Cebu gubernatorial race: GMA’s headache

There’s no doubt that the proverbial political kettle has heated up in the Presidential race when Fernando Poe Jr. announced his presidential bid, confirming the Star headline a few days ago. Of course, he previously hemmed and hawed, not a good sign of a person who should be President of the country.

As for me, I firmly believe all along that FPJ is going to run because being born in the entertainment industry, I have met a lot of stars, producers and directors in my day (that’s when I was still buddy-buddy with Mother Lily) and I know exactly that the scariest moment in a movie star’s life is when they start to lose the luster of their stardom. It could be because a child star is no longer a child or a sexy or bold star ain’t sexy no more! Or simply put, their movies no longer make money in the box office! Hence, you can be certain that FPJ would be in the headlines every single day, so too with hubby Susan Roces who would be back in the limelight, with the glitterati!

A couple of weeks ago I saw that "Pipol" special television show on ABS-CBN which showed the life story of movie stars who were once upon a time very familiar names in klieg or neon lights in the ’70s and ’80s. Famous names like the softdrinks boldies, Lala Montelibano and Sarsi Emmanuel and yes, sexy singer/actress Didith Reyes. These are stars who have lost their luster a long time ago and ended in abject poverty, far worse than their previous lives. If actors saw that show, certainly they would jump into the electoral race and go for it!

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There’s no doubt that we can blame politics in the unexpected resignation of Finance Secretary Isidro Camacho, a resignation that rocked the stock market and caused the peso to slide further down the precipice! That President Arroyo (GMA) refused to remove Winston Garcia from the GSIS whom Camacho wanted out clearly speaks that Garcia’s continued stay in GSIS despite the clamor to oust him means it’s a political decision, or concession that he stays in the GSIS.

Here in Cebu, there was another GMA official who was recently removed without fanfare, I’m referring to Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Antonio "Tito" Oppus Jr. Now if you ask me, that too was a political decision, after all, Tito is also closely identified with former Cebu Governor Emilio "Lito" Osmeña who now has openly sided with Sen. Raul Roco.

Frankly speaking, we’ve always known that Tito was another political concession or a job creation. After all, before he was booted out, we had three Presidential Assistants in the Visayas, two more than we really needed. Now that he is gone, it doesn’t really make a difference to GMA. I mean, during the time of then President Ramos, he only had one in the person of the late Rhett Pelaez, while in President Estrada’s term, he also had only one PA for the Visayas in the person of Marcel Fernan.

Indeed, GMA these days has become too political for her own good. Hence, the demand by Sen. Raul Roco is for her to decide to be a full-time politician and campaign like the rest or be a full-time President and stop politicking. But then, GMA is smarter than Roco thinks. She knows that as President, she has a distinct advantage that no other candidate has and being a veteran in the political game, GMA will use this advantage to the hilt! Of course, we can chastise her for this undue advantage, but hey, she ain’t violating any laws.

More importantly, the last President who didn’t use this advantage during the campaign and lost the elections was Don Sergio Osmena Sr. Don Sergio mistakenly thought that the Filipino would be totally grateful to him for his lifetime effort, but then, politics ruled the day and Manuel Roxas won to be the first President of the Philippine Republic. But then God saw it fit for President Roxas not to finish his term.

At this point we wait with bated breath as to whether we shall finally shift from a republican government into a monarchy? That decision depends upon FPJ. Yes, for as long as you folks out there continue calling FPJ "Da King", then it should be said that Susan Roces is the Queen! Then, we’re really gonna get a King and Queen in Malacanang!

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In the Province of Cebu, local politics are heating up as well. Actually, this is President Arroyo’s biggest headache because all three gubernatorial candidates, Agriculture Undersecretary Celestino "Junnie" Martinez, husband of Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez, Vice-Governor John-John Osmeña and political neophyte Gwen Garcia, daughter of Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia all profess to support GMA. So who should GMA anoint as her candidate for governor of Cebu?

At this point, we don’t know if former Cebu Governor Emilio "Lito" Osmeña of Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (Promdi) would be running for the governorship. He is said to be contemplating on taking on the Vice Presidency under Sen. Raul Roco. The problem he faces is, he might ran smack against Noli de Castro or a Loren Legarda. While the two are extremely popular, the Filipinos living in the South are dismayed by the fact that today’s politicians have thrown political tradition away, that a Manila Presidential candidate should have a running mate from the south.

But it seems that the monolith of Promdi has began to crack when a major ally of Lito Osmeña, Engr. Greg Sanchez had a falling out with the former Cebu governor because of policies in Bantay Radyo, a station they both own. As the story goes, Lito wasn’t happy that Sen. Roco was being lambasted by blocktimers in his own radio station. That tiff ended up with the resignation of Sanchez who is Promdi’s man in the Provincial Board who replaced a board member who died last year. Greg’s quitting Promdi shifts the balance of power in Cebu Province, but to whose group? We still have to find out. After all, there’s three to choose from.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 p.m.