Should Gov. Pam Baricuatro maintain a social media presence? That seems to be the question now as she continues a rule where her links with the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte and her character have been gradually exposed to the public. By “links” that seems to be more about Sara Duterte now that the former president’s influence in the country has already been clipped by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Baricuatro’s “Tatay Digong” is already in the Hague and her official boss now is Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. or BBM. That was proven when earthquakes shook northern Cebu and Baricuatro had to deal with BBM.
Back to her social media presence. What the public has read so far is that Baricuatro is a diehard Duterte supporter and that she still has some episodes of immaturity in her governance. I have already read some criticisms of some of her posts on issues affecting the province. She can, for example, go down to the level of Mandaue lawyer Regal Oliva. Or at least if she wants to sound “un-gubernatorial.”
I think it would be good for Baricuatro to maintain a social media presence if she or the people handling that presence manage to be as professional as possible. Acting and sounding like a “dili magpautang” governor would make her no different from the one she replaced. More so if she ends up looking like the opposite of the people’s governor she has been trying to portray herself.
Her handling of the earthquake that hit Bogo has not, at least for me, been adequately described in social media, so much so that the opposition to her governance has managed to put some questions on how she handled the tremor’s aftermath. But she can still improve because she is still in the early stages of her first term.
What the people want the province to have now is a governor that is not too political. It would be wrong for Baricuatro to identify herself too much with either side of the current political divide. A “come hell or high water” political stance would result in her ending up like Garcia: hated by one side of a political equation after previously siding with the other side.
Politics can be brutal. If the opposition sees a governor’s weakness, it can pound on it especially once the election nears. That is one lesson that Garcia learned the hard way in the last polls. Baricuatro needs to have foresight in presenting her loyalty to the Dutertes. Public opinion is constantly shifting and there is no assurance that public opinion on Sara would not change in the next elections.
Especially now that Marcos is still the president. The only way that Sara can have more influence than the president is for her to become president and that will only happen if BBM is deposed or dies. So Baricuatro, as incumbent Cebu governor, should play her cards well. She should not identify herself too much with the Dutertes because we do not know when the political pendulum shifts again and another political figure surfaces. Again, political foresight is important here.