The politics of correctness and opportunity

Captain Ramil Ayuman of Barangay Apas in Cebu City is crying foul over alleged solicitations being made by the Barangay Mayor's Office in his area. Letters bearing the official seal of the city have reportedly been sent to businessmen soliciting donations ranging from P100,000 to P1,000,000 to support the participation of the barangay contingent in the upcoming Sinulog.

Ayuman is complaining because he has nothing to do with the solicitations and thinks they are illegal. The Barangay Mayor's Office is not a part of a barangay or its organizational structure. It was created by the mayor ostensibly to bring his office closer to the people. His enemies, however, suspect they were created to clip the powers of barangay captains not allied with him. His unilateral creation of such offices is now under legal review.

Actually, the legality of solicitations can be rather tricky in light of the fact that almost anybody can make solicitations. In the case of the solicitation letters Ayuman is complaining of, the best thing to do is toss the issue to Mayor Tomas Osmeña himself since it was he who created the Barangay Mayor's Office and the letters bear the official seal of the city he heads.

In fairness to Mayor Osmeña, he promptly kicked out the person responsible for sending out the solicitation letters the moment he heard about it. By kicking out the guy, Osmeña was able to project himself as somebody who does not countenance shenanigans. But what must have made the whole incident a lip-smacking event for the mayor was that he managed to pull the rug from under Ayuman.

There is no doubt that Ayuman's complaint was prompted by nothing but the best of intentions. He saw something fishy and cried foul over it. But it cannot be denied that the matter provided him with an opportunity to hit Osmeña indirectly since the person against whom the complained of action is being alleged belongs to an office the mayor created.

In the end, both Ayuman and Osmeña did things they knew were the right ones to do. But they also knew that in the process, they could also earn political points if things went their way. Unfortunately for Ayuman, the political round went to Osmeña. That does not detract, however, from the fact that by complaining, Ayuman did the right thing. By swiftly reacting, Osmeña likewise did what was right. But the spoils of the skirmish were his.