Thursday, September 11, 2008 Espinoza: Getting help from 'Kabanay Unlimited' By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
MANDAUE City Mayor Jonas Cortes’ political differences with the opposition-dominated City Council have become a war of manifestos, and it is getting personal.
The mayor’s “don’t blame me” caveat if the city’s dilapidated roads are not repaired (he claimed the Council did not approve the budget) boomeranged on him.
Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna revealed that funds for the repair have been approved but Mayor Cortes failed to use these because of the alleged meddling of his “kabanay.”
The mayor’s bright boys, in an attempt to pre-empt the kabanay issue, had the barangay captains issue a manifesto urging opposition councilors “to stop politicking.”
So they won’t be outgunned, opposition councilors issued a statement, which was emailed to me, “strongly denouncing the massive interference of the Kabanay Unlimited in running the affairs at City Hall.”
Political bickering, of course, is common among local government units, especially if those in the executive and legislative branches do not belong to the same party.
I think this is the first time that in Mandaue the city mayor does not have the majority at the Council. Fortuna has that number.
The opposition councilors say that the delay in the implementation of projects in the city is because of the “informal settlers”--the mayor’s relatives and in-laws who call the shots at City Hall.
Fortuna’s camp claims that cash amounting to P187 million is now at the mayor's disposal. The Council has appropriated P1 million per barangay and approved eight of 10 contracts.
But why are the roads not repaired yet? The opposition councilors attribute this to the wrangling of three groups of the mayor’s kabanay over which contractor should get the contracts.
It’s a pity that Mayor Cortes, who is looked up to by his intellectual supporters as a purveyor of change, is unable to carve his own niche and steer his own course because of his relatives’ interests.
Getting help from family members is a Filipino virtue. But family members interfering in the way the mayor is running the city is not acceptable.
Mayor Cortes may be young but he is mature enough to distinguish what is good or bad for Mandauehanons. His relatives should let him lead.
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The Supreme Court’s dismissal of Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Vicente Roxas for violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct in relation to the Meralco case is good for a judiciary that has been bruised by the issue of corruption.
The SC approving the recommendation of the three-man panel that investigated the Meralco bribery case also serves as a wake up call for all magistrates.
But the cleansing process should not only focus on the lower courts but should include the high courts. That is, if the judiciary wants to live up to public expectation that justice is for everyone, rich or poor.
CA Associate Justice Jose Sabio was ordered suspended for two months while CA Associate Justice Myrna Dimaran-Vidal, who exposed the conflict to the press, was admonished “to be more circumspect in the discharge of her judicial functions.”
The reprimand on Justice Vidal is nothing but an admonition to the members of the bench that they should resolve their internal conflicts within the organization instead of going to the press.
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Quote: “Ang kasinungalingan ay parang bulaklak na namumukadkad-–magandang tingnan pero hindi tumatagal.”
