Gwen has the mandateher critics don't

These needless public assaults on Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia's authority to implement her policies are getting to be too nitpickingly exasperating for those of us who are being forced to become their unwitting spectators. We do not need these, especially at this time. What we need is willingness to trust in her strong leadership at this time of great uncertainty.

Tuob. Air purifiers. It is easy to see how such unconventional measures, when made official policy to address a situation we are made to believe can only be addressed by science, can rile certain sectors mandated and accustomed to adhere to very specific and rigid formulations. But Gwen is not bound by the same professional straitjacket. She is bound by only one mandate: What to her is good for the public interest.

What is good is naturally subject to great debate. But in the larger business of life, we have no time to quibble over that, which is why we elect leaders to make that determination for us. Gwen is far from perfect. She could be wrong in some of her policies. But she is a leader determined to carry out her mandate of doing what she thinks is good for the public interest. In that, no one can accuse her of malice or ill will.

Some medical professionals are riled by Gwen's adamance in laying down policies they deem to be unscientific or without medical basis, like tuob, for instance, or even air purifiers. And they may be right about that. But Gwen is not a doctor but a public official faced with a crisis that not only has no real scientific solution at this time but, more importantly, leaves no one any time to consult a medical professional or wait for a prescription.

Almost everybody is agreed that the best measures the medical profession can recommend at this time are constant sanitation, the wearing of face masks and face shields, social distancing, and vaccination. But I doubt if all the medical professionals in the country by themselves alone can gather an equal number of people to do all of these things. It is still the voice of public officials like Gwen that carry the weight of authority to get things done.

And that is because it is human nature for people to submit more willingly to authority and leadership than they would private individuals no matter how expert and well-intentioned they may be. Such is the reality we all need to acknowledge, which is why I think Gwen needs a little more courtesy and respect. Remember, we are in this fight together. Gwen is not the enemy. She is not on the side of the virus. She is ours.

If Gwen goes askew in her policies, there are ways to sit and talk or otherwise engage her professionally. Even a text or call will do for most people. Calling her out publicly on social media is misdirected objectivity, which can easily be misunderstood as politicking and which, in the ultimate analysis, it essentially what it will be. And that is essentially pointless. Her critics notwithstanding, most Cebuanos approve of Gwen. She will win again.

Amid many uncertainties, it is better to be led by one who, like everybody else, can be wrong but, unlike most everybody else, is determined to bring us home safe and would not stop trying. With still no light at the end of the tunnel, anarchy can set in very quickly and must be avoided at all cost lest we face a crisis far worse than any unseen virus can cause. Against a virus, we can unite as a people. When people fight people, all humanity loses.