EDITORIAL - We still need to promote ourselves after all

There is no doubt about the level to which the Southeast Asian Games opening extravaganza in Cebu soared. The show was simply spectacular. And as a showcase of what a properly motivated people can do, it was something Cebuanos can be proud of themselves for a very long time.

But beyond accomplishing its immediate objective, which was to convey our natural Cebuano warmth by way of an extraordinary lavishness in our welcome, it also accomplished the long-term objective of projecting Cebu at its best to the world.

In other words, the spectacle was a very effective publicity vehicle, one that certainly promoted Cebu as a good place to visit or do business in. But in so doing, it ironically also placed one of those who had been in the forefront of the activity on the spot.

Believe it or not, the SEA Games opening show caught Mayor Tomas Osmeña with his foot in his mouth. For just a week earlier, to the discomfiture of everyone, he rose in the middle of the 19th Philippine Advertising Congress to say Cebu did not need to promote itself.

Osmeña may or may not have meant what he said. But to those who cannot divine his thoughts, which is essentially everybody, they will just have to take his word in the manner that it comes out of mouth. And what came out was uncomfortably embarrassing, to say the least.

That the more than 3,000 guests who were in Cebu did not exhibit the slightest twitch in appearance could be due to their high degree of professionalism, they being topnotch advertisers and public relations personalities in the country. Polite silence is a virtue to them.

So what is it then? Does Cebu still need to promote itself to the world or not? Of course it does, no matter what Osmeña may think at the spur of the moment. There is no end to any and all efforts to promote one's self.

Promoting one's self is human nature. Even Osmeña has to look in the mirror, literally, at least once a day to check on his appearance. Maybe there was some other reason we do not know that made him say what he said during the ad congress.

But let us all put that behind us now. Cebu is not the property of Osmeña despite what he thinks. Its rise or fall depends not on the temporary grace or misfortune of whoever is the mayor but on how the Cebuanos themselves conduct themselves in every aspect of their lives.