Mid-term elections are coming to us very fast
I didn’t know that we’re just two months away from the filing of certificates of candidacy for the coming 2019 midterm elections. So now we can understand that the first order of business of our politicians is not about the welfare of the people who elected them but the preservation of their political power. Of course, we don’t like these people to deviate their attention from the people who elected them, but unfortunately this is the reality of our current system of governance. If we had charter change, I understand that we would return to the four-year term of office for national and local officials, which is a good thing.
If there was something terribly wrong with the 1987 Constitution, it was created by people who still had a “Martial Law” hangover and reduced the term of office of elected officials to three years. I just wish that the Filipino people will adopt a charter so we can go back to the old, well-tested and tried four-year terms of office. This was only changed in the 1987 Constitution.
Of course, people who love the 1987 Constitution say that it was perfect, but when it comes to term of office of public officials, a three-year term means that when a new mayor, governor, councilor, or provincial board member is elected, he spends the first year learning how to run the office. If he is new to the post, then he spends the next year to implement his plans or programs, and spends the third year preparing to consolidate his political power so he can be re-elected.
So for Cebu City, we know Mayor Tomas Osmeña will seek re-election, so the big question goes to the opposition party, the PDP-Laban Cebu or the Team Rama, whom many people believe would be a toss-up between former mayor Michael Rama or Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella. At this point, I already intimated to the opposition politicians that old saying “united we stand, divided we fall.” This is something the opposition must totally and completely understand if it wants to win in today’s political arena.
I already talked with the close friends of Rama that if he cannot clear his name officially, that is his biggest negative, and hopefully they will support the candidacy of Labella. But if Rama joins the mayoralty race, let me predict that you might as well vote for Osmeña for he would surely win if the opposition was splintered. But if Rama made the ultimate sacrifice and withdrew from this political race, then Labella has a huge chance to become the next mayor of Cebu City. Thanks to the reality that Osmeña just made too many enemies in Cebu City.
Now as far as Mandaue City is concerned, I was invited to a party in Mandaue City last Wednesday evening and I talked to Mandauehanons on the fate of the mayorship. From my viewpoint, Mayor Luigi Quisumbing is practically doing better as a mayor than Osmeña. Perhaps it is due to the fact that Quisumbing, who is a millennial, wants to make an impact that his mayorship is one that is more than simple politics. Chances are, Quisumbing has a good chance of winning his reelection bid than, say, Osmeña. But like what I said, in Cebu City, all is dependent upon the decision of one man --former mayor Michael Rama.
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I really can’t understand why smugglers do not learn their bitter lessons in life. We already saw the destruction of luxury vehicles perhaps three or four times already by previous presidents. The last one this week was observed by no less than President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte in Cagayan Province. Anyway, we learned that last February, President Duterte said that he would no longer allow the auction of smuggled luxury cars as this was being taken advantage of by importers to skirt paying the right amount in customs duties. Instead, he wants all of them destroyed and that’s exactly what we all saw on television with a bulldozer crushing those expensive vehicles. But in his speech last Tuesday night, President Duterte said that 10 Hummers and vans were not destroyed but given to the military.
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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@ gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www. philstar.com.