Bzzzzz: 'Grabe kahugaw ning politika,' Councilor Mabatid gripes. 'Di na nako kaya,' listing her grievances. Kusug, aside from Panaghiusa, to be activated for 2022 elections.

CEBU. (From left) Cebu City Councilor Niña Mabatid, former councilor Joey Daluz and Vice Mayor Mike Rama. (SunStar File)
CEBU. (From left) Cebu City Councilor Niña Mabatid, former councilor Joey Daluz and Vice Mayor Mike Rama. (SunStar File)

Councilor threatens -- or teases

SHOULD she get out of politics, "unsa man cge pa ako ani?"

Prisca Niña Mabatid could be just teasing in her Monday, March 8, Facebook post, in a daughter-mother dialogue, with her as daughter pouring out her woes as an elected official. Or she could be serious, as most of the facts fit in and there is no hint of a satire, the hashtag summing up her state of mind thus, #sad truth. She might be using the threat to get what she wants.

She was complaining she couldn't bear it anymore: "Di na nako kaya ang politika," because she is constantly hurt, she said.

Topped by this: she wanted to tell the truth but she could not because she might even be pressured and antagonized more and her life put at risk. She had to get along with her colleagues even if it is already so repulsive she could vomit. All that in Cebuano-Bisaya, which is more colorful (e.g. "basin initan ko og samot," "bisan makasuka na").

Pause there. That supposed complaint to her mom would match the situation she put herself in when she tangled with the man, the figurative witch whom she publicly accused of dictating officials at City Hall on certain transactions and hiring and firing of employees.

The last time she publicly said anything about it, in an interview with Freeman Conversations, was that her party colleagues would "fix" it. Councilor Raymond Garcia, chairman of the committee on finance, said March 4 in a dyRF interview on Choy Torralba's "Tug-ani ang Lungsod," that Niña Mabatid was probably peeved over a request not granted. Does the konsehala's new post mean the problem has not been fixed yet?

CATALOGUE OF GRIEVANCES. Is she telling the Barug Party top honchos that she would stop complaining once her grievances are addressed?

The catalogue includes these: having colleagues who are "plastic" and cannot be trusted; being envied and hated if she did something good; being stabbed in the back by party-mates; one's person and position not being given by appointed officials the respect due to elected officials; being pulled down as one goes up, with the use of black propaganda; having to "kiss ass" if one wants to be "in"; and being scared with the threat of removal or exclusion if one did not "kon di makisama."

That's a long list of complaints before her conclusion: "Grabeng kahugaw aning pulitika, Ma. Di naman ma-agwanta."

Which her mom supposedly dismissively squelched: "Mirise! Ngano bitaw sud-sud ka anang politika!"

COULD BE FICTION, partly or totally, but the pieces that the public knows would fit into the puzzle that Mabatid and another "whistleblower," lawyer-book author Clarence Paul Oaminal, have given the public.

Oaminal repeatedly mentions in Facebook posts about a "Cebu City Kurakot Gang," blaming it for the alleged corruption at City Hall. (Oaminal, writing under the name "Haring Tupas," said he had given "one name," presumably the gang leader, to Mayor Edgar Labella.)

Neither one has given the public names or evidence.

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Activating Panaghiusa -- and Kusug

The current talk -- following the March 1 announcement of former Cebu City councilor and MCWD board chairman Joey Daluz that he'd revive the Panaghiusa party of his late mother "Inday Nita" Cortes Daluz -- relates to the disclosure of Councilor Raymond Garcia, Sanggunian majority floor leader and finance committee chief, that his father's Kusug Party would also be active in the 2022 elections.

A common factor in the two moves is that both parties most likely would be allied with Partido Barug, the ruling party, or more accurately, with Mayor Labella.

President and founder of Barug is Vice Mayor Mike Rama. If Mike and Edgar wouldn't be in the same boat in the next race, Panaghiusa and Kusug could be Labella's vehicle. "Kusug (short for Kugi Uswag Sugbo) na, panaghiusa pa," quipped a City Hall watcher.

NOT IN DALUZ NAME. As pointed out earlier by Bzzzzz, there might be a problem about Panaghiusa being led by Daluz if Labella and Rama could not agree on who'd run for mayor.

Daluz must have thought Panaghiusa is listed in her mom's name. In publicized lists of the Comelec, the acknowledged leaders or organizers are Sonny Osmeña, who died recently, and Mike Rama. Maybe Daluz should look into Comelec records and verify this early if he could have any control over Panaghiusa should Mike and Edgar land in opposite camps and Rama would claim rights over Panaghiusa. In 2016 elections, which he lost, Mike ran for mayor under a Barug-Panaghiusa alliance.

With respect to Kusug, no problem, as the listed leader/organizer is former mayor Alvin Garcia, Raymond's dad.

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