Gwen Garcia made a monumental ‘’faux pas’’
The honorable deputy speaker from the third district is perhaps one of our few Cebuano politicians with the potential to go national. But her last political move proved to cause a major setback in her career.
The word “faux pas” is taken from the original French expression which literally means a false step, a wrong move, an inapproriate response to a situation. When then deputy speaker Gwendolyn Garcia banged the gavel, as temporary presiding officer of the Lower House, she was seen by the emerging majority, (led by her former political ally, GMA), as a die-hard partisan of former speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez. That banging of the gavel to adjourn the session, prior to the SONA, was perceived as a tactical move to prevent the advancing forces of GMA (led by Representative Andaya of Camarines Sur) from declaring the position of the speaker vacant. It was a temporary victory. At that moment, the Alvarez loyalists (composed of Gwen, Rudy Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, and Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro) won the battle. Soon, they would lose the war. Now, Gwen has a big problem. She will be out of the power loop in the House.
Many of the admirers and supporters of the Garcias, especially those from Dumanjug and Barili, expressed utter sadness having heard that Gwen is now out of the controlling majority in the House of Representatives. And such a very costly ‘’faux pas’’ might derail the Garcias’ political plans for 2019. I know the GMA group will not forget that at the crucial moment in their struggles to oust Alvarez, Gwen was not with the GMA forces. She opted to stick it out with Alvarez. And the Garcias will certainly pay dearly for that. That is, of course, very good news for Governor Jun-jun Davide. Without the support from the top, Gwen may decide to stay in the third district, and that means Pablo John will go back to the seventh. The Garcias have a distinct advantage because they have the right to shift from third to seventh and vice-versa. And the administration will have to find another candidate to challenge Davide. I don’t think it will be Winston Garcia again.
The GMA group and the Garcias have been allies for a long time. In fact, GMA helped the Garcias much, with the appointment of Winston as GSIS Chairman and many more political favors and conveniences. In fairness, the Garcias also had helped GMA in many political battles in the past. The massive support given by the Garcias to GMA in many local and national elections strengthened a long-standing political alliance which brought mutual benefits to both sides. That is why Gwen made a very risky political gamble when she decided to be very visible and vocal for Alvarez at the crucial moment of that political coup staged by the GMA forces. Apparently, Gwen was not privy to the plan to oust Alvarez. She was not trusted by the GMA partisans because her actions, her pronouncements, and her body language were all-out for Alvarez.
If GMA really valued Gwen as an ally, she could have alerted Garcia, to lie low and gradually prepare for the changing of the guard. Apparently, Gwen, like her comrades Fariñas, Umali, and Alvarez were all kept in the dark about the impending coup in the House. Also, I do not believe that Gwen is accepted by the camp of Inday Sara, who is now emerging as the power behind GMA’s ascension to the speakership. Inday Sarah did call personally the congressmen who then shifted alliances at those crucial days before the coup. I have been told that a visibly repentant Gwen went to GMA after the take-over, maybe to mend fences or to renew old ties. But expectedly the GMA allies saw it as too late and too contrived. Sadly indeed for her, Gwen is now left out and that’s how the cookie crumbles.
But knowing the Garcias, and the fluidity of Philippine politics, I know that a modus vivendi can still be arranged. And so, it will be a greater “faux pas” to count Gwen out. Knowing her, she can always find a way to stage a comeback one of these days.
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