By DONALD BORJA SEVILLA
Calape, Bohol Mayor Atty. Julius Caesar Herrera has publicly
endorsed former Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell “Baba”
Lim Yap II as next congressman in the First District of Bohol
come the 2025 elections.
The announcement was made during a motocross competition
held recently in Calape as part of the town’s annual fiesta
celebration.
Yap, who is currently serving as the chief of staff at the city
mayor’s office, attended the event with his wife, incumbent
Tagbilaran City Mayor Jane Cajes-Yap, and his parents.
The endorsement comes ahead of the filing of certificate of
candidacy in October 2024 for the 2025 national and local
elections.
Yap has not yet commented on the bold endorsement by
Herrera, former three-termer vice-governor of Bohol who lost in
the 2010 gubernatorial race against Atty. Edgar Migriño Chatto,
former three-termer governor of Bohol from 2010 to 2019.
But Second District Rep. Vanessa “Vanvan” Aumentado, wife
of Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado, appeared unhappy with
Herrera’s no-holds-barred promotion of Baba as the formidable
opponent against the incumbent congressman, Atty. Chatto.
Coming from a recent trip to Dubai, the lady lawmaker did not
mince her words in standing by former Cabinet Secretary
Leoncio “Toloy” Evasco, Jr. as her bet for the 2025 first district
congressional derby.
In a Facebook post, Rep. Vanessa said: “Cabsec Jun Evasco is
my Congressman for First District of Bohol if he decides to run.”
Rep. Vanessa added: “He (Evasco) deserves my 100% support
for giving also his all out (sic) support to TEAM ABANTE.”
The governor’s wife used three hashtags to underscore her
support to Evasco: “Loyalty Is Very Important To Me; Trust Is
Earned; Trust Is Everything.”
Rep. Vanessa’s comment came after Willy Ramasola, a
Facebook critic of Rep. Chatto, also voiced out his support to
Evasco.
Ramasola appeared disenchanted with the pronouncement of
Mayor Herrera, a close ally of the Aumentados.
“With all due respect to the personalities concerned, ang akong
opinion ug hinaut respetohon ninyo akong opinion is tan-aw
nako mas hinog si former Cabsec ug OGAR Chairman Jun
Evasco to become the next Congressman of the First District of
Bohol to replace the long-overstaying and ineffective politician
Edgar Chatto,” Ramasola wrote on his FB account.
“Kung molansad si Evasco, makig patay ko dinhi sa social
media para i-endorso ug ikampanya siya (Evasco),” he said.
Evasco lost to Atty. Art Yap (Bohol governor from 2019-2022)
in the 2019 gubernatorial elections, a crushing defeat that left
the former Cabinet member of President Duterte still hopeful for
a future political comeback.
The latest expression of support for Evasco from Ramasola
and Rep. Vanessa has been believed to be the latest tell-tale
sign that an inevitable political faction is looming in the Team
Abante’s horizon.
Ex-City Mayor Baba Yap, meanwhile, has been widely visible in
basketball tournaments and public events in the First and
Second Districts of the province in about a year now.
Baba, now identified as an ally of the Aumentados, cannot be
reached for comments on the latest political wrangling that
could define the Team Abante’s atmosphere en route to the
2025 electoral battle.
Yap had served as city mayor for three consecutive terms from
2013 to 2022.
He succeeded his uncle, former City Mayor Atty. Dan Neri Lim.
In the 2022 elections, Baba fielded his wife, Jane Cajes-Yap,
daughter of former Second District Cong. Roberto “Ondoy”
Cajes (the incumbent mayor of Trinidad, Bohol), to succeed his
post at City Hall.
Jane Yap became the first lady mayor in Bohol’s capital city,
winning a landslide margin against her opponent, former City
Vice-Mayor Jose Antonio “Toto” Veloso, brother of Balilihan
Mayor Pureza Velos-Chatto, Cong. Chatto’s wife and former
first lady of Bohol province. (with reports from FB post of Ric
Obedencio)