A different target

Early this week, while viewing the news on the nation's preparations for the Holy Week, I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw as the results of the efforts to make vehicular traffic in Luzon smooth and orderly. I was particularly amazed at the kind of infrastructure reportedly constructed by private funds for the government on a BOT scheme. The tv footages showed that both NLEX and SLEX, among other highways to and out of Manila, approximate, in number of lanes, those in the US. In other words, Luzon highways are seemingly getting to be at par with international standards.

In fact, as I write this article, several projects worth billions of pesos are being undertaken in Metro Manila such that the necessary adjustments in travel routes are causing Manilans terrible headaches. If I am overstating the obvious it is because I do recall a rhetorical question, His Honor, Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama, raised few weeks ago. Local newspapers quoted the mayor asking "Where's my P200m?" He was referring to a perceived commitment from Imperial Manila of that amount for the city's road improvement projects, no matter how paltry it is. We do not have information whether the ongoing work on S. Osmeña Boulevard, (yes, the one at the port area), is a part of that promised fund.

Actually, Cebu province needs more a kind of network not unlike, but of, perhaps, lesser magnitude, than Luzon's NLEX and SLEX, than Cebu City. Of course, these will radiate from this Queen City of the south. Where else? These networks don't have to be as ambitious as reaching immediately the northern and southern tips of the island. Is this dream, which has its moorings in the trans-axial concept of the late vice governor Gregorio Sanchez, realizable? No, unless a Cebuano sits in Malacañang.

Without a country's president coming from Cebu, we will continue to receive tokens as our share of national revenue. Cebuanos will remain second class citizens undeserving of nationally funded projects. Of late, I'm saddened by the posturing of Luzonians for the 2016 presidential derby. Binay, Roxas, Cayetano, Escudero, and even a Marcos are seen testing the political waters. Because to speak in the negative is counter-productive, let us assume that they are all good and qualified. But so were Ramos, Estrada, Macapagal-Arroyo, and now PNoy. In their goodness, they took care of their lair - Luzon - by lavishing it with billions upon billions of funds contributed by all Filipinos, including Cebuanos. If a demigod promised Cebu City a pittance like P200m aid for infra structure, it is even less than Consuelo de bobo.

The city may be cash-strapped, but the mayor should not have accepted this veiled insult. And yet, this is apparently still a promise. Let me go back to my thesis. The Cebuano highest ranking politican who is not far removed from the office of the president is Sen. Sergio "Serge" Osmeña III. I am not a friend of this official. In fact, a former senator told me that our kababayan has unendearing words (that the best positive description of his negative comment) of me. I'm sure that if I bump into him, he'll not recognize me. But that's neither material nor relevant. Cebuanos can nurture his presidential ambition. We can, and perhaps, must start mentioning him as a probable bet for president for whom Cebuanos and the rest of the voters in the Visayas and Mindanao have to commit support.

Truth is, he may quickly rebuff me for this dare because indeed he might possess no desire to be president. But there is reason to imagine that the noise he has recently made on the multi-billion peso Mactan international airport project is really aimed at an entirely different perspective. The muzzle of his firepower is sighted at the MCIAA contract but the fury of his explosion is aimed at calling attention to his availability as next Malacañang tenant. It is intended to tell us that he, as a leader, should also be considered at par with Binay et al if we ever talk today about the 2016 presidential elections. Presently, his zeal in attacking the choice of the bidder is viewed by many as motivated by his kinship with the losing bidder.

It may not be fair to point to his genealogical link to the men behind the Filinvest group because while his blood relations might be true, the connection is just too far to be plausible. To me, his being overlooked in the discussions of presidentiables in favor of other wannabes questions not only his leadership but insults his lineage and more importantly, his Cebuano political base such that he is showing his relentlessness in these discussions to show where his heart lies. Whatever it is really, the identification of other names as presidential aspirants to the exclusion of any Bisaya serves only to perpetuate the domination of Malacañang by Luzonians. Luzon is not the Philippines and the administrative focus must not be trained only in Luzon. This we can no longer allow. Considering that Sen. Osmeña is the only available Cebuano who holds a high government position, considering further that he is trying to demonstrate the sense of fairness leaders need to rule fairly, he might epitomize the Cebuano we have been looking for as the country's next president.