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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Carvajal: Simply amazing, absolutely frustrating
By Orlando P. Carvajal
The syllogism sounds perfect. You cannot open what is not closed. The South Coastal Road was never closed. Ergo, the court cannot open it. For indeed, how can you open what has never been closed?
But it only sounds perfect. In reality Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s syllogism is full of holes. We can certainly agree with the premise that you cannot open what is not closed. However, we have to take exception with the minor premise that the South Coastal Road was never closed. Yes, it was open to a few motorists with passes. No, it was not open to the general public like a public road should be. Ergo, the court was right to order it opened. The court’s decision proved that, contrary to the mayor’s claim, the South Coastal Road, a government project, was closed to the general public.
Yet this is just one example of how simply amazing, how so absolutely frustrating our mayor is in the bullying manner with which he insists on doing everything his way. What is even more amazing and more frustrating is the way civil society is allowing him to get away with his arrogant who-the-hell-are-you style of governance.
Civil society in Cebu City would seem to be either completely dominated or totally mesmerized into agreement or submission by the mayor. It is the story of the Emperor’s Clothes all over again. Although the mayor is without clothes (unreasonable), the people pretend to admire his regal robes (reasonableness).
Cebu City is going to pot in front of our very eyes. Not even major streets are properly maintained. Segregated or not, garbage is still without an efficient collection system worthy of Cebu’s status as a prime tourist destination. And why not, when money collected from garbage fees and fines is used not to improve garbage collection but to ease the city’s debt burden on the South Reclamation Project. What other funds for basic services will be used instead for debt service we do not know.
And what about Cebu’s deteriorating crime scene? How many more deaths will it take for us to see that it is not right, it is not civilized, to allow any group to take the law into its own hands? We might be rid of petty thieves but their deaths in the hands of vigilantes fit the definition of a crime and serve not to lower but to raise the crime rate.
Vigilantism thrives when the government institutions are inept and civil society is indifferent. That is not half as bad as when vigilantism thrives because government encourages it and civil society applauds. Which is it?
In any case, if the City and civil society are not part of the solution then they have to be part of the problem. Amazingly and frustratingly sad but true for our dear Cebu.
(October 26, 2005 issue)
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