EDITORIAL — All Cebuanos must take sides on Sugbuak

Governor Gwen Garcia is right. The members of the provincial board should show their hand now, should declare themselves before the Cebuanos how they stand on the issue of Sugbuak. They cannot continue to fence-sit on something that is going to affect the lives of all Cebuanos.

Board member Victor Maambong tried to force the issue by proposing a resolution that would have the board declare open support for a provincial government initiative that seeks to gather as many signatures as it can to back its opposition to the Sugbuak proposals.

But several board members like Jose Gastardo, Antonio Almirante and Joven Mondigo opposed taking a vote on the proposed resolution. And it is easy to see why. The three are supporting the creation of three new provinces out of the present Province of Cebu.

To be sure, Gastardo, Almirante and Mondigo have the right to their own opinions, and if they think breaking up Cebu into four parts is good, then no one has the right to part them from their illusions.

But they should make a clean breast of it. They cannot forever hide behind the anonymity provided by the provincial board as a collegial body. They must stick their necks out for what they believe in, unless of course they want to stick their heads into the ground like ostriches.

There is always wisdom and practical value in exposing one's true feelings. In the marketplace of ideas, making known one's stand will provoke discussion that can bring forth the necessary pros and cons needed to arrive at a learned decision.

The issue of breaking Cebu into four parts, proposed by last-termer members of Congress Simeon Kintanar, Antonio Yapha and Clavel Martinez in order to secure their continued political niches, is so important a matter to relegate into ambiguity.

When patrimony is at stake, it is essential and important that accountability is shared by each and everyone of those who take part in the process of deciding its fate. Cebu, whether in whole or in part, is in the heart of each of us. We have to make a clean breast of it.