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Saturday, November 12, 2005
Roperos: Mayor Tom’s headaches
By Godofredo M. Roperos
Politics Also
What does it really take to be a good and effective mayor of a metropolis like Cebu City? Well, I do not think there is anyone more competent to answer the question than Mayor Tomas Osmeña himself. He is, after all, the one that appears to be fielding all the varied and worrisome problems that have emerged in recent months in this city.
First off, the most current headache he has is the apparently growing recalcitrance of the City Council. That some councilors are showing unusual reluctance to support for his proposal to resolve some of the city’s serious problems could indicate a developing political seed of dissent.
The report of the Pesquera committee over the Mobile Alarm Remote System is a case in point. While the committee has every right to look closely at the proposed ordinance, the way it was reported in the news betrays a tendency at nitpicking.
Something appears to be really cooking in the City Council these days, although it is still quite difficult to read or decipher. But earlier, we had also read the report about the supplemental budget for anti-dengue campaign being cut down by more than a third of the requested amount. This was followed with the delay in the passage of the bird flu fund..
What Tommy intends to do about it could be anybody’s guess. But whatever he wants to do, he should do so with the political reality in mind—the City Council is composed of men who had worked with him in the past elections, which means they are his people and he ought not alienate them.
However, since he is now thinking that the councilors are playing “mayor-mayoran” with him, they must be conveying some sort of a political message that is still beyond definite comprehension.
Mayor Tom’s other headache is the continuing rise in the pile of vigilante killing corpses that has earned this place the moniker “Murder City.” But that is hardly a bother to Mayor Tom unless the threat of a congressional probe on the killings is pushed through.
Still he could demand that if any such probe is undertaken, it should be done on Davao City first which pre-dates the vigilante killings here by about half a decade or so. And the killings in the towns, too.
The criminality problem may not be giving a headache to the mayor, but it is doing so to increasing number of victims.
A friend said that this should not really be surprise to the victims such as the Tizon family who was robbed the other day of P90,000 cash and P200,000 worth of jewelry since these crimes are normal in times of crises in the economy. Petty thievery and holdups usually occur when people are no longer able to contain their hunger.
Thus, Mayor Tom should not really overtaxe his spleen on worrying about vigilante killings and petty crimes exploding in the city. In fact, his asking the categorical question of why the police should go after vigilantes who go after criminals is indicative of his mental attitude towards the issue.
Indeed, Mayor Tom’s many headaches stem not so much from the state of criminality in the city and the deaths of people with alleged criminal records, but of people who are working with him at City Hall. They who have unpaid cash advances, who have pocketed revenue collections, and more recently, a growing recalcitrance among some members of the City Council he had helped to win their respective seats.
Now, that’s where the real headaches are.
(November 12, 2005 issue)
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