‘Hindi pa tapos ang boksing’

POLITICS

is serious business. And local politics even more so. This is a sequel to the fable for real times, about the far away village of Tarry Awhile which has a house divided against itself.

In the latest development, the arbitrating Supra Council issued on 14 February (released March 6) a 4-point ruling deciding in favor of one party (Newbies) against the other (Oldies):

• Removal of five directors and the conduct of special elections.

• Upholding the majority of village members who voted for removal of five directors.

• Upholding the right of the (remaining) board to conduct special elections.

• Denying claim for damages. That should put paid to the imbroglio which has bedeviled the village since 2017-18.

But the other side (Oldies) is petitioning the higher court, to wit:

• That the Supra Council, quoting abundantly cases of serious infraction that would merit disqualification, failed to assign one specific infraction to the old Board (Oldies) and the culpable members.

• That there was no verification of the majority village members who support the accusation.

*** FLASHBACK. A woman wronged? (Or was the woman wrong?) Background to this storm-in-a-teacup saga of the village Tarry Awhile: The village elected prominent men and women to serve without compensation as village aldermen (and alderwomen). The elected members, in turn, unanimously voted Julia Caesar as their primus inter pares Village Chief; and the other members were given specific turfs (for waterworks, construction, environment, finance, legal, sports, security, and social).

But nobody’s perfect. Village Chief Julia Caesar took care of the pennies, but wasn’t always judicious with the pounds. Some decisions were made over the heads of committees; regularly scheduled meetings were postponed if she was not available.

Enter Brutus, one of the aldermen, with the brutish idea to reorganize the village council and replace the Village Chief. But before the vote was taken, the piqued Julia Caesar resigned her office as Village Chief and as alder(wo)man. Tarry Awhile elected Todos los Santos as the new Village Chief. Feeling wronged by this coup d’etat, Julia Caesar took her case to the Supra Council of Elders, declaring that she had resigned as Village Chief and as alder(wo) man at the heat of the debate. The arbiter could not believe what he was hearing, and asked, “You resigned…?!”

***

But in the mumbo-jumbo and twists and turns of events, fast-forward to now: Julia Caesar one-upped everyone; and she now sits as president (with another board member who had also resigned, now also the sitting vice president). The Oldies aldermen are outside the kulambo because possession is 9/10 of the law. They of course want to restore their good name and honor. But this will have to take its course in the higher court.

Beware the idea of Mars. Fortunately, there is a village election due at the end of March.

Ay naku! Politics is serious business. And nothing more serious than local village politics. This is a microcosm of the serious divide in Philippine politics.

If you are confused about this, so am I; and so are the rest of the village. This is as confusing as the issue between Otso Diretso vs Hugpong ng Pagbabago – because the battle is never joined since neither side comes to debate.

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