Cabinet secretaries or mini-dictators?

Last week when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) finally showed her cards, revealing a new or revived official family or the Cabinet, these appointments were criticized as too political to the point of even putting in people who are not qualified to be Cabinet secretaries. This is the problem with people who just can’t agree with the President or accept the reality in politics, which we’ve often quoted, "To the victor, the spoils." Whether we like it or not, the Office of the President is a political office and therefore, we should expect political maneuverings or appointments to be daily fare.

My good friend, Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon was one of those who questioned the ability of Cebu’s fifth district Rep. Joseph "Ace" Durano as tourism secretary. All I can say that seems to be out in the open is that Sen. Gordon who was a former tourism secretary is trying to "protect" his "bata-bata’s" who feel threatened by an unknown tourism secretary. Now their former boss, who is now a senator, can make noise to protect their skins. At this point, I believe that we should band together and unite to help this country… that’s if we have the same objectives and I would like to believe that Sen. Gordon, Secretary Durano and the President have the same tourism goals.

Frankly speaking, Secretary Ace Durano has no business interest in tourism, which to my mind makes him perfect for that position… as Secretary Ace himself revealed to the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) last Friday when he was officially named as our Cabinet Official for Regional Development (CORD) that President Arroyo pointed out to him, "I don’t want to see your tourism plans… it is my tourism plans that I want you to promote!"

Indeed for too long, Cabinet secretaries in the past have been acting like mini-dictators, perhaps because our past presidents, with the exception of President Fidel V. Ramos, really didn’t know how to run our country and thus, relied heavily on the efforts of the various Cabinet secretaries. What we are seeing in the Arroyo administration is a President who wants to pursue her national dreams or objectives… not what her Cabinet secretary thinks she wants.

As for Ace being a Durano, I submit that the Durano name, especially from the 50s all the way to the 80s, was linked to ugly politics… but Ace is cut from a different generation and I count many of the third-generation Duranos like Ramon "Boboy" Durano III as my close friends. I have no doubt that Ace can succeed as tourism secretary… that’s because Cebu’s tourism industry is wholeheartedly supporting him.

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Because the weather had improved (it had been raining intermittently in the past two weeks), our big bike group, EasyRiders, went to the town of Balamban via the Transcentral Highway for what we call a "short ride." Since our good friend Bobby Aboitiz was with us, I asked him if the group could come and see what FBM Marine, which makes fastcraft vessels (a.k.a. SuperCat that plies from Cebu to Ormoc or to Tagbilaran) was doing and he obliged. What we saw inside the hangar type of facility was a huge 60 feet-plus catamaran that carries trucks, cars and passengers being built for Holland.

Like a little kid, I clambered aboard this huge fast cargo vessel and talked with the workers who were proud of the quality of their work. Yes, I told myself in no certain terms that we’re proud of the Cebuanos in Balamban for they have become world-class ship workers. While I was admiring the construction of this vessel, I was at the same time saddened by our poverty… because this should be the type of craft that we should use to cross from Toledo City to San Carlos City or from Cebu City to Ormoc. Alas, most of our shipping firms are merely content in acquiring or buying second- or third-hand vessels. Hence, the joke was after Holland has used this vessel, perhaps 20 years from now, a small Filipino shipping company can buy it to service Cebu and Negros!

A few kilometers away, we could see the Tsuneishi Shipyard which now builds 60,000-ton bulk carrier vessels and I gathered a Panamax will soon be built in that shipyard after the construction of the slipway is finished. Thinking aloud, there’s no question that the shipyards in Balamban can rebuild the Philippine Navy with brand-new ships. But why aren’t they getting any? Because it is locally built and we have the wrong notion that we must have something "imported?" Mind you, the Philippine Navy doesn’t need a deep-water navy. A fastcraft platform like the SuperCat would do fine with the right weaponry.

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Perhaps because he read our article about sports last week, Junne S ([email protected]) wrote this piece:

"Sir, Lagi ko pong binabasa ang mga kolum nyo sa Philstar.com specially ang kolum nyo sa business section. Kaya po ako nag e-mail sa inyo ay baka po pwede nyo isulat sa kolum ang aking inaanak na si Judson Eustaquio. Si Judson po ay player natin sa jungolf way back (in) 1998-1999; ngayon po ay naka-base na siya sa Florida. Baka po pwede natin isama sa news kolum nyo ang championship na nakuha nya sa Florida State Junior Championship na ginawa sa Golden Bear Club, Windermere, Florida last Aug. 4. May isinama po akong attachment ng news sa Florida. Maraming salamat po."

So I got hold of the Florida State Golf Association website and true enough, last Aug. 4, 16-year-old Judson Eustaquio, who moved to Florida two years ago, had apparently shot a 1-under 71 to win the Florida State Golf Association’s 50th Junior Boys (age 16-18 Division) Championship by a stroke at the Golden Bear Club at Keene’s Pointe Club, Windermere Florida. Of course, we didn’t get this piece of news until we got this e-mailed letter from Junne and no doubt, congratulations are in order… it’s really no joke winning a golf tournament against the best of your age group in the entire State of Florida. I understand that Judson hasn’t seen his father and brothers in two years since he left the Philippines, but at least, he brings home another proud name in Philippine sports. More power to Judson Eustaquio for making a name not just for himself, but for the rest of us hopeful Filipinos!

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For e-mail 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, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.