Our rift started after I ran for mayor—Bermejo
ROXAS CITY – City Mayor Vicente Bermejo revealed that the worsening rift between him and 1st District Congressman Antonio Del Rosario all started when he ran and won for City Mayor in 2007.
Bermejo said that Del Rosario actually wanted his wife Suzette to replace him as mayor of Roxas City but it was Sen. Mar Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, who picked him to become candidate for mayor.
Bermejo said he was asked by Sen. Roxas either to run for mayor or congressman in the 1st district of Capiz with the preference to run for mayor.
He added that the senator preferred him to run for mayor since he wanted Roxas City to be well-managed as it would reflect the senator's image in the whole country.
Earlier, Bermejo's camp blocked the three skywalks proposed by Del Rosario and he reportedly exerted effort to expose alleged anomalies of the latter such as financial assistance and payroll padding scam which Del Rosario has strongly denied.
On the other hand, Del Rosario also opposed the 3 hectares relocation site proposed by Bermejo in Culasi called as Culasi Nuevo.
Del Rosaro's camp also exposed the alleged ghost projects of Bermejo when he was still governor of Capiz. Bermejo also denied it saying that all his projects existed and have no anomalies.
During the presscon, Bermejo accused Del Rosario of having threatened his life in front of Senator Mar Roxas during their dialogue in Cubao, Manila.
"I think the rift between us are all political and personal that should be settled through election in 2010," Bermejo said.
He said that he will still run for city mayor and would want Del Rosario as his opponent.
"If the people no longer want me and if they will vote for Del Rosario, then I will give way," Bermejo said.
Meanwhile, Del Rosario was not reached for comment regarding Bermejo's revelation since the former is still in Manila.