Thursday, November 01, 2007 Espinoza: Mayor’s humbling experience By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
LAHUG Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos’ reelection was obviously a disappointment for Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who campaigned hard against her in the barangay polls.
This should be humbling for the mayor. De los Santos won with a huge margin, which is an indication that Lahug residents truly supported her and were not carried away by Osmeña’s black propaganda.
It also proved that the mayor lied. Before the campaign period, he said he won’t meddle in the elections considering that the barangay polls are non-partisan. But he could not rein in his contempt for de los Santos, who earlier ran for mayor against him and allowed his people to distribute anti-de los Santos leaflets.
Osmeña should have been reminded of the saying, “you can’t put a good man down.”
Although majority of the barangay captains that won in the elections are known Osmeña allies, his known critics kept their posts. Piqued, the mayor announced this early that he won’t support opposition-led barangays except in times of disaster or calamities (as if he owns City Hall’s coffers).
He said he will course the assistance for these barangays to sitio leaders, which is another way of saying he will bypass opposition barangay captains.
Mayor Tomas, elections are held only once every three years. You may not like opposition barangay captains, but you cannot punish the electorates who voted against your candidates that they, perhaps, didn’t like.
In case you forgot your political law, an election, as the term suggests, gives voters free and unbridled right to choose and vote. Simply said, you can’t force electorates to vote for your bets just because they were your protégés.
How outlandish you can be, mayor.
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We celebrate today All Saints’ Day and tomorrow All Souls’ Day. The yearly celebration reminds us that we are but mortals and live borrowed lives. As we pay respects for the saints and the souls our dear departed, let’s do it with moderation and in keeping with tradition.
It was in Cebu that I first experienced the practice of the living staying overnight and dining in the cemetery. It was a creepy experience that I learned to accept after my father was killed by a reckless hit-and-run driver eight years ago.
The celebration also reminds us of the carnage in Talisay years. Several people died or were injured when somebody threw a homemade bomb in a public cemetery. After that, the commemoration was never the same again. Now, the police make it a point to secure all cemeteries for occasion.
Western countries celebrate these days as Halloween. The Festival of Halloween was a celebration at the end of the fertile period of the Celtic Goddess Eiseria. When Eiseria reached the end of her fertile cycle, the worlds of the dead and the living supposedly overlapped.
According to Wikipedia, this happened on Oct. 31. Masks were worn to show respect for the goddess who, like most Celtic deities, did not wish to be seen by human eyes.
The day also preceded All Saints Day, which was at first a celebration of the start of a new cycle of fertility. Couples incapable of producing children thus tried their luck on that day. No, I’m not suggesting that childless couples do that today.
