EDITORIAL - A leadership exposed

There are as many meanings that can be woven into the decision of four BOPK councilors to bolt the group as there are people willing to weave meanings into the development. But if there is any commonality to be found in such diversity, it is that former mayor Tomas Osmeña, who heads the BOPK, is now seeing a real and serious erosion of his political power in the city.

True, Osmeña may still have eight BOPK members left in the city council. And sure, he can easily find replacements for the four -- Gerardo Carillo, Roberto Cabarrubias, Ritchie Osmeña, and Noel Wenceslao -- who decided to bolt and become independent. But for anyone at all to bolt the BOPK without any clear and apparent reason is unprecedented.

Of course this is not the first time anyone left the party. Alvin Garcia, the BOPK co-founder, left for obvious reasons. He could not bear the domineering of Osmeña, especially after their growing differences erupted into a very open and public quarrel (they had a shouting match inside then mayor Garcia's office, right in the presence of media).

And then there are Mayor Michael Rama and Vice Mayor Edgar Labella who, like Garcia, both found their positions untenable from constant domineering by Osmeña. There is in the brand of leadership of Osmeña that strips his allies of their dignity and eventually forces them to make the hard but obvious choice. And if you are of the self-respecting sort, it is a choice you have to make.

The case with Carillo, Cabarrubias, Ritchie Osmeña and Wenceslao, however, is a tad different from what happened to Garcia, Rama and Labella. There had been no overt causes for them to jump ship, or if there were, they had been kept pretty much under wraps and known perhaps only to them. Whatever the causes, though, their decision cannot but be a big slap on the face of Osmeña, no matter how much Osmeña may pretend it is not.

And that is because in this burgh, when you say Osmeña, it is as if, at least politically, you are the anointed one, the one preordained to be the leader of the city. Indeed, even now that Rama is the mayor, it continues to be difficult to set aside the name Osmeña. It is like the so-called elephant in the room. But now, for the first time, that name, that presence, has considerably been weakened and in danger of actually losing significance.

Why? Because the BOPK members who bolted were less consequential than a Garcia or a Rama. This is not intended to disparage or disrespect Carillo, Cabarrubias, Ritchie Osmeña and Wenceslao. But they are simply not of a particular level who can gather armies and mount wars on their own. They are more like foot soldiers, or lieutenants if you will, who more or less need to follow rather than lead.

But therein also lies the weight of their loss. When managers and supervisors leave, it is almost always because they have found greener pastures. It is in the best interest of their careers to leave. But when ordinary employees leave, it must involve gut-wrenching decisions wrapped in so much uncertainties. It is like jumping into a lake, done not so much because one likes the water but because there is nothing else to do but jump. And that should tell us a lot.