Who says the balancing act is easy, especially for leaders? When regulations are implemented, people always complain. But without regulations, anarchy reigns. And when society becomes anarchic, people also complain. Which reminds me of a fable about someone who blew at his fingertips because he was feeling cold. Then he accidentally touched the flame of a lamp. Again he blew at his fingertips because it was hot. That is why leaders always seek the middle ground, or to sort of look for the right balance. And that is often achieved through consensus.
When the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF comes up with regulations aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus in the country, the aspect of health is its foremost consideration. But those regulations are not etched in stone because managing infectious diseases is dependent, too, on the local setting. There are times when regulations straddle both extremes and a middle ground is presented or presents itself. The IATF may have considered the overall picture but it sometimes fails to see the local color.
The conflict between the IATF and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on some regulations aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus in the country is thus but a matter of perspective. And the conflict is not only with Garcia because I reckon that other local government units may have some beef of their own with some IATF regulations but are not making these public.
In our kind of governance, consensus is eventually reached, some easily and at times with difficulty, with everything dependent on the kind of leaders who are in place. A consensus can easily be reached if leaders are open-minded and humble and are willing to correct what needs to be corrected. The arrogant has no place in this setup. This is the reason why when the Covid-19 surge happened early on, the IATF contingent sent here by President Duterte and the Cebu City Government succeeded in controlling it.
Consensus and cooperation are what are needed in situations like this. Had the IATF and the Provincial Government engaged in what we Cebuanos call “pataasay sa ihi,” nothing much would have been achieved. The diversion of flights headed to Cebu to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport would have lasted long. Reason in the end prevailed. This is not only about Governor Garcia deciding on what she thinks is good for her constituents but also about the National Government listening to what the local government unit is suggesting.
The insistence of having One Cebu can only work if our leaders know the limits of their power. This, after all, is not a one-way street. One Cebu, to be realized, needs to recognize that it is part of One Philippines. In the pandemic, Cebu cannot end the spread of the virus without cooperating with the effort in the entire Philippines. An example is the vaccine rollout that could never have been done by only a “One Cebu.”