Osmeña and Garganera

THE hearing the other day on the writ of kalikasan case filed by City Councilor Joel Garganera in relation to the continued use by the Cebu City Government of the Inayawan dump site followed a visit to Inayawan by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Gina Lopez, who eventually described the facility as an “environmental bombshell” and ordered its immediate closure--although the Court of Appeals (CA) still have a say on that.

Because Mayor Tomas Osmeña already told reporters he would follow the law, which means he was willing to finally close the dump site, the hearing yesterday seems focused only on when that would happen. Osmeña's stance, considering his nature, is actually surprising. But he must have learned his lesson from his earlier conflict with the Philippine National Police (PNP) that resulted in the National Police Commission taking away his deputation.

But Osmeña's nature still showed a bit. He told the CA he was willing to sit down with DENR officials to discuss the timeline on the closure (his initial idea was to shut down the dump site on Jan. 1, 2017). But he wants Garganera to be excluded from the talks, which was not the ideal. Note that even the Office of the Solicitor General wants the issue settled by both parties, which means Osmeña and Garganera.

The same thing happened during Lopez's visit to Inayawan wherein she called Garganera by phone to get his side of the issue. Lopez had thought politicking was what held up the resolution of the case. When Lopez told Osmeña to talk things out with Garganera, he refused to do so. He said he would only talk about the matter in court. The mayor also insinuated that Garganera twists information. He just doesn't like the man.

Garganera is a first-time city councilor under Team Rama. Before that, he was a long-time chief of Barangay Tinago from where he launched several unsuccessful attempts to wiggle into the Cebu City Council. One scene etched in my mind was that of him shaking hands and distributing leaflets on the road while I was watching him from the second floor window of our old house in the cramped Sitio Kawayan in Barangay Sambag 2.

That must be in the 2001 election campaign because in 2002 a fire struck the sitio razing to the ground that old house. While doing his thing, he sud- denly looked up and saw me. I actually thought he would not recognize me in that situation; he probably didn't know I was a resident of the place. But he did call me by name. “Bong, tabangi ko bi,” he said, or words to that effect.

From 2001 to 2013--that's twelve years of trying before he finally grabbed a city council seat. Part of the reason for that was Osmeña, who ruled Cebu City politics for much of that period. There was even a stretch when all the seats in the city council were occupied by his Bando OsmeñaPundok Kauswagan (BOPK) people.

Garganera, I think for three successive elections, ran with the opposition. An election or two, he ranked high in in surveys. But I heard that Osmeña laid down a strategy specifically ensuring Garganera and the oppositionists who rated high in the surveys would eventually lose. Garganera only won when he ran under Team Rama, the administration party in the 2013 polls.

That is why there is no love lost between Osmeña and Garganera. Besides, as a city councilor, Garganera has shown that he can be formidable in his role as opposition councilor. His filing the writ of kalikasan petition with the Court of Appeals (CA) was granted. And when Secretary Lopez talked with him, he was able to convince her of the negative consequences of allowing the use by the City of the Inayawan dump site to continue.

So Osmeña's dislike for Garganera is real. He can be a thorn in the mayor's side.