Cebu's political "Winter of Discontent"
The quality of our Cebu politicians today (I hope they will forgive me for saying this which I believe to be the truth) has gone so far below the stature of those in Cebu's golden era. I am sad to say that today's breed of politicians cannot hold a candle before the outstanding records of Cebu's illustrious and giant political leaders, like Don Sergio Osmeña Sr., Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco, Don Filemon Y. Sotto, Don Vicente Rama, Don Vicente Y. Sotto, Don Manuel C. Briones, and not even half of the stature of latter leaders like Serging Osmeña, Rene G. Espina, Ramon Durano, Franciso E. F. Remotigue, Eduardo R. Gullas, Antonio Cuenco, Isidro Kintanar, Hilario G. Davide, Jr., and Marcelo B. Fernan.
In William Shakespeare's Richard III, (written in 1592) Act 1, Scene 1, the first line in the king's soliloquy was: "Now is the winter of our discontent." It was a masterful political satire that depicted how that malevolent and deformed schemer, the future King Richard III, expressed his feelings of disappointment over what happened to the House of the Duke of York, his father, despite having seized power and captured the English crown from Henry VI of the House of Lancaster, their cousins. It was a figure of speech that depicted how the quality of political leadership in England has, to his perception, gone down to the depths. I am tempted to aver that today's kind of politics of Cebu approximates that level of exasperation.
There is no Cebuano in the Senate today. The last one Serge, a worthy grandson of Don Sergio who bears his famous name, was defeated by a boxer, a street parliamentarian, a son of a religious preacher, a daughter of a defeated presidentiable, and a son of billionaire owner of a chain of five-star hotels. There is no Cebuano in the Cabinet. There is no eminent member of the House who has reached the levels of Don Sergio, Don Mariano Jesus, and the Sotto brothers. The only promising voice is that of Deputy Speaker Gwen (we should have been happy with the post of deputy speaker, but there are almost a dozen of them bearing the same title).
In the days of our illustrious Cebuano leaders, no important national decision was ever made without a Cebuano being a part of the team to make the decision. Cebu was so respected then that there was no other province that could claim such preeminence. Don Filemon Sotto was one of the seven wise men who drafted the 1935 Constitution. His brother, Don Vicente was chairman of the committee on style who penned the 1935 Preamble. Our esteemed Hilario G. Davide, Jr. was delegate to the 1973 Con-con and was a commissioner of the 1987 Con-com. He was Commission on Elections chairman, chief justice, and ambassador extraordinaire to the United Nations. No other Cebuano achieved that feat.
I am sad today that there is no one who can be compared to Don Sergio, to CJ Davide, and the Sotto brothers. This then, indeed, is the winter of our discontent.