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Friday, June 16, 2006
Editorials: Was Ted doing a Tomas?
Mandaue City Mayor Ted Ouano hadn’t done it before, except perhaps in election season when one tends to bloat or exaggerate things.
At the Independence Day rites in his city, the mayor said there were threats on his life with 80 terrorists already in Cebu and seven of them arrested by the police.
They were out to get him and other followers of President Arroyo, he said.
So untypical of Mayor Ouano, who routinely would not be excited until he sees armed men storming the Mandaue City Hall.
There are terrorists in Cebu and not one or two but 80 of them, Ted said.
It would have been different if it were Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña talking. The public is used to Tomas speculations, fears, even paranoia, which he admits having encouraged and fomented among the populace.
Remember his theory that armed men linked to cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. were out to kill him?
Not Mayor Ouano. No bluster or wild banter about terrorists’ plots from him. Not until last June 12.
“Makeover”
But wait. There has been a new image of the Mandaue mayor emerging lately, as spirited as the economic strides his city is making.
Is it part of the “makeover”: from quiet, self-effacing mayor to spitfire leader who can shoot from the hip as well as from the side of the mouth? Part of wardrobe and techniques: facility in spreading a gospel of fear?
Eighty terrorists? Who are they, where did they come from, and what are they up to?
Sun.Star Cebu, in its June 13 issue, played the story up (with “teaser” on the front page and banner headline on Page 2) but toned belief down.
The mayor did not identify the suspects, the paper noted, and did not say who were arrested and where they were detained.
As of yesterday, the mayor still had to disclose facts to appease people’s curiosity and calm their anxiety.
Disbelief
Mayor Osmeña, not surprisingly, expressed disbelief, but less subtly and more roughly. The terrorists, Tomas said, could have been tourists. Naughty, and with cute rhyming too: terrorists/tourists.
It’s difficult to ascertain if the mayor quickly spotted gaps in the story because he is used to dishing out the same genre of tales.
But seriously, Ted and Tomas are chiefs of the major host LGUs in December’s Asean summit. What they talk about publicly—real or imagined, fear or reality—have to be well thought out on how they affect preparations for the huge December event.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 16, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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