PRESIDENT DUTERTE does not easily change his mind. That is what we know now if we base this point on the way he is treating two mayors in Cebu, Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City and Vicente Loot of Daanbantayan. That can even be applied to former mayor Michael Rama, who has yet to be publicly cleared by the President.
With the midterm elections just around the bend, Osmeña could not hope to be in good graces with the President in the coming months, being with the opposition, even if he may not have wanted to be in such a predicament. His political opponents, after all, are the ones aligned with the administration party.
It’s not that Osmeña is not trying to mend fences with the President. It is obvious that he is trying to. For one, he is not Osmeña-like in his response to the President’s tirades against him recently or in the past. He apparently feels that in this case, silence is the better part of valor.
He also has lessened his criticisms of the police, which is a good move because it looks like his conflict with the President has been fueled by his treatment of the local police force. As the President admitted, he got angry with Osmeña when he threatened to withdraw the fuel allocation for police vehicles.
“Galit ako sa kanya,” he told a recent gathering of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) leaders. “Bakit? Kasi nung pag-assume niya, just because the gas and the vehicles were donated by the City Government, gi-withdraw niya...Nganong ing-anaon nimo ang police?”
Osmeña apparently didn’t make good his threat so the information that the President received must have been a bit faulty. The support to the police was never cut, said Department of General Services Chief Ronald Malacora. The problem is that it would be difficult for Osmeña to clear the air through a dialogue with the President considering also his threat.
“Ingna siya mobalik ko og Cebu. Makig-estorya ko, kami rang duha...Magdala siya sa iyang gusto ug kun masayop siya, tamparoson tika,” the President said. Would the mayor dare to talk with the President with that slapping threat? He can take the risk or wait for a more opportune time. It looks like he is leaning toward the second option for now.