Wednesday, January 10, 2007 Wenceslao: Sunset for mighty political clans? By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
BROTHERS Sonny and Lito Osmeña uniting to prop up the sagging cause of the political opposition in Cebu province in the 2007 polls is a welcome development. That should raise the level of excitement in a gubernatorial election touted to be a Gwen Garcia play. Democracy, to be healthy, should not be a one-political-group-rule.
Political analysts, however, are questioning the brothers’ political clout, which is unfortunate for a clan that once had a vise-like grip on Cebu. Lito has been inactive and Sonny lost in his bid for the Senate in 2004. You do not just pop up a few weeks before the campaign period when your political machinery is in shambles. That won’t work.
Which brings me to the question of whether some of Cebu’s mightiest political clans are headed for the sunset. Consider the Osmeñas. Sonny and Lito are old, and that is why they are already finding it difficult to wage electoral wars like before. In Cebu City, Mayor Tomas Osmeña is in his last term and is no longer the active Tomas of old.
What makes the development telling is that no next-generation Osmeña is visible in the landscape. In the province, John-john tried to follow the footsteps of his father Sonny but wrong judgments and lack of focus derailed his political career. In the city, the mayor may have to relinquish his throne to Mike Rama, who belongs to another clan.
I understand that this also seems to be the same problem for Rep. Eduardo Gullas and his brother Jose or Dodong, as their children are also shying away from politics. Thus, in the proxy war between the congressman and Tommy Osmeña in Talisay, Gullas has to lean on Mayor Soc Fernandez to stave off the bid of Councilor Gabriel Leyson.
I can mention others, like the clan of Rep. Antonio Cuenco, who is gunning for a last term in Congress and may have to look for non-Cuencos to pass the baton to. And it is not just mere coincidence that, together with this, we are seeing the rise of fresher politicians or if not new political clans typified by the Garcias. The landscape is shifting.
But I may have been speaking too soon. It is not too late for the Osmeñas, for example, to train their successors and then make a comeback several years from now. Still, that could not take anything away from the reality that at least in the 2007 elections and in the immediate future, an opening has been given for new names to make a go at it.
