What the departed politicians can teach their living scions
If Don Sergio Osmeña Sr and Don Vicente Rama were alive today, they would perhaps have quite a number of words of wisdom to impart to their respective grandsons who are currently running against each other. Don Sergio was a very learned man of law and leadership. He rose to become the first and the only Cebuano to have ever been favored with that God-given gift of becoming president of the Republic. Albeit he merely succeeded President Manuel L Quezon when the latter died in 1944, and was not elected to the presidency, Don Sergio was also the only Cebuano to have ever been elected vice president of the nation.
Perhaps Don Sergio can tell his grandsons, both Tomas (Tom), Sergio III (Serge) and John Henry (Sonny) to remain steadfast even in the midst of the changing tides of political fortunes. And one very remarkable virtue that the Grand Old Man of Cebu could immensely enrich us all with, is his patience and his ability to give way to others, even those who are his inferiors in intellect and brilliance. Only a few know that Don Sergio got second place in the 1903 Bar Examinations. Quezon only got fourth place in the same exams. But Osmeña always allowed himself to act as second fiddle to the fiery ilustrado from Baler,Tayabas.
Also, Don Vicente Rama, the grandfather of Cebu City Mayor Michael L Rama, might have a lot of things to say to the incumbent chief executive of the city that Don Vicente so loved. Don Vicente, as we all know was the author of the law that granted citihood to Cebu City. Some historians wrote that the Osmeñas who controlled the province were quite opposed to the grant of the Cebu City charter because it would diminish the powers and resources, including the revenues of Cebu province. But Don Vicente was a determined legislative giant who fought his way until victory. Mayor Mike draws immense inspiration from his beloved lolo.
There was another great Don Vicente, who together with his brother, Don Paulino Gullas, were men of law and letters. They built what is now one of the most successful educational institutions in our city and province, the University of the Visayas, which has already produced a number of legal luminaries and jurists like Justice Regino Hermosisima and Justice Portia Alino-Hormachuelos of the Court of Appeals, who is now the incumbent Dean of the UV Gullas Law School. Don Vicente and Don Paulino can teach their great grandson, the incumbent congressman of the first district of Cebu the virtue of humility and fidelity in public service.
I remember Governor Emilio Francisco F Remotigue, a distant relative of ours from our towns of Argao and Ronda.. He was the mentor of Chief Justice Hilario G Davide, Jr, and my model and inspiration. Ingko Milio, as we fondly called him in Ronda worked as a farmer while he was studying in the primary school of Langin, the same barangay school where I finished basic education. He rose to become Governor of Cebu and a member of President Marcos' Cabinet, as a SWA Administrator, the forerunner of DSWD. Ingko Milio, like Don Sergio, Don Vicente Rama and Don Vicente Gullas served our province and people with great dignity, decency, and dedication. The politicos today have so much to learn from them. And that includes their grandsons and other successors.
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