The main thing
So, former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama has decided to make another run for the office he lost to Tomas Osmeña in 2019. Based on his latest announcement, Rama wants to challenge Osmeña on the belief he actually won that election but got cheated. That, of course, has not been proven. And even if true, people in a country where almost every loser claims to have been cheated are not likely to give it the seriousness that Rama thinks his claim rightly deserves.
Winning, after all, is everything, regardless of how victory is attained. In other words, Rama will have to rely on fresher issues he can challenge the incumbent with than just having cheated him out of office. But even more important than finding fresher issues with which to anchor his fresh campaign, Rama needs to shore up his defenses for any and all issues he himself may be challenged with.
And I think the biggest issue that confronted Rama then and will continue to confront him now is the allegation of involvement in illegal drugs. I, myself, am not inclined to believe the allegation. But the fact is, it is there. Worse, it has become a much bigger issue than it was in the last election. At the time, it was all just talk.
But when Rodrigo Duterte got elected president in the same year that Rama lost the mayorship, the drug issue against Rama got even worse because now Duterte has included him in a list of officials supposedly involved in illegal drugs. Now, this list has been assailed and called many names. At best, it supposedly needs updating.
Still, even the generosity of calling the list an actual mistake does not erase the fact that it continues to be there. The president has neither withdrawn the list nor redacted any name from it. And sadly for Rama, his name continues to be on it. And for as long as his name is on it, it is what it implies, with a vastly uncomfortable difference from all other lists. It is a list from the president.
In this country, or in any other country for that matter, a president is a president. Now a president may be unliked or unpopular. But the power that emanates from the presidency, and the influence wielded by its occupant, are not matters subject to liking and popularity. They are the equivalent of thunder and lightning in the natural scheme of things. You shake and cringe at their every display and unleashing.
Rightly or wrongly, that is the biggest issue Rama is facing. It is not about whether or not he has been cheated. It is not about whether or not he has been a good mayor during his time. In fact, it is not about whether or not Osmeña should be replaced. All of these things will have their due course. But only after Rama gets to successfully manage the drug issue he is saddled with.
And this is what Rama should dwell on the most. Osmeña, after all, is no fool. He knows where Rama is most vulnerable and that is where he will likely strike the most and the hardest. One other thing; Rama should consider whether the next election is about himself or about the Cebuanos. Whether it is about getting rid of Osmeña and giving his partymates a better chance of winning.
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