Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Seares: Mayor Jonas and his councilors By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
ACTUALLY, most of them are not his councilors.
Only two belong to Mayor Jonas Cortes’ party. Nine others are with the opposition led by Vice Mayor Carlo Pontico Fortuna who runs the Mandaue City Council.
That’s sadly ironic for Jonas.
He is the mayor and administration leader. Yet the City Council is dominated by the party of the Ouanos, rivals whose decades-long rule he cut down in 2007.
Numbers control the city legislative body. Thus the opposition is the majority there.
Numbers can tyrannize. That’s why the opposition has made Jonas’ life miserable from Day One.
To be sure, opposing camps tried to co-exist and work together but fragile peace never lasted beyond photo-ops and hollow pledges to public good.
Each camp has a lot of flak to hurl at the other. And the blame-throwing is expected to become more furious as 2010 nears.
Six opposition councilors filed with the President charges against the mayor. Jonas returned fire with a complaint that also asked the Palace for suspension of the six complainants.
Dogs barking
Who benefits from the gridlock caused by opposition sniping and assaults? Not Jonas whose hands are tied by political strategies under the guise of legislative check and balance.
Unlike his patron Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Jonas cannot order dogs at his City Council to heel and cease barking.
Jonas might have used persuasion, divide-and-rule tactics, and strong-arm methods. Apparently, they failed.
He can curse the system and do his worse against the councilors. His enemies need only to keep things stalled until the next electoral battle.
