Friday, September 29, 2006 Wenceslao: Batman and ‘dos por dos’ By Bong O. Wenceslao
AFTER almost exchanging blows during the tumultuous meeting of the House committee on local government on Wednesday, Reps. Antonio Cuenco and Emilio Macias tried laughing off the incident yesterday. The exchange was, as I said in my column the other day, expected. What was unexpected was the intense heat it generated.
What is noteworthy there is that it was Macias, who is from Negros Oriental, and not any of the Sugbuak bills proponents that tangled with Cuenco. I can understand Cuenco’s determination in blocking the progress of the bills because he is a Cebuano. What is puzzling is Macias’ resolve to railroad the entry of the bills to the next phase.
One can only be passionate in one’s stance, even going to extent of threatening to trade blows with an opponent, for a reason. It must not be about loyalty because Macias is a Negrense. So we are left with a few explanations: Macias hates Cebu and wants to preside over its breakup. Somebody is manipulating him to do what he just did. Or both.
I won’t answer that. But there was something in the verbal exchange between the two lawmakers that caught my attention. I am referring to Macias’ reference to Batman and the use of the term “dos por dos” against Cuenco. Of course, veteran Cebuano politicians know what Macias tried to convey there. But Macias is, as I said, Negrense.
I grew up with a father who loved politics. We listened to campaign speeches during elections thus I was familiar with the mud the politicians hurled. The Batman issue, I think, was intended to make voters question Cuenco’s sanity while “dos por dos” recalled the violence that characterized elections participated in by the older Cuencos.
I don’t know where Macias learned about these issues that even the young Turks of the Cebu media are ignorant of. I heard Macias claim on air that some of his relatives are from Cebu and that in a sense he is also Cebuano. So maybe that was where he got the ammunition to lash at Cuenco. Besides, politicians share chismis about each other.
Or does Macias have friends who are not in good terms with Cuenco and who fed to him the Batman and “dos por dos” stories? Does this mean the chairman of the House committee on local government hobnobbed only with pro-Sugbuak politicians and shared their chismis against those opposing the bills? Is this a case of birds of the same feathers are…birds?
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