As war continues to disrupt life in the Holy Land as the nation of what the Bible describes as God’s chosen people struggles to survive, the majority Catholics in Cebu celebrated Holy Week without a disturbance. Processions to commemorate Good Friday were held in churches that dot the entire island, disrupting traffic in the process. But the ritual hàs been repeated for eons now and we Filipinos have learned to put up with whatever disturbances the processions bring.
In the province, Gov. Gwen Garcia has been a fixture of the Sugat-Kabanhawan ritual that celebrates Christ’s resurrection. This is because, except for an interlude of a few years with the governorship of Hilario Davide Jr., Garcia has been governor for many years now. She is virtually a constant even as the town of Minglanilla has changed mayors a few times. Even the town’s priests have come and gone after several decades.
This is actually what makes Catholicism strong. The institution and its rituals survive even as priests come and go. In the Pardo church, the procession started at past 6 p.m., which surprised old hands who came in early in the afternoon. But the faithful waited. That did not mean, of course, that they didn’t want the priests, whom I take it to be new to the parish, to follow the ritual’s old schedule.
In Cebu City, change is slow in coming too, but not in religion but in politics. Michael Rama is an old mayor already after starting his career with Tomas Osmeña. But he is not about to give up his throne to younger politicians like Raymond Garcia, son of Alvin, the politician that Rama followed after Alvin fell to Osmeña’s disfavor. Even Jose Daluz III is younger than Rama. Joey is the son of the late Nenita “Inday Nita” Cortes-Daluz.
With Rama still around, Osmeña seems to be giving another run at the City Hall another thought. I have viewed videos of Osmeña a few times on social media recently. In my years of covering Cebu City Hall as a journalist of old, one would know that Osmeña has political plans if he makes noise while the next election nears. Osmeña didn’t surface in the previous election and some of his leaders were forced to run as independents. But it seems like his mind is still as sharp as when he was mayor and Rama should worry about that.
What I am saying is that this may force the younger politicians in Cebu City to wait a little longer. But if they have the guts, they could challenge the old guards to a political duel. I think that the Cebu City electorate needs a change of scenery now. After years of Rama and Osmeña, it is time for the younger generation to take over. My bet to do that would be Raymond, who has been in City Hall for many years now.
Cebu City seems slow in effecting political changes. In Metro Manila, the younger generations have long taken over, pushing the older politicians to the periphery. In the coming election, even the relatively young politicians like Isko Moreno have become old names and may struggle to retake their hold on any elective post.