Monday, January 29, 2007 Nalzaro: Unbeatable Tomas By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
I’M NOT privy to the political plan of former Cebu first district representative Jose “Dodong” Gullas but I doubt he will run against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña in May. I think some political neophytes are just using his name to advance their interest and to gain mileage because at present there is no credible and serious personality that can be pitted against Tomas.
There is no question Gullas is qualified to be mayor. He is even more qualified than the incumbent, given his educational background, his upbringing, his short stint in Congress and his attitude and character towards ordinary people. I’m not close to him. But during the few occasions that we crossed paths, I found him very professional, unlike the man currently in power who is very arrogant, acting as if he is the only one capable of running the affairs of this city.
The Gullas family is one of Cebu’s political giants. They have made a name for themselves, not only in politics, but also in the education sector. They own one of the oldest and biggest universities in the region, the University of the Visayas. They don’t wage political battles for the heck of it, if they don’t think they have a chance of winning. His brother Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district), who has been in politics for quite some time, is a political wizard. A wizard is a person with at least exceptional abilities. He is a genius.
If Dodong has any political plan, he would have announced his intention a long time ago, and he would have made himself visible to the public eye. It is not easy to launch a citywide campaign. The city has 81 barangays. How can a mayoralty candidate cover that in 45-day campaign period? A candidate for any elective position in the city should have shown his interest earlier, like Jonathan Guardo, who signified his congressional bid in the south district a long time ago.
And it is not only visibility. A candidate should have barangay-based organizations. He should organize sectoral groups to support his candidacy and public relations staff for publicity. Well, I know it is easy to do that when a candidate’s political machinery is already established. Mayor Osmeña has been campaigning for the past six years since he was reelected. Can Dodong Gullas surpass what Tommy has already delivered?
Cebuanos knows that I am not an avid fan of the mayor. I find him very arrogant and vindictive. But I said this before and I will say it again, Tomas is a good administrator. His only problem is his character. And I can say without fear of contradiction that as of this time, nobody can beat Tomas and Cebuanos will continue to suffer his arrogance until he steps down from office.
