EDITORIAL - Rama must decide on his legacy now

It is increasingly apparent that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is destined to serve only one term as chief executive of the Queen City of the South. With each passing day, Tomas Osmeña, temporarily on "exile" as congressman, is retracing his steps back to City Hall.

But Osmeña cannot retake City Hall until 2013, which is when the next local elections take place. That leaves Rama a little slack of over two years. We use the term slack be-cause, with Osmeña breathing down his neck, Rama never really got any free rein to en-joy his mayorship.

Confronted with this seeming inevitability, Rama must be hard-pressed deciding what form his lasting legacy would take. Would Rama leave physical manifestations of his passage, or would he prefer to leave "the vivid air signed with his honor," (phrase in quotes by Stephen Spender).

In the case of the latter, the thought that immediately comes to mind is that of a person counting his final days. Most people in such a situation consider honor to be beyond compromise. This is what Rama should angle for.

For whatever distractions and inconveniences Osmeña may be causing Rama, the fact remains that Rama is the mayor until 2013. Not even Osmeña can change that. And for as long as he chooses to exercise his powers and prerogatives as such, Rama can do most of what he wants.

In other words, Rama must stand his ground. The mayor has enough powers to force even the most uncooperative city councilor or barangay captain toe his line. That is if Rama prefers to leave the vivid air signed with his honor.

It will be difficult going for Rama, however. The man is a gentleman. Mike is not the confrontational type. It is as if his whole mission in the world is to make friends. Nothing wrong with that. But being a good person and being a good mayor can be quite different.

There are expectations Rama must fulfill, in case his inherent goodness is getting in the way of effective leadership. To leave a lasting legacy as mayor, he must set aside politics and just do what he feels is right. Anyway, he is about done politically. Time to be plain Cebuano.