Making a mockery out of our democracy!

That his Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal made another appeal for our leaders to exercise sobriety and unity in the canvassing only shows that once again, democracy is in grave danger from the very people who think they can use democracy to achieve their evil means. But when democracy gets in their way, these are the same people who threaten to call another EDSA Revolt because they don’t really have any respect for our democratic principles.

I’m sure that Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) and his wife Susan Roces believe in their hearts that they’ve won… if so, why can’t they wait for the canvassing to be finished? There is no question that millions of Filipinos voted for FPJ because of his popularity, but they must accept in their hearts that an even greater number also didn’t vote for "Da King" not because they don’t trust him, but they don’t trust the people behind him. If you look closely, most of those behind FPJ are in one way or another former henchmen of the unlamented Marcos dictatorship… a dictatorship that made a mockery out of our democracy. It is the very reason why today, we hear these people cry out for another EDSA Revolt because truth to tell, they don’t really believe in our democratic system, where the majority wins!

* * *

For the whole week, we couldn’t give you any reports as to who would be Cebu’s next governor, vice governor and provincial board members simply because there was nothing to report from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) nor from the C-Cimpel, Cebu’s version of Namfrel. While Cebuanos are in a virtual limbo as to who really won the gubernatorial race, one thing we can say for sure is that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) won a big margin in Cebu province and the metro cities of Cebu. This is due to the fact that all three major candidates pushed for GMA as their presidential candidate. It is unfortunate that actor Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) of the opposition only had a token candidate for governor.

But for us, it is puzzling that the votes for the President in Cebu have already been counted, yet the votes for the province of Cebu weren’t revealed at all. If the ballot boxes of certain polling precincts were not opened because they’re supposedly "tainted," we’d really like to know why do certain people know this already when the ballot boxes weren’t even opened for canvassing yet? Of course, the answer is simple… that every candidate already has the tallies of these locked ballot boxes as everyone is entitled to a copy. We can only surmise that some of those still-to-be-opened ballot boxes like the one from the town of Bogo may result in a clear majority for a gubernatorial candidate. Again, Cebuanos are making another plea to have all the votes counted so we’ll know for sure who is the next governor of Cebu.

* * *

Here we are fighting for better governance through federalism yet in Mandaue City, what the people are getting is a lot of buck-passing on such a very trivial but important issue… who gets to pay for the lighting of the Subangdaku flyover? I often travel through this road as it is one of the quickest ways to go to Mandaue City from Cebu City, but yes, it is very dangerous to pass through that flyover because it is very dark although the approaches along the city streets are lighted.

Apparently, the Visayan Electric Co. (VECO) decided to cut the electricity in that flyover because it has accumulated bills totaling P54,393 which remain unpaid up to this time. Remember how we used to chastise VECO for its systems losses? Well, now you know that these losses also stem from a lot of unpaid bills. With this, we know that VECO is working hard to reduce their systems losses. This brings us back to the question as to who’s going to pay the unpaid power bills of the flyover. If you ask me, Mandaue City ought to pay this bill but there are complications like the turnover of this flyover to the City of Mandaue.

Four years ago, we had a similar problem as to who would pay for the lights along the newly opened 2nd Mactan Bridge, a.k.a. Marcelo Fernan Bridge, and the Mactan Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB) was in a quandary as to who would foot the power bills. Again let me point out that once a project made by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is completed, there should be a proper turnover so that the responsibility for its maintenance can be set. Of course, in the case of the Fernan Bridge, I doubt if Mandaue City has the technical expertise to maintain this bridge, which is one of the few cable-stayed bridges in this country.

But to the eyes of the taxpayer, someone ought to be responsible for maintaining our infrastructure. What we don’t like to see or hear is buck-passing by our public officials. Perhaps these officials ought to learn from the late US President Harry Truman who upon entering the White House on his first day of office, placed a plaque on his desk which announced, "The Buck Stops Here!"

* * *

We wrote about beleaguered Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Ildefonso Suerte of Barili who may have been misled into convicting another man instead of Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) Supremo Ruben Ecleo Jr. for taking the whole testimony of Cedrick Devinadera hook, line and sinker without verifying whether the confession may have been coerced. Now there’s a new twist to this story, this time it comes from the parents of Cedrick that their son may have been "pressured" to sign that confession. After all, despite his denials, the truth has surfaced that, indeed, he is a PBMA member.

But more importantly, that on the night of the murder of Alona, he was at home baby-sitting. Now if you ask me, this is damaging testimony and the judge has to answer for this faux pas. After all, the judge must also be answerable for his actions in convicting a man who may be innocent of the crime.

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.