EDITORIAL - Read a speech out of a street

Whether fairly or unfairly, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is racking up a reputation for long-winded speeches. Defending his little-over-an-hour-long State of the City Address, Rama said it was necessarily long because it was a narrative of accomplishments.

An hour-long speech by a mayor is not exactly long by political standards. But the true measure of an accomplished leadership is not determined by the length or contents of speeches. It is in how well-maintained a city's streets are.

Rama's hour-long State of the City Address pales in comparison to the longest speech on record before the UN General Assembly, delivered by Cuban leader Fidel Castro for an exasperating four hours and 30 minutes.

But even Castro was eclipsed by his friend Hugo Chavez, who spoke on Venezuelan TV for eight straight hours. The longest inaugural speech ever is by US President William Henry Harrison who spoke for two hours on a cold rainy day. However, he caught pneumonia and died 31 days later.

The speeches of Stalin were said to be interminably long as they contained not only accomplishments but visions projected up to 20 years in the future as well. And his speeches were interspersed with mandatory applause that could go on for 20 minutes, under pain of arrest.

So be thankful Rama only speaks for an hour or so. And you are free to go if you get numb or bored. Anyway, no matter what accomplishments anyone may write into a speech, nothing still beats the message an eye can read from the condition of a road.

Most residents of a city are not privileged enough to either hear a mayor speak or manage to get their hands on actual records that they may see for themselves how their city is doing under a particular leadership.

The only real, and still the best indicator, of how efficiently any city is run by no particular leader in mind is in the condition of city streets. If you see clean and well-paved streets, there is only one reaction anyone can give -- what a great city this is!