Saturday, October 11, 2008 Nalzaro: Mayor cannot predict the future By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
I WAS among those who expressed sympathy with Mayor Tomas Osmeña because I felt that having an illness, especially if it is a lingering one, is very agonizing.
Tomas was suspected to have the Big C after doctors found abnormalities in his urinary bladder. Others believe that the mayor is suffering from prostate cancer. A definite finding will be established soon once he submits himself to further medical tests in the US.
But Tomas Osmeña is really Tomas Osmeña. Even if he is physically in distress, he is still in fighting mood and arrogant. The disposal of the lots in his pet project, the South Road Properties (SRP), is on his mind even if he facing a big challenge to his health.
But I think Tommy is just pretending that he has not been disturbed by his latest development. I know that deep inside he is worried. As human beings, we cannot just accept the reality that we are ill. There is always the psychological effect of fear and anxiety to it.
When he reported for work last Monday after news spread that he was confined in a hospital over the weekend because of a serious health problem, the mayor told reporters that his physical condition does not bother him at all.
He said he is perfectly alright and if his critics think that he could no longer effectively run the affairs of the City Government because of his health problem, they are wrong. “I don't think I am going to die before 2010. No way,” he stressed.
That kind of statement proved that Tomas is indeed arrogant and stubborn. He is playing God despite his physical condition.
I know that the mayor does not need public sympathy in relation to his health condition, but he should have said so humbly. Instead of saying, “I don't think I will die before 2010,” he should have said, “I will leave everything to God.”
And who is he to predict his fate? Perhaps the mayor thinks he won’t die of cancer because of its early detection. But what about other unforeseen events? What if he dies of heart attack?
We don't actually know whether we die now, tomorrow or the next day. We could not even tell the cause of our death. Only God can do that.
Before leaving for the US, Tomas warned his critics not to sabotage the disposal of the SRP. What is there in the SRP that despite his health condition it is still on his mind? Why is the mayor willing to die for SRP? He cannot bring his money to heaven.
And do you think City Hall cannot sell the SRP lots without Tomas? That is why I said in my previous columns that even if Tomas is no longer mayor after 2010 his shadow will still be at the City Hall dictating whoever his successor will be on how to handle the SRP.
Again, I would like to remind the mayor that he does not own the SRP and that whoever sits as mayor can definitely handle its disposal.
Don't worry, Mayor Tom, because even if you are gone, the SRP will still be your legacy. You will be remembered as the mayor who initiated a multi-billion peso reclamation project that caused the hemorrhaging of the city’s finances because of loan and interest payments.
