In fact, if Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia were not on her way to South Korea right now, I think she herself would have told you how your advice will always be valued and considered.
A public official always runs the risk of being accused of either of two things: being thick-skinned or being onion-skinned.
If one doesn't listen to, or care about criticism, he is accused of being calloused, and insensitive to public opinion.
If one reacts to criticism, he is accused of being too sensitive.
Given this devil and that deep blue sea, the governor has chosen to be sensitive, because she cannot see herself wearing the mask of the traditional politician, who toughen themselves to the point of losing their souls.
Neither can she see herself wearing the other side of that mask: pandering to the media's every whim and caprice, just to gain their applause.
You call it a mistake, and we respect your opinion, but at this point, the governor would rather err on the side of "onion." As you yourself wrote, what matters most is how she works, and she is working hard.
That is the language that people understand and appreciate.
Where editors and columnists and commentators strain their eyes to find the tiny leaks at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), what the people see is a magnificent building that was built in less than eight months, upgraded district hospitals, unprecedented Philhealth coverage, new water systems, 400 kilometers of asphalted roads and concrete bridges in every municipality.
We would have wished that, as we value your advice, editors, columnists and commentators had also listened to your advice two weeks ago, to stop the attacks in deference to our being host of the Asean summit.
But they did not.
I guess what hurt the governor most was that, at a time when people from the rest of the country and the world were praising us, and patting us on the back, for the hard work we have done for the Asean, it was the few Cebuano opinion makers who could not resist flashing their pincers and being crabs.
The governor does not wish to play that old, traditional game of crabs, and believes she was not elected by the people to join that game.
