Emilio Mario Osmeña

Emilio Mario Renner Osmeña, also known as Lito Osmeña, is the founder and chairman of PROMDI Party ("Probinsya Muna" Development Initiative or Provinces First Development Initiative) where he ran for the position of President in the 1998 elections but lost to Joseph Estrada. He also ran for the position of Vice President and running-mate of Fidel Ramos in the 1992 Elections but lost to Joseph Estrada. He is the grandchild of Philippine President Sergio Osmeña and younger brother of former Senator John Henry Osmeña.

Early life and career

Osmeña was born on September 11, 1938 in Cebu City, Cebu to Dr. Emilio V. Osmeña and Ma. Louisa Renner. He graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of San Carlos, Cebu.

In the 70s, he was imprisoned during Martial Law in 1973 at Fort Bonifacio for nine months and placed under house arrest for four years after the escape of cousin Sergio Osmeña III.

Political life

After the reorganization of local governments and the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, he ran for the position of Governor for the province of Cebu in 1988 and won. He held the position from 1988 to 1992. During his term as Governor of Cebu, Osmeña was able to increase the provincial budget to 1 billion pesos per annum. He made possible the construction of flyovers and causeways, and purchased heavy equipment that caused the opening and maintenance of several barangay roads and bridges as well as the farm-to-market roads. Osmeña launched a Water Distribution Program in the entire island, making water available to 90% of the population, as opposed to the 56% before his incumbency. Osmeña initiated the modernization of Cebu's International Airport. He also initiated direct flights from Cebu to the different parts of the world. He was elected as Chairman of the League of Governors of the Philippines from 1990 to 1992.

After Fidel Ramos bolted the LDP in 1992, he invited Osmeña to his new party Lakas Tao and offered to be his running mate in the May 11 elections. Osmeña accepted Ramos' invitation and accepted his offer citing his vision to follow his grandfather's footsteps. He however lost to Joseph Estrada in a 7-way race for Vice President.

Osmeña served as Executive Vice President of Lakas-NUCD and Chief Economic Adviser of President Fidel V. Ramos from 1993 to 1997.

After hearing news about Jose de Venecia's nomination as president in the Lakas-NUCD convention, he bolted the party and formed his own party he called PROMDI Party ("Probinsya Muna" Development Initiative or Provinces First Development Initiative). With Ismael Sueño as his running mate, he ran for the position of President in the 11-way presidential election but lost to Joseph Estrada.

Osmeña returned to private life after the elections handling the party he founded as a party-list party. In the House of Representatives, the party was represented by Joy Augustus Young. Osmeña did not run in the 2004 elections and supported his former political rival Raul Roco for president. His party was disqualified in the party list elections, citing that the party was a political party. The party field candidates in the local elections in Cebu.

Weakening political influence

2004

Osmeña threw his support immediately behind Roco after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo changed her mind and decided to run in the 2004 elections. He went on to speak out and raise support for his former presidential rival from Bicol and at the same time attacked Arroyo for "political treason". During an interview with the media, Osmeña said he preferred a straight candidate like Roco and with a smile, he said "We don't want another Gloria."

But in spite of his efforts, over a million Cebuano voters ignored Osmeña's endorsement for Roco and voted for Arroyo instead. Roco who was then ill with cancer, also suffered a setback over a public relations blunder in Cebu. He received less than 5% of Cebu's votes in the 2004 general election. The loss of Roco was a major embarrassment for Osmeña and was clear evidence that his influence with the people of his province had weakened significantly.

Osmeña was also a staunch idealist and vigorously promoted his Republic of Cebu plan, in which Cebu would be declared separated from the rest of the Philippines and be an independent nation on its own. He had stressed that Cebu no longer needed support and supervision from the national government and that the province on its own would have been able to attract massive investments and tourists soon as it became a republic. While many in Cebu had embraced the idea, the Republic of Cebu masterplan was forgotten and lost virtually all support it had.

2007

For the 2007 Philippine general election, Osmena endorsed Antonio Yapha and Clavel Martinez for Cebu governor and vice-governor in a bid to replace the current Garcia administration. Already known for his wide rift with the Garcia political clan, Osmena complained that the incumbents were mismanaging the province's budget surplus by focusing more on beautification of projects instead of delivering basic services to the people.

Despite his strong support for the challengers, both Yapha and Martinez suffered landslide defeats to their respective opponents.

Personal life

Lito, as he is often called, is married to Annette Versoza and has three children namely Mariano Antonio, Maria Luisa, and Emilio III. He has 8 grand children- Annette, Santino, Marie, Katrien, Alexander, Emilio IV, Illeana, and Julia. Lito is part of the Osmeña clan, a very influential political family in the Philippines. Other prominent family members include Senators Sergio Osmeña III, John Henry Osmeña and Sergio Osmeña Jr.; Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, former President Sergio Osmeña, former Cebu Vice Governor John Gregory Osmeña, and ASUC Senator Christian Osmeña.

External links

* [http://www.inq7.net/nat/2003/nov/25/nat_4-1.htm Philippine Daily Inquirer: Three parties seal alliance]