Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Editorial: Alvin Arcilla's failed ABC bid
GUADALUPE Barangay Captain Eugenio “Jingjing” Faelnar’s turn-around—his decision to run again for the post of Cebu City Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president after saying he won’t vie for it—may be intriguing, but it is a peripheral issue.
That decision is personal to Faelnar and at best affected his bid only because it exposed a part of his character, which is hardly a factor that barangay chiefs, in the kind of political setup we have, use in weighing their choice of ABC officials.
The main issue is the manner the next ABC officials in the city are being chosen, something veteran political watchers accept as a given but is dubious nevertheless.
Limited options
Indeed, a barangay captain aligned with the opposition would be wasting his/her time running for ABC president, considering the overwhelming majority enjoyed by those identified with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) in the organization.
But while that in itself is questionable because of the supposedly non-partisan nature of the elections (a point that can also be applied to the political opposition), Mayor Tomas Osmeña dictating who among BO-PK people should run made it worse.
The BO-PK factor limited the option of its member-barangay captains to choosing only party mates; the Osmeña factor narrowed it further to who the mayor is favoring.
Two-way street
Without Osmeña’s interference, other ABC president wannabes like Talamban’s Alvin Arcilla would not have been deterred from pushing through with their candidacies and the hands of other BO-PK barangay captains would not have been tied in voting.
Or had all things been equal, many observers doubt if Faelnar would have won.
But then again this is also a two-way street, in the manner of the “there are no tyrants if there are no slaves” cliché—while there were murmurs among some BO-PK members in the ABC, majority towed the line (translation: duko na lang og paawot).
Puppetry
More than that, while many may not have been told by Osmeña whom he is favoring between Faelnar and Arcilla, they expressed their preference for Faelnar because of his closeness with the mayor, a decision that can be considered the height of puppetry.
That, in sum, was how Arcilla’s ABC dream crumbled.
