EDITORIAL - Why only Akrho?

The Cebu City government is giving an award to the controversial Alpha Kappa Rho fraternity during the Charter Day anniversary on February 24. Mayor Tomas Osmeña has been reported to have been glad that Akrho has finally stayed away from creating trouble with longtime rival Tau Gamma Phi.

Mayor Osmeña mentioned the fact that Akrho has gone to as far as participating in the Sinulog, which only manifested a big turn around from where the group was before. “I think they deserved, and we deserved to recognize them. These are the things we take for granted. Kining mga people nga supposed to be destabilizing the community are actually helping us now,” he said.    

There’s been no word yet from the City Hall if it will also hand an award to Tau Gamma. But based on Mayor Osmeña’s statement last Thursday, it seems that only Akrho will reap the recognition.

Since Akrho will only be recognized for the award, there has been a room of doubts as to the genuineness of the recognition. That is because questions were raised why the City Hall chose to ignore Tau Gamma.

Like Akrho, Tau Gamma seemed to have been behaving that there has been no report about any of its members attacking their rivals in the city lately. That development was born out of the peace efforts initiated by the city, which successfully brought the two warring factions to the negotiating table.       

But the credit for the ceasefire should not solely go to Akrho. Tau Gamma’s diplomatic approach also contributed to the prevailing peace between the two fraternities, a fact that Mayor Osmeña and other City Hall officials failed to recognize.

We are not saying Tau Gamma also deserved to be recognized by the City Hall. It’s Mayor Osmeña’s call to give recognition where recognition is due, a matter that we cannot interfere.          

But the City Hall award should, at least, be given fairly. The mayor should realize that the two fraternities attained peace by jointly agreeing to participate in the negotiations.

Lest we should forget, the animosities between the two groups stemmed from their rivalry for dominance. And giving the award to Akrho only creates an impression that the city only recognized only one of them. 

We can only hope that the award for Akrho will not generate envy from Tau Gamma that would only result in the resumption of their rivalry. After all, jealousness has been driving these groups to stride on the path of animosity.