Cebu’s message to Didagen: Put up or shut up!

What’s been happening in Congress in the past week… where they still couldn’t decide on the rules of engagement regarding the opening or the conduct of the canvass. This is the best reason why I have always believed that there is an immediate need to revamp the entire electoral process or even the entire government. Now you know why many of us want a constitutional change!

As the Freeman headline last Saturday blared, "Cebu in Uproar over Fraud Tag." This was in reference to the statement of Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen who blurted out that massive cheating happened in the last elections in Cebu where President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) had a humongous lead over opposition bet Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ). Wait! Didn’t this Dilangalen fellow run for senator and lose under the KNP banner? Perhaps he’s only doing what we Cebuanos call "panabla" or getting even by destroying everything! Losing candidates should never be included in the counting process, as they’ll never show any objectivity.

Official results put GMA’s votes in Cebu province totaling 965,630 over FPJ’s 123,099, while in Cebu City, GMA got 220,060, while FPJ got only 58,591 votes. Again as a reminder to those who still can’t get it, all the three gubernatorial candidates, Gwen Garcia, Celestino Martinez Jr. and John-John Osmeña, who all had complete slates down to provincial board members, were all for GMA. FPJ only had a token gubernatorial slate that nobody even knew. That GMA won by a huge landslide, plus an earthquake, was to be expected.

The same can be said in Cebu City, where GMA also trounced FPJ. Now things were a bit different in Cebu City, where incumbent Mayor Tomas Osmeña and his Bando-Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) was chosen by GMA, and his challenger Alvin Garcia and his Kugi Uswag Sugbu (Kusug) party whom GMA didn’t anoint decided to pick FPJ as their presidential bet. That choice by Alvin Garcia was practically a "kiss of death" for his mayoralty bid because he had to explain to the very politically educated Cebuano voters why he had picked FPJ over, say, the other presidentiables like Raul Roco, Ping Lacson or Bro. Eddie, whom Cebuanos believe were better than FPJ.

Of course, the Cebuano voter already knew the reasons behind Alvin’s choice. As he mentioned during a television interview, he would pick a candidate who would give him money… plain and simple. Right after the elections, Kusug congressional candidate Danilo Fernan gave us the real reason why the Kusug party lost miserably in the last elections… because Alvin Garcia didn’t give him the funds as promised, which is why he said, "The Kusug party is a dying party!" So perhaps, Rep. Dilangalen can check whether or not FPJ gave Alvin Garcia the funds he asked so, in turn, we can verify this from Alvin Garcia.

Meanwhile, as the Freeman headline says, Cebuanos are really mad at this loudmouth from Maguindanao. That Cebuanos gave the biggest majority to GMA is something that we’re all so proud of… that the Cebuano voters are not easily bewitched by a superstar because we believe that he has no qualifications to become our president. Then this loudmouth from Maguindanao says Cebuanos cheated for GMA! That’s totally untrue and Mr. Dilangalen should prove his allegations or as he was told… SHUT UP!

Again, I’ll repeat what we said prior to the elections that I, with my dirt bike buddies, went to the mountain barangays of Cebu province and on those trips, we found out that GMA was the candidate of choice and FPJ wasn’t even in the picture. That the results showed this reality is our best proof that there was no cheating for GMA.

Incidentally, during FPJ’s first campaign sortie, I was at the Mactan Airport for business and I met my good friend David "Boy" Odilao who was meeting FPJ as he was the coordinating officer of the Bagong Umaga Movement supporting FPJ’s presidential bid. Back then I told Boy Odilao that he was backing the candidate that the Cebuanos would reject. Boy just smiled like a good friend listening to an advice.

Well, two weeks before Election Day, Boy Odilao’s group shifted alliances and totally abandoned FPJ… that should tell you a lot! Perhaps there may have been cheating, but only to improve a local candidate’s chances of winning… and not for the President or the senatoriables. So again Mr. Dilangalen, please put up or shut up! Perhaps Dilangalen should listen to the Freeman editorial last Saturday, which went, "Let those who have not cheated, cast the first stone!"

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As we wrote last week, we may be looking at a serious case of injustice done wittingly or unwittingly by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Idelfonso Suerte for convicting the self-confessed alleged killer of Alona Ecleo, wife of Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) Supremo Ruben Ecleo Jr. This is something that government probers are looking into, more so that the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) has asked no less than the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to also conduct their own investigations on what could be the biggest slap to our judicial system.

But RTC Judge Suerte was visibly irked at the media commentaries about his conviction of what could possibly be a "fall guy." He unleashed his ire on radioman Super Bobby Nalzaro of dySS for his seething commentaries against him. Using his judicial power, Judge Suerte filed a contempt charge against Nalzaro for making vicious comments against him. This forced Nalzaro to travel to Barili, south of Cebu City, to face Judge Suerte in court. Well, like Rep. Dilangalen, now Judge Suerte is faced with the entire Cebu media who are just waiting in the wings to pounce on the judge if he threatens our treasured freedom of the press. At this point, Judge Suerte is asking for time to study this case. Study well, dear Judge, lest you make another…wrong decision!

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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.