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Saturday, April 23, 2005
Editorials: Better option on the SRP mess
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña may have harbored real hatred for Rep. Eduardo Gullas, who staked a claim to a portion of the South Reclamation Project, but his recent admission that the congressman is shrewd should make Gullas’ day.
The compliment may be underhanded, but it shows the mayor’s guarded respect for somebody he considers an enemy.
Indeed, while Gullas has been largely silent despite Osmeña’s series of bullying acts against him and neighboring Talisay City, he has not stopped finding ways to strengthen his position notwithstanding the recent setbacks in his SRP claim.
Gullas surely knows his basketball; he is blocking every shot Osmeña is taking.
While Osmeña may have succeeded in pressuring the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to recommend the titling to Cebu City of the SRP lots, the process hit a snag when Malacanang sought the Department of Justice’s opinion before acting on the recommendation.
Gullas even put one over Osmeña by being the first to submit a memorandum on his claim to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.
While a memorandum may not be that important if Gonzalez comes up with an opinion that is more political rather than legal, Osmeña’s failure
to submit one can be used as an escape hatch by Gonzalez if ever he decides in favor of Talisay.
This just shows that Gullas is not one to raise the white flag that easily and is capable of using his “shrewdness” to turn the conflict into a protracted battle.
And had not Osmeña’s ego blinded him, he would already have realized that tackling Gullas head-on has not been paying good dividends for Cebu City and that the better option is for both sides to talk the matter over.
All in the family
Reports on the scheduled elections for the vacant congressional seat in the fifth district of Cebu province have been true to public expectation.
The people floated as possible candidates all belong to the same clan, which just shows that politics in that district is still controlled by the Duranos.
Still, the coming special elections can end up being interesting depending on how political ambition will intensify the existing factionalism within the Durano clan.
Internal strife may precede the collapse of political dynasties.
(April 23, 2005 issue)
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