Starting over

Few days ago, I was scanning the Cebu dailies trying to compare how they were treating the different news items from various sources in the city. The standard music generated from my old long-playing  vinyl records served as my soothing background. When the song Starting Over played, I also came upon a report on the abortive reorganization of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Cebu City. I am sure that the coincidence had no significance at all, but, had the councilors succeeded, that point in time could have also been their "Starting Over" on a new direction.

What is meant by a reorganization of the city council? It is nothing more than changing the council's standing committees or electing new personalities to handle them. However it is done, numbers dictate although, in their choices, they try to match professional expertise or experience of councilors to the various committees. But, really, since in parliamentary fora the majority rules, which group has the numerical advantage always determines who become chairmen and members of what committees. The competence of the people chosen to chair certain committees is but more of an afterthought than calculation.

This talk of reorganization actually started when four councilors who were members of the then ruling majority group, BOPK, felt that their political patron betrayed them. They could not understand why their erstwhile leader, former Congressman Tomas R. Osmeña, would allow one of the lawyers at his disposal in the person of Atty. Reymelio Delute, to file a case against the mayor and include them as respondents in the case. There was a chance, however slight and remote it was, that the legal action might succeed and should that happen, they were in danger of some administrative, if not, criminal liabilities. Putting them in such jeopardy was a thing no responsible leader would do. So, they thought that it was time for them to sever their political cord from their former head.

The city council has sixteen members. In the last elections, only four councilors were elected from the mayor's group, Team Rama. Naturally, they just composed the minority and in the distribution of chairmen of various committees, the members of the BOPK imposed their will. Unto the Team Rama's number was added the president of the Association of Barangay. Still the ratio was five to twelve.

When the four former BOPK members announced their bolting from the group, they became the proverbial swing vote. If they would cast their votes with the five Team Rama councilors, they would eke a slight majority of nine to eight. And as stories began to unravel, that was the reported reorganization that, for some reason, did not then materialize.

Our honorable councilors should realize that they have but a year and a half to do what can be done to make our city a better place to live in. They may not agree with this observation of mine, but I believe that politics underscored why the city council (with a majority whose members were not friendly to the chief executive) and the mayor failed to cooperate with each other in pushing for all development plans.

With the changing of the numerical proportions in the council, the reorganization, a "starting over" of sort, is a foregone conclusion. Rather than perpetuate a useless confrontational environment between Team Rama and BOPK, our local legislators should seize the opportunity to start all over again differently. It must not be a restart of the old practice of the spoils going to the victors. They should reorganize their committees so as to put the respective heavy work on the shoulders of competent chairmen. Because Team Rama is expected to hold the sway, their best minds must be placed in charge of appropriate committees and the BOPK, instead of fighting each measure, should endeavor to help craft worthy pieces of local legislation.

To achieve this ideal objective, the honorable councilors, after the reorganization is accomplished, should sit with the mayor to identify the policy directions for the remainder of the term. Their executive-legislative council should be able to decipher what are the priorities to attend to, given the short remaining time of their term. We Cebuanos should all watch for their development. If it does not come, then the starting over would simply mean a repetition of the errors of the past. End.

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