EDITORIAL- A promised land of a different sort

If there is one thing Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III learned in the nearly three years that he has been in office, it is the ability to emulate the skills of his patron, President Aquino, which is that if you have nothing to brag about, then go blame your critics. But while Aquino has made finger-pointing an art, Davide is a poor copycat in even such a demeaning undertaking.

In his State of the Province Address on Wednesday, Davide took to taking several jabs at those who believe he has done nothing, or at least has not done enough to make his tenure worth remembering. To prove the critics wrong, Davide cited accomplishments that ranged from hiring more doctors and making available more medicine to improving the skills of farmers and setting up marine sanctuaries.

Davide just did not get it. All the things he enumerated are not accomplishments but regular responsibilities that come with the office and expected to be performed by anyone in his position. What the critics meant by having done nothing is anchored on the fact that Cebu is a premier province and that whoever is given the distinct privilege to lead it is expected to be at the cutting edge of innovation and new ideas meant to bring Cebu to even greater heights.

The ability to provide medical services and improve livelihood skills are too barangay-level senses of accomplishment to be paraded in a "state of" speech, especially if intended to quiet critics. The only real accomplishment he may rightfully claim is the added investment by a Japanese company of about P600 million. But even that, taken in its solitary lonesomeness, is paltry to what could have been attracted.

Remember, we are Cebu. That in itself is already a huge selling point. Many leaders aspiring to leave a legacy of progress and development would give up their arms for the chance to sit at the Cebu Capitol because just to head one of the country's leading provinces already has the job cut out for them. It is like the mall principle. Once inside the mall, the chances of a person buying anything is far greater than if he is just standing outside smoking. You are Cebu. You can do.

But if in spite of being Cebu we are still just being regaled by stories of a few more doctors and a few more boxes of medicine and a few more ears of corn, then clearly the Cebu advantage has been misappropriated, has not been pushed to the hilt. And the buck cannot stop anywhere else but at the governor's door. The rest of Davide's "state of" speech was devoted to promises, of old ones still unrealized, and new ones that never will. Cebu has become a promised land of a different sort.