EDITORIAL - Three decades of sucking up the same formula

More than five months after the country's new elected officials formally took office, it appears that there are some key areas where the question of who won the election does not appear to be quite settled. One such area is Cebu City, where the Commission on Elections has ordered a recount of votes in certain precincts to give way to a poll protest filed by unsuccessful reelectionist Michael Rama against the successful returning mayor Tomas Osmeña.

But this is not about who might emerge eventual victor in the recount, or who gets to sit as mayor with unsullied finality. This is about the two protagonists and why Cebuanos just cannot seem to find other choices as leaders. Osmeña and Rama make up two of only three men who have held the mayorship since 1988, the other one being Alvin Garcia.

What that means is that for 28 very long years, the second most important city in the Philippines, the so-called Queen City of the South, the biggest center of commerce, education, health, culture and religion south of the capital Manila, never seemed able to find any other leader than either of the three aforementioned men. And that cannot but bring forth the question — is there no one else capable of leading the city than these three?

Making matters more perplexing is that fact that all three were previously allied politically, meaning none of them truly represented a choice but rather just an expedient alternative. Osmeña and Garcia started their political careers together, winning as a mayor-vice mayor tandem in 1988. They won again as a team in the next election. Osmeña later opted not to seek a third term, allowing Garcia to step up.

But the Garcia mayorship became remarkable for one thing — the acrimonious public quarrels that erupted between him and Osmeña, who apparently wanted to rule from the sidelines and would not let Garcia be. Osmeña eventually recaptured City Hall, this time with Rama by his side. A term limit disqualification forced Osmeña to seek another post, allowing Rama to be a shoo-in for mayor, until it was his turn to have his quarrel with Osmeña.

Now, Osmeña is back in the saddle, but with Cebuanos still none the wiser, or better off for that matter, after a nearly-three-decade-long game of political musical chairs. It might be a fair question to ask what Cebuanos have done to deserve no better fate than to be stuck with just three men, and the leadership qualities they have to offer.

If it is any consolation, though, life has a way of automatically compensating for any setback of shortcoming. Life does not stop improving if you let it. And so Cebu City continued to grow, prosper and improve outside the sphere of political influence and leadership. This is not to say all three men were utterly useless. But after three decades, there is only so much that can be squeezed out of three men sprung from exactly the same political umbilical cord.