At first glance, it is easy to see why the only two opposition members in the Cebu City council failed to win any seat in any of the 24 committees in the legislature. At first glance, it is a simple expediency of numbers. Whoever has the numbers rules.
What the majority -- all members of the BOPK party -- failed to see, however, is that by denying any the two opposition Team Rama members any participation in the committees, whether as chairman or as plain and ordinary member, they have refused to recognize the mandate of the people.
The BOPK members cannot seem to see beyond their petty political noses and understand that while the two Team Rama members may be their political enemies, the undeniable fact remains that these two councilors were elected by the people, in the very same manner that they have been.
If the BOPK members refuse to recognize the mandate that gave these two Team Rama members the authority to sit in the city council, then why should they be any different when they share the same mandate. None of the BOPK councilors ought to be a member of any committee as well.
And when that happens, then almost nothing will happen in the city council and all the councilors, be they BOPK or Team Rama, better resign so that in so doing they return the mandate that the people have given in good faith.
No wonder the city council of Cebu City cannot rise above its own self because it is so petty. What a shame that they should represent the second most important city in the Philippines. To these hapless Cebu City councilors, politics is just a dirty game.
They do not seem to have the brains to realize that politics is not simply a power game. More importantly, politics is governance and statesmanship. Politics is all of humanity taking care of itself. It is the petty power drunk politicians who give politics such a bad name.
If the BOPK councilors continue to thwart the popular mandate the two Team Rama members also enjoy. Then they lay themselves open to any action anyone may take against them. The BOPK councilors have betrayed the public trust.