CEBU CITY – A political party here headed by former city mayor Tomas Osmeña is backing the presidential candidacy of Leni Robredo.
The Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) described Robredo as the "best choice" among the presidential aspirants.
“BOPK (Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan) likes leaders who listen and respond. Leni leads the pack as the best choice. (Manny) Pacquiao and Ping (Lacson) are also good choices. Bong Go is a poor choice and (Ferdinand) Marcos, the worst choice,” said Tomas Osmeña in a text message to reporters.
Osmeña was supposed to run as congressman in Cebu City-South District but decided to withdraw his candidacy. He was replaced by BG Abellanosa, son of incumbent Cebu City-South District Rep. and BOPK stalwart Rodrigo Abellanosa.
Osmeña's wife, Margot, is running for mayor opposite Michael Rama, who recently took oath as full-fledged mayor following the death of Edgardo Labella.
Labella defeated Osmeña in the 2019 elections.
Margot's running mate is Franklyn Ong, the president of the Association of Barangay Councils-Cebu City Chapter.
In a separate statement, Margot said BOPK chose Leni as the Vice President is the only one to understand the plight of workers from the Business Process Outsourcing firms.
The city is home to several BPO companies with thousands of employees.
“Why Leni? VP Leni agreed to petition Comelec to create special precincts for the 100,000 call center agents who work in one area in Cebu City. Presently, they will have extreme difficulty voting due to their abnormal work hours and commuting problems to their respective distant precincts,” said Margot.
“If our government allows 500,000 Pinoys abroad to vote, what more the 1.6M agents in our cities. We ask that Cebu City be the pilot agent as 90% are working one contiguous area,” she added.
Robredo was recently in Cebu where she met several sectors and opened at least two campaign headquarters.