PEOPLE talk about...
[1] MOCHA USON'S 'COMMON SENSE' TWEET. The controversial blogger cum government official re-tweeted Monday, March 16, a post that asked government critics to use their common sense every time they listen to President Rodrigo Duterte: "Gamitin po natin ang ating common sense sa pagkakataon nito marami pong salamat." The adverse comments slammed Mocha for "ironically asking for common sense when she herself has none." "How can we use common sense," asked one, "if the one speaking and what is said don't have even a little common sense?"
[2] PHOTO OF TOMAS OSMEÑA, BONGBONG MARCOS AT A DINNER TABLE. A photo, undated and not specified where it was taken, shows Ferdinand Marcos's son, the former senator and vice presidential bet in 2016, with two others and a waitress tending to them. Former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña, with a napkin on his vest, is eating while across the table, three to four seats away, Bongbong is engrossed with his phone. The third man, who sat next to Tomas, is unidentified in the caption which says, "Who says Marcos & Osmeña can't be together? Maybe the oldies! But not the third generation. I don't think so." Cirse "Choy" Torralba posted the photo Wednesday, March 18.
How they would've acted
An odd, if not odious way, of comparing performances of public officials is that being made by some people who ask if past leaders would be doing better than the incumbent mayors and governors in coping with the Covid-19 crisis.
Would, say, Tomas Osmeña in Cebu City, Junjun Davide at Cebu Province, Luigi Quisumbing in Mandaue City and Paz Radaza in Lapu-Lapu City, had they won the 1969 elections, be acting the same way that the present elected officials are doing their job of battling the coronavirus?
First, it's mere nimble prancing of the mind, an idle if not wasteful exercise when most everyone has a lot of time in his hands (in between thoroughly washing them).
Second, each public official, past or present, has his or her own style of governing, and that is mostly what would spell the difference among them, not their persuasion, motive or intent.
Still, it would be fun, substituting in one's mind the principal actor at Capitol and each City Hall in Metro Cebu. How would each sound and act before the media, partly covered by a face mask?
Coordinating curfew hours
BOPK councilors, the minority in the Cebu City Council, did a "first" in the history of the two-party intramurals in City Hall, which has been going on for years in recent history.
If it happened before -- a consultation meeting of the mayor with councilors on the opposite camp -- most people can't remember. Memories of Cebu City politics consist mostly of the adversaries sniping at one another. BOPK leader Tomas Osmena, for one, was known for a "scorched earth" policy, especially during his 2016 term when he went "hammer and tongs" after known supporters of Partido Barug that incumbent Mayor Edgar Labella leads as its highest elected official.
The BOPK councilors presented to Mayor Edgar their suggestions on how the city may cope with the coronavirus crisis.
Among them is an apparent oversight or the result of lack of coordination between Capitol and Cebu City, period for curfew hours. While Mayor Labella's curfew starts at 8 p.m. Governor Gwen Garcia's starts at 10 p.m. The BOPK councilors suggested a uniform set of hours.
Notably, the BOPK list includes a number of suggestions to help those who are stripped of their income during the "general community quarantine," mostly wage earners who are not paid unless they work.
Labella promised to study the proposals, which would get more weight and sense of unity if passed by the City Council and presented to the mayor.
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