When Cebuanos feel left out!

I had dinner with Senatoriable and former Cebu Gov. Emilio Mario “Lito” Osmeña at the Casino Español de Cebu together with some members of the broadcast media from Mindanao. The former Cebu Governor who was responsible for the famous “Cebooom” that ushered the sudden rise of Cebu as the country’s economic, tourism and political power bewailed the reality that of the 61 Senatoriables running for the Senate only a handful of people from the Visayas are running and from Cebu he is the only one. Of course if you count Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as a Cebuano and Sen. Serge Osmeña, then there are three of them. However these two can’t even speak in Cebuano, much less even have a house in Cebu.

When he was asked about his chances of winning, Lito Osmena who is No. 39 in the Comelec list of Senators said that he could still count on the more than three million votes he got during the 1998 Presidential elections where he placed 4th behind the winner Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada, Sen. Raul Roco and then Speaker Jose de Venecia.

In that political race, Lito even bested the big names in the country — Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, Renato de Villa, Alfredo Lim and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. In short, Lito Osmeña is counting on the Cebuano speaking population who feel that they are not represented well in the hallowed halls of the Senate. So Lito’s reminder to the voters is he is No. 39!

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There is no doubt that Cebuanos felt the loss of the late Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde last January who was our only vital link to Malacañang Palace. Perhaps this is the reason why Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) has returned to Cebu four times already since the death and burial of Cerge just to make sure Cebuanos do not feel left out.

However the local newspapers headlined a story last Monday that Atty. Paul Oaminal, a Cebu-based lawyer who was the Vice-Chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has been unceremoniously removed from his post at a time when former DDB Chairman Vicente “Tito” Sotto III was in Cebu to start his Senatorial campaign, thus fueling rumors that Usec. Oaminal may have been sacked due to political reasons. Hence I called up Atty. Oaminal to ask him what happened and he e-mailed me this statement.

“Dear Sir Bobit; I don’t want to be presumptuous but I believe that the order of the President of having me replaced has been mixed-up. The antecedent facts are as follows: When Senator Sotto, then Chairman of the DDB and Usec. Romeo Vera Cruz, a member of the Board resigned last November 2009, Asec. Rommel Garcia my supposed replacement applied for the position vacated by Usec Vera Cruz. However, in February, Usec Butch Belgica was appointed to replace Usec Vera Cruz.

The order of the President appointing Asec Garcia should not have been directed at me, but on the position vacated by Usec Vera Cruz. To rectify the misapprehension of facts, Asec Garcia should have been appointed the position of Executive Director and me retained as Vice Chairman. But if my interpretation of facts is wrong, I have no right to question the decision of the President, I could not be wiser than the appointing authority.

Prior to my appointment with the Board, I was the Legal Consultant of the PDEA-7 since its creation in 2002 and I assisted the government in the extradition of a suspected financier of the Mega Shabu Laboratory from Hongkong to the Philippines. I wrote a book on the new law on drugs, cited by the Supreme Court in 2008. Present concern is the cocaine from Samar and the cocaine case filed in Davao City, hope this could continually be attended to.

I would like to thank you sir for sharing you my idea on the matter. Also would like to thank the officials of the City and Province of Cebu for their support and would like to clarify that I earnestly believe that the current chairman of DDB, Sec. Bebot Villar has no hand in my replacement as the late Secretary Remonde bequested me to him prior to his death. To my fellow Cebuanos, people of Visayas and Mindanao, fraternal brothers of Alpha Kappa Rho and Lex Cervus Fraternity, thank you for the support and encouragement to continue the advocacy for a Drug Free Philippines. Thank you very much Sir Bobit.

Yours truly, Clarence Paul Oaminal”

It just makes me wonder what Usec. Oaminal did to cause his ouster just a few months after Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends her term? Did the President sign this without knowing the issue fully well? With the heat of the political season, rumors are spewing like a hot volcano about to erupt that this could be the handiwork of narco-politicians who wanted Oaminal out so they could help politicos during the local election campaign that reels off this Friday. I just hope that Pres. Arroyo reconsiders this decision and gives Oaminal the post where many Cebuanos believe he has done so well.

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