Long Live The Gwen!

I am writing this mainly in behalf of my mother.

She didn’t ask me to. I just thought her attitude during the recent political season is an interesting study for all who’ve been curious about the popular appeal of reelected Cebu governor Gwen Garcia.

Mama once disliked Governor Gwen like one would a hot drink in the midst of summer. Ms. Gwen didn’t fit my mother’s conventional concept of a governor. For one thing, Gwen is a woman. Never had Mama seen a woman running the affairs of the province. To her, this was always a man’s job.

And the lady governor is highly upbeat and pretty. Her physical attributes and disposition alone never fail to invite notice. Mama thought she was just too youthful in her ways and didn’t come across as dignified enough.

Gwen was once on the front pages of the local dailies climbing up the dome of the Capitol building. Good heavens, that was risky! None of the male governors before her had done that!

And she was seen on TV scolding an alleged illegal recruiter whose supposed victims ran to the governor’s office for help. Gwen ordered the recruiter to promise – on camera! – to resolve the matter quickly with the complainants. At another time, she acted as a babaylan (native priestess) performing a ceremony for the South Road Properties of her adversary, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. 

And yet, there must be something more to Gwen aside from her attention-grabbing looks and maverick style. I had personally witnessed long lines of people, young and old, waiting for hours along the roadside and under scorching sun, wanting to have a glimpse of her, at one of her periodic tours to the provincial countryside. What I had seen didn’t seem like mere curiosity, but almost like divine worship.

Sometime last year, my elderly mother shocked everyone at home when she tried her dancing feet before the living room mirror. Mama had just returned from a province-wide gathering of barangay health workers where, she said, the governor danced to the music of Mabuhi Ka, Sugboanon! (Long Live the Cebuanos!), the anthem of the Gwen Garcia administration. “Pagka-angayan gyud ni Gwen!” my mother wheezed her admiration of Ms. Gwen’s beautiful dancing.

Mama suddenly became an avid fan of Gwen. She has since been humming Mabuhi Ka, Sugboanon! around the house. Even my little nephews and nieces now sing the tune with their grandmother.

For a son of parents who have never been openly expressive of their love or appreciation for their children, I confess I was really getting jealous. But I also tried to understand my mother’s behavior. Maybe she sees in Gwen her ideal child – beautiful, dynamic, famous, powerful, and yet very reachable. I have a sister who’s pretty looking, a brother who’s very energetic, and I myself try to be always available to Mama; but none of us have it all in one package.

My mother sees part of herself in Gwen; they’re both fierce fighters,“Maldita kaayong mangaway!” At one point, Mama even asked that the next girl to be born into the family be named Gwen. She said it jokingly, but she probably meant it.

As we all know, the political landscape is always changing. And there seems to be a gender shift in leadership. My mother is aware of these. But she never thought that women could carry political roles as ably as the men; much less outdo the men like she thinks Gwen does. Gwen, Mama says, gives public service a heart.

Gwen held my mother’s wrinkled, calloused hand like she knew her personally. The old widow who now spends her days simply tending her chickens and her vegetable garden was flabbergasted. It must have been an amazing feeling that she mattered to the governor of the province.

The truth about it, however, may simply be that the governor was only acting out of habit, out of duty, and without particular personal meaning whatsoever. It is impossible for her to identify my mother’s unfamiliar face amid a wide sea of unfamiliar faces. But, Mama insists, if Gwen behaves nicely even without having to intend it, then she must be a truly good person inside.

Our mother never openly discussed politics with us children. She would often say that we were all grown-ups and should be let alone to own individual choices. When I asked why her sudden change of heart towards Gwen, she shot back that it not be made an issue and for her personal position to be respected, which I did.

But as May 10th polls neared, Mama somehow breached her own policy of autonomy on political choices among the members of the family. She started by subtly trying to sell her Gwen to us, citing everything from the free school supplies to the provincial schoolchildren, to the many roads constructed or repaired, to the Governor’s warm smile and tight handshake, to her pretty face and shapely body.

Then, finally, Mama went direct and all out. She asked us to go for Gwen. It was a personal request. As it were, it was no longer about Gwen, it was for Mama.

I will not reveal how I voted in the last elections. All I can say is that I – like anybody perhaps – found it hard to ignore my own mother’s request. I am an independent person… but I am also my mother’s son.

Aside from being a Barangay Health Worker, Mama is also a member of the Lupong Tagapayapa, the barangay peace and order council that acts like a jury on neigborhood conflicts. But, honestly, I cannot say if she’d been really objective in her choice of political leaders, particularly in her choice of Gwen.

My mother is no investigative researcher or one who devotes time and effort in thoroughly studying matters, unless they directly pertain to the family or are life-and-death issues. Perhaps she simply trusts her feelings. Perhaps it’s a woman’s intuition at work.

Gwen Garcia has won the gubernatorial elections, again. She remains to be our governor for yet another three-year term. And so let us all, as fellow Cebuanos, wish her the best and, likewise, wish for the best from her. A leader is only as effective as her people make her to be.

Long Live The Gwen!

(E-MAIL: modequillo @gmail.com)