Seares: ‘First 100’: Gwen told us what she did and, in effect, what Junjun failed to do.

IT IS a device in messaging, in which a person lists his successes to highlight his rival’s failure. Mass-com students are familiar with it. I call it the “bouncing ball” theory.

When Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia reported the state of the province last Saturday (Oct. 12), figuratively she threw a number of balls around, representing her feats on her return to Capitol after a six-year absence.

The balls bounced and who got hit? Her predecessor Hilario Davide III, who occupied the governor’s seat from 2013 to 2019. Junjun Davide took over from Gwen whose first three-consecutive-term stint spanned the period from 2004 to 2013.

Target struck

Instead of throwing the balls directly at Junjun, Governor Gwen just unleashed them, which inevitably struck their target.

The act of targeting, with the intent that goes with it, was not relevant. In listing her successes, Gwen necessarily exposed Junjun’s failures, either in doing or not doing them, for the public to compare.

The vice governor was probably stuck up somewhere else last Saturday afternoon—as our group was, snagged in traffic, on the way back to the city—but Junjun was very much a part of Guv Gwen’s speech. Imagine Davide’s discomfort if he were present to hear it.

Up for scrutiny

In listing her major deeds, Gwen also exposed, for the bright sun’s harsh scrutiny, what Junjun did or failed to do:

[1] Cost-cutting. She said she saved at least P300 million, cutting down by half the number of casual and job-order employees, from 2,141 to 1,200 at Capitol. She said she also saved P100 million by reducing four departments into divisions and put them under her office.

[2] Recovery of assets. She called it a crusade to get back the assets that had gotten into private hands through allegedly illegal or irregular methods, resulting in losses to the Province.

Junjun is still to be heard from regarding the charges raised indirectly by the list of Gwen’s major accomplishments.

Mismanagement?

On the first, which amounts to an accusation of gross mismanagement against Davide for hiring during his watch twice more casuals than Capitol’s operations required: It is not shown if Davide exceeded the legal cap on spending for services.

Still, if Capitol could run as efficiently with fewer personnel, with a big chunk of the services outsourced, Gwen would be seen as the more efficient manager. But who, how and when would that issue be resolved? Perhaps an audit of operations and a poll on public perception of performance. But then that’s not being done. The next practical thing, despite its deficiencies, is another face-off, since 2010, between Gwen and Junjun in an election.

As to Capitol latching on to its real-estate possessions, the long-running debate is not resolved whether a local government should be protecting its wealth more than harnessing surplus assets to improve the well-being of its residents.

Spreading wealth’s benefit

Cebu has prided itself as the richest province (P34.139 billion, as of the last count in 2017) but how much of it has gone to improve the lives of its people through services? How many governors, including Gwen and Junjun, have made that much-vaunted-wealth truly useful and meaningful? Are Cebu folk better off than residents of all the other provinces whose assets can’t match Capitol’s resources?

Also, in fairness to both camps, Junjun is not yet conclusively known to have disposed of those properties recklessly or for his personal interest.

Guv Gwen’s “First 100 Days” report was anything but plain posturing. It showed that the governor means serious business in the next 1,000 days—or the next 3,000 if she’d have another three-term sojourn at the Capitol.

She may yet make Cebu’s wealth spell the difference for its constituents, not just a trophy to keep or to stay on top of the “richest provinces” list.