Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Carvajal: Pride and prejudice By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
ONE of the things I like about living in this country is the fact that we can always talk things over. There is no crease in any relationship that a polite face-to-face conversation cannot smooth out.
This, in contrast to the very impersonal and litigious culture of the Americans where for the slightest wrong done, even if unintended or accidental, you get hauled off to court.
That culture, however, seems to be nowhere to be found in the raging quarrel between Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Gov. Gwen Garcia. They don’t seem to be inclined to talk things over, preferring instead to quarrel to the dismay of many citizens. Cebu is in the midst of an economic boom. Business is excited about Cebu’s prospects for growth. But what do our leaders do? They quarrel. What happened to the one Cebu we defended not too many moons ago?
The conflict has reached a level where both parties are getting out of context because pride is beginning to be the controlling emotion. Like in any conflict, there are always two sides. Like in any conflict, moreover, both sides are right in their own way and from their own narrow perspectives. But also like in any conflict both sides have their erroneous zones. In any case, these can all be sorted out quietly and amicably without the ghastly scene of a personal quarrel.
Pride, however, prevents the sorting out because pride places each of the protagonists at the center of the conflict. They really need to resist this and put the common good at the center of the conflict instead. There is such a thing as the common good, common to the city and the province and the country. It is a matter of putting it at the center of the issue and resolving the conflict with the conditio sine qua non that the common good is not prejudiced. Take away the pride and there is really no need to quarrel.
Take away the pride and things can be resolved quite simply and without prejudice. There is no need even for an arbiter. The two protagonists are very intelligent human beings. They can surely talk things out and agree to a win-win solution. Instead, right now they are both riding for a fall. Both want to win not just the war but all the battles and skirmishes of a senseless war.
I am afraid that when the smoke of battle settles down, we will be left with a desolate landscape of missed opportunities. The quarreling, therefore, has to stop so that the conflict of interests and issues can be resolved amicably without any body’s pride hurt and without the common good prejudiced.
Frankly, I do not expect the mayor to make the first move. But, if the lady governor could offer to talk, maybe the gentleman mayor would accept. He’d be damned not to, anyway.
