar.

So, how real is Garcia’s promise of 1 million votes?

Well, I won’t be surprised if they’d be able to deliver, but then again, they only gave around 900,000 votes to Gloria in the last presidential elections, and at that time, Gwen’s One Cebu party was a united force. Now, with Gwen’s allies trying to ride the popularity wagon, openly proclaiming their own endorsements, 1 million votes seems to be unlikely.

But then again, Cebu is quite dynamic, so who knows?