The old and the new

WE USED to relish engaging in a clash of ideas, intellectual jousts we call it, when we were younger. Every time an idea or a theory was raised, we pounced on it, using whatever philosophy or principle we learned in college and in our readings. Consuming us for a time were the various aspects of the theory of contradiction or the “unity of the opposites.” Like the conflict between the old and the new.

Bong O. Wenceslao

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Consider this point:

“The old unity with its constituent opposites yields to a new unity with its constituent opposites, whereupon a new process emerges to replace the old. The old process ends and the new one begins. The new process contains new contradictions and begins its own history of the development of contradictions.”

I remember one time during a break in one of our meetings, the transistor radio we were listening to blared the news that heavyweight champion Larry Homes had defeated the “great” Muhammad Ali. Holmes was a young champion while Ali had “un-retired” in an attempt to become a four-time world heavyweight champion. “That’s the new replacing the old,” one of those in the meeting remarked.

So former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia and members of the Kugi Uswag Sugbu (Kusug) have turned over the reins of the party to the former mayor’s son, lawyer Raymond Garcia? That sounds interesting in the context of the contradiction between the old and the new. With Alvin “retired” from politics and Rep. Tomas Osmeña in his waning years as a politician, the young ones are on the brink of taking over in the city.

Besides, Kusug is obviously in need of revitalization. After losing in its bid to topple the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) from its City Hall perch in 2010, Kusug ended up becoming moribund. Then again, that is the usual fate of political vehicles that conk out during elections. They are left in the garage until the next electoral battle.

The party, for example, failed to grab the opportunity opened by the changed political setup in the city following the bolting of Mayor Michael Rama from the BOPK and his intensifying conflict with Osmeña. The emergence of two leadership centers in the city affected Kusug members and supporters who were among those wooed to prop up the weakened BOPK and the new political group that Rama set up.

It was obvious that Kusug members and supporters needed guidance as to where to place themselves in the changed political landscape. While Rama has become an anti-Osmeña, he does not endear himself to some Kusug leaders because of what he did while he was still with the BOPK. And while Rama remained passive, Osmeña wisely started winning over some of the leaders of Kusug, like Cogon Barangay Captain Eugenio Gabuya Jr.

That is something the younger Garcia wants to remedy by calling for a party convention next month to find out the sentiments of party members. It looks like that convention will be dominated by younger leaders that include Sambag I Barangay Captain Jerry Guardo and former barangay captains Mary Ann de los Santos and Joel Garganera.

The catch is whether younger Kusug leaders will take a different path from the previous one the party took. With Osmeña and Rama as the main protagonists in next year’s elections, Kusug has the luxury of focusing not on making another run at a City Hall post but on consolidating its organization. If it plays its cards well in 2013, it could emerge as a strong political force in the city in 2016.

(khanwens@yahoo.com)