A little more than a year has passed since Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival was sworn into office, carrying the weight of great expectations on his shoulders. Here was one of a different mold, not a lawyer but an engineer, the first from his profession to hold the city’s highest office since Eulogio Borres in the 1960s.
He was a first-termer, and although he had a long period of service to the government, it was spent mostly in the legislature. Most of all, his family name was not Osmeña, Rama or Garcia. All things considered, he was not hindered by any baggage.
But as his predecessors have learned painfully, Cebu City is not easy to govern. The problems are a myriad: traffic, flood, garbage, bad and narrow roads, and unfinished infrastructure projects.
It did not help that he faced a city council that was dominated by the opposition even if its presiding officer was not only a teammate but a political mentor.
It was from the mentor that Archival got his proverbial baptism of fire. Vice Mayor Tommy Osmeña is strong-willed and does not mince words when crossed.
The ink on Archival’s oath of office had barely dried when Osmeña angrily accused his protege of betraying the ideals of their party by signing the controversial housing and land use ordinance that, in Osmeñ’s view, sidelined Carbon market vendors in favor of big business.
A new administration is traditionally accorded “a honeymoon period” but Archival never got to enjoy it. A series of aggravations followed the betrayal episode, the most recent of which was the mayor’s absence when the city council approved the West Philippine Sea resolution. The absence was a copout, Osmeña raged.
Are Archival and Osmeña headed to a breakup? Critics predicted that as early as when the results started showing that the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) tandem were poised to win last year’s elections. The allies are worried.
I do not mean to disappoint Osmeña’s enemies but I seriously doubt if the anticipated political divorce is going to happen. Archival has refused to be drawn into a fight, maintaining admirable calm and quiet. It still takes two to fight.
They have too much to lose if they do. A fractured BOPK cannot survive a strong challenge, which looks inevitable if rumors of a Garcia-Rama rapprochement prove to be true.
It’s too late to grant Archival a honeymoon period. A reprieve will do for the next two years so he can focus on working to meet the people’s great expectations.
The best politics is still performance.