The expected clash between Mike Rama and Tomas Osmeña for City Hall in 2013 is all about personal pride. Rama wants to show he is no pushover and can win on his own merits. Osmeña wants to prove him wrong and punish him for his intransigence.
It will be a bruising fight, no doubt. But for the public interest it has generated, there is really no saying if the Cebuanos themselves actually relish the outcome, whoever might emerge the bloody winner.
Both Rama and Osmeña have had the opportunity to sit as mayor. But neither can lay claim to having provided the kind of leadership the second most important city in the country so richly deserves. Whoever wins this time will still make no difference.
There are no highlights in their careers other than those self-promoted before the media by way of daily press conferences and frequent interviews. If people stopped listening to radio or watching TV and reading newspapers, the leadership vacuum will swallow them all up.
The great strides Cebu City has taken despite the leadership vacuum are largely due to the hard work and sacrifice of the Cebuanos themselves, by seizing the impetus and opportunities provided and laid down for them by a highly-motivated and innovative business sector.
Since it matters not who wins in 2013, maybe Rama and Osmeña should just consider what is best for their own selves, which is what it is all about in the first place, and spare Cebuanos the agony of choosing between two unappealing choices.
We might even help them along with this proposition: Since Osmeña will win over Rama for mayor, maybe Rama should consider running for Congress, replacing Osmeña. Congress is not only winnable for Rama, it ought to be his destiny.
The reason Osmeña has had a lackluster performance in Congress is because he knows nothing about legislation. He is not equipped for it. He just ran for Congress because his term as mayor ran out. Congress was just a convenient pit stop for him.
Not that he is better as mayor than as congressman. But as mayor, Osmeña can be in his element, which is to bully everybody. Rama, on the other hand, is a lawyer. His entire career, from councilor to vice mayor, has always been with legislatures. He should be a congressman.