Macau: I’ve been in Macau since Tuesday as the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) requested me to feature Macau on our Talkshow “Straight from the Sky”. So together with my wife Jessica and my SkyCable crew, Mary Ann Segers, Albert Dajab and Chris del Mar, we took Cathay Pacific CX 920 from Mactan to Hong Kong for the hour and a half flight from Cebu to Chep Lap Kok Airport. We didn’t even go through immigration, took a bus to the Ferry Terminal then to the TurboJet fast craft for the 50-minute trip to Macau.
It was the first time for all of us to visit Macau. We were met at the ferry terminal by Engr. Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) who billeted us at the luxurious SkyWorld Hotel. There we were met by Charlie Chaplin! Actually he’s an actor/performer named Christopher who greets the hotel guests with a flair. Beautiful and tall women also graced the lobby, though I’m not sure if all of them were women.
Later in the evening, Joao Antunes hosted a sumptuous Portuguese cuisine called Antonio’s own by Chef Antonio Neves Coelho, a very small quaint restaurant along the main road of Rua Correia Da Silva on Rua Dos Mercadores (Merchants Road) corner Rua Dos Negociantes (Traders Road) that is not only a member of the Chaine Des Rotisseurs, but was also recommended by Michelin, that discriminating French magazine that gives information of the best restaurants in the world. A trip to Macau should also include a culinary experience just like what we had last evening.
We had a huge slice of Pata Negra, washed with Prova Reglia white vintage wine and Bacalhau fishcake and Chourico assado appetizers. After our sumptuous meal, we had a taste of Gingha Licor wine that Chef Antonio put on a wine cask for added flavor. You’ll see it on my Talkshow on Straight from the Sky around Holy Week.
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I was on my way to the airport early Tuesday morning when I heard on the radio that Mayor Tomas Osmeña had withdrawn his support to Vice-Mayor Michael Rama. Since my cellphone got corrupted and I lost many cellphone numbers, I also could not do any last minute calls to Mike for his comments on this latest report about Cebu City politics.
There is no question that there are now cracks in the unity of the Bando-Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) the political party of Mayor Tomas Osmeña that gave him and his allies a strong political grip in the City of Cebu for the last 20 years. No political party, be it local or national, could beat what the BO-PK has done in all these years in the City of Cebu.
Before he left for the US and just before he was diagnosed with cancer, I had a long talk with Mayor Tom about US national and local politics.
Although he already declared publicly his support for Vice-Mayor Michael Rama, he told me that the “ideal” situation would be for Rep. Raul del Mar to run for Mayor, while Councilor Hilario “Jun” Davide III run for Congressman for the North and Vice-Mayor Mike Rama for Congressman in the South. But then the ideal situation doesn’t often materialize as Mayor Tom acknowledges then that it is time for a Rama to be Mayor of Cebu City.
That’s why he endorsed Mike Rama months back.
But situations often change. In fact I told Vice-Mayor Rama that since the 2010 elections is a Presidential elections, there will definitely be other “interested parties” to run against him, from either within his own BO-PK Party or from potential opponents. With a minimum of four candidates gunning for President in the next elections, we can see that whoever is the final person to be anointed by Mayor Osmeña would have to slug it out with at least three other mayoral candidates.
But while Mayor Osmeña has withdrawn his support for Mike, he didn’t kick him out of the BO-PK, as of yet. But this situation no doubt emboldens those who seek to destroy the unity of the BO-PK to eagerly find ways to break up the party that has ruled Cebu City politics for two decades. I’m sure that Jonathan Guardo and Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann delos Santos are elated that the BO-PK is cracking up because if the BO-PK breaks up, they would absolutely gain from it.
Where is all this headed? No one can tell until the deadline in November for the filing of certificates of candidacies. I just hope that both Mayor Tommy Osmeña and Mike Rama sit down together to settle their differences without breaking the BO-PK apart because they have built that political machinery for many years. If it breaks up, just like Humpty Dumpy, I seriously doubt if anyone can restore the broken pieces together again.
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