Osmeña Concedes to Rama, Describes Defeat as ‘just a setback’

Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas R. Osmeña said while he lost to Mayor Michael Rama during the elections last Monday but he said “it’s not the end of the world.”

“We can lose the battle, but we do not lose faith. We fought the good fight everybody, and we will continue to fight for what is good. Don’t ever let one event define who we are,” said Osmeña on his Facebook account.

Rama was proclaimed by the Board of Election Canvassers (BEC) this afternoon (Tuesday) after he had garnered 217,448 votes leaving Osmeña’s 211,072.

To be proclaimed along with Rama are four Team Rama councilor-elect Mary Ann De Los Santos of North District, Dave Tumulak and James Cuenco and Hans Abella, for South District.

The other newly-elected two congressmen Raul V. Del Mar and Rodrigo Abellanosa of the north and south district, respectively, and the councilors-elect who are allied with the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK), will have another set of proclamation.

In his Facebook account yesterday, the lawmaker described his defeat to Rama as just a setback. He told his supporters “You are our strength and the reason we still believe in Cebu and the goodness of people. We will never leave you.”

The lawmaker’s wife Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña said her husband is scheduled to leave to the United States next month for him to undergo a routine checkup at the M.D. Andersons Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Although Osmeña’s attending physicians had certified that the 65-year old lawmaker is already cancer-free, Councilor Osmeña said her husband still needs to undergo regular checkup twice a year.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young announced that the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) may file complaints against some teachers for possibly maneuvering the results of the elections favoring their opponents.

“Amo pa kana nga tan-awon kon makakuha ba kita og igo nga ebidensya kay nakadawat man kami og mga report batok sa pipila ka maestra,” Young said.