What tsunami (of cases) brings!

My high school teacher in World History, the late Atty. Pacifica Cuizon, taught us that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria triggered World War I. Speaking in graphic details as if she was a living witness to Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939, she also taught us that the fuhrer’s blitzkrieg marked the beginning of World War II. The killing of the Austrian Archduke was occasioned by what historians claim as a “wrong turn” but to my teacher, it was rather a minor incident such that should not have started a world war. On the other hand, the roar of German tanks rampaging thru Polish territory was utterly terrifying and senseless that my teacher knew it made the global conflict inevitable.

Politics even if there is comparably much less physical violence is somehow likened to a bloody war. Both politics and war look for the most unlikely trigger to happen. True to the off-tangent nature of this column, I dare opine that certain events tended to show the emerging political conflict between Cebu Provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

There was this incident which I likened to be as politically minor as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and which could be easily overlooked. This took place when Gov Garcia announced that the Sinulog of the province would be held in Carmen, Cebu, and not in its usual venue in Cebu City. The governor declared her reason for the change of Sinulog setting: safety. Gov Garcia, in her eloquence, said that the SRP grounds as a parade site was unsafe and uncomfortable to many of her provincial participants. She was unwilling to subject her constituents to hazards. Surely, it sounded truly convincing and it perfectly covered the real motive which my mischievous self imagined. The lady governor wanted to highlight how wrong the mayor was. Exposing that Mayor Rama was unwise in his decision on major issues was telling the world how undependable he was.

There were two recent incidents here in our island which to borrow my late teacher Atty. Cuizon’s words could draw parallel to Hitler’s invasion of Poland that triggered World War II. These incidents were the turmoils between, one, Cebu City and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) and two Cebu City and Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD). Then Gov Gwen entered the fray. The interest of the province moved her to join forces with CPA and MCWD. Historically, the reason provided by France and Great Britain in declaring war on Germany after it invaded Poland could very well be akin to the lady governor’s. She personified the inexhaustible logistics and her press conferences re-echoed the rumbling of powerful panzers.

There will be a tsunami of cases! Declared Mayor Rama because to him enough is enough. I assume that this declaration made by the city mayor in an emotional context, is not just aimed against the officialdoms of the CPA and MCWD but against Gov Gwen as well. World War II’s Axis and Allied are reborn with the city council which recently passed resolutions that could, at worst, be interpreted as siding with the governor can be collaterally involved. Then Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia can be estranged such that the 2025 elections can be convoluting. When, not if, that happens, my question in my April 13, 2024 article entitled “Is Gov Garcia Breaking Up The Mike-Raymond Tandem?” will have an answer.