EDITORIAL - Marching to the beat of another drummer

Some people, apparently mesmerized by the novelty, have taken to calling the intramurals between Mayor Michael Rama and the Cebu City Council as a healthy sign of governance, an example of one fiscalizing the other.

 Those who are not aware of the background to these intramurals will tend to agree with that observation. After all, it is always tempting to applaud fiscalization. That is the essence of check and balance in government.

 However, those in the know will likely sneer at the ignorance behind the observation. The “fiscalizing” some people see is not really fiscalizing in the truest sense of the word but pure and simple politically-induced obstructionism and sabotage.

The city council used to be seen as a “rubberstamp” of the former mayor, and for good reason. There was almost nothing the former mayor wanted that the council did not give. The few he did not get were not due to council rejection but because they were impossible to give.

With a few minor changes, the makeup of the present council is essentially the same as the previous one. So, unless the Good Lord appeared to each councilor in a dream, there is simply no way the council can transform itself overnight from “rubberstamp” to “fiscalizer.”

The public should therefore be very wary of what they see, because what they see can be deceptive. And while everyone should applaud anything that results in greater benefits for the most number, they should not lose track of the motivations behind these benefits.

This is necessary because benefits, once given and enjoyed, need to be sustained and even improved. What the beneficiary public would not want to see is a good thing enjoyed only as a welcome consequence of political in-fighting inside the seat of government.

The public would not want to see these collateral benefits swept under the rug with each new change in administration, and the council reverts to being once again the “rubberstamp” of another mayor its members are only too eager to please and whose interests they again prioritize.