EDITORIAL — Proud to be Cebuano

Allies and believers of the president are jumping up and down over her grandiose plan to create " super regions " in the country. Critics of the president, on the other hand, are having a field day shooting down the proposal, in all likelihood from force of habit.

There is no question that super regions are possible, especially with solid backing being assured by Malacañang, which at this point in time is only too eager to entrench its power base in the provinces, away from Manila which has become the capital of political turmoil.

But let us not kid ourselves. The dynamics of progress are never subject to mere human proclamation, no matter how well-meaning and aggressive. What is good on paper is often good only for speculation. It is what happens on the ground that makes palaces rise and emperors rule.

Up front and in-your-face support from government will certainly stir up things, but only for a while. In the end, it is not the support that places and climes get that will determine the success or failure of anything. In the end it is people and character that matter.

By any measure, Cebu will always be a vital part of any super region that the president may declare. Indeed, even without any such formal proclamation, Cebu is already a super region by itself. It is the hub of almost anything south of Manila.

That is not to say Cebu can live on its own. That is not to say Cebu never got any help from Manila either. But Cebu never got any life-altering assistance from outside that can surpass the initiative, the spirit of enterprise, and the determination and resiliency of the Cebuano.

In effect, much of what Cebu is today is due in large part to its people and its leaders. There was a time when Cebu even outpaced the entire country in terms of economic growth, stopped dead on its tracks only when the Asian financial crisis swept in like a hurricane.

But Cebu has since recovered and again leads the field. With sound fiscal management, the Capitol is even awash with huge savings. Sure we could use a little makeup, even if we suspect the president has other motives. In the end, though, the secret is still in being Cebuano.