Some configurations worth noting

The schedule that my family got for a recent foreign trip was rather socially awkward and politically untimely. I felt that my failure to vote caused by that travel was unpatriotic. The only consolation I savored was that we trekked along the very ways our Lord Jesus walked on.

From a distance, I observed the last election we had was some kind of a proxy war. Using modern communication, I saw that when the campaign period began (and onwards), the sitting mayors in the cities within Metropolitan Cebu did everything in their power to promote the interests of their cadre and to protect their supposed turfs. The more vicious offensive was waged by the Cebu City administration.

There were, for instance, the cases filed by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña against some barangay captains. The purported cause of action was their failure to liquidate government funds, and so the mayor wanted us to behold the nobility of his suit. Since only barangay captains identified with the camp of former Michael Rama were sued, we can safely surmise that it was part of the mayor’s dirty political tricks. In fact, when the mayor reportedly campaigned in Barangay Luz for former councilor Nida Cabrera, his candidate for barangay captain, three days before the people cast their votes, he used that issue in vain. It appeared the residents in that barangay knew better and that was why Cabrera lost.

I cited specifically Barangay Luz to demonstrate the efforts that incumbent mayors gave to support their protégés because, as in this case, Osmeña apparently had so much at stake in the area. We must remember (and my mischievous mind points this out) that a great portion of the sprawling Cebu Business Park sits in Barangay Luz. With a village chief under his thumb, it may not be difficult for the mayor to wage the kind of cruel and oppressive war he declared against Rico’s Lechon and Vic Enterprises.

In any case, we could say the same for the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Talisay. We observed how the mayors in these cities lavished their barangay candidates with logistical support. The results of the proxy war were appreciable indicators. Let us first consider the political control of the Radazas in Lapu-Lapu. There are 30 barangays there, and as of last count the ruling class has the loyalty of 29 captains. That amounts to 97 percent.

In Talisay City, Mayor Eduardo Gullas followed his lopsided victory in 2016 with a masterful political generalship last May 14. Nineteen of the 22 elected barangay captains are loyal to Gullas. That is about 90 percent. This constitutes a significant growth compared to the ratio of 16-7 captains when he campaigned for mayor in 2016.

On the basis of proportionate numbers, Mayor Osmeña did not do better than mayors Radaza and Gullas. When the political dust settled, Osmeña, here in Cebu City could only count 41 barangay captains out of the 80. Former Mayor Rama considers the 39 others as loyal to his group. In terms of percentage, Osmeña has about 60 percent, and Rama 40 percent. Osmeña’s 60 percent does not approach Radaza’s 97 percent or Gullas’ percent.

Rama, in effect, remains a force to reckon with if we talk about the 2019 mayoralty election. In few barangays where his proxy candidates lost, the deficiency margins were insignificant. Rama’s men, who toiled under the constant harassment of the city leadership, fought a good war. Rama has to fine-tune his army for him to be ready in his next face-off with Osmeña.