Learning the lessons from our past mistakes

While this may already be a closed incident, I would like to put in a last word about last Wednesday's editorial by The FREEMAN, which was very well written, entitled "Wrong Attitude on Power." Yes, I'm referring to that unfortunate incident involving Paolo Garcia, son of Governor Gwen F. Garcia with Cebu City Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) Chief Pablo Labra III that happened in Yo Latino Bar last Saturday evening.

The whole problem stems from the fact that the children of Gov. Garcia are hardly visible to the public eye. They are not like other children of the rich and powerful who flaunt either their wealth or their power… or should I say the power of their parents. This uncanny, but humble demeanor of the Garcia children has endeared them to the people especially in the Province.

This is where the problem began. Because the bar was full, Paolo had to park his car far from the place. When he saw the car in front of the bar, which he later found out was owned by Col. Labra, he questioned why the police had special parking privileges. Since Col. Labra didn't recognize Paolo, this is where the altercation happened. Thanks to policemen with cooler heads like Supt. Noel Gillamac who recognized the Governor's son and prevented what could have been a bigger brawl.

I also know Col. Labra as one who is very polite and unassuming. But then, too often our attitudes change depending on the situation we are in. Chances are, he was already drinking. I'm sure that if he knew that he was facing the Governor's son, this would have been a non-event. What probably made it worse was when Cebuanos use Tagalog cuss words in the middle of a heated discussion. This is why I love the Cebuano language so much. We don't have cuss words to insult anyone's mother!

I had a talk with Gov. Gwen Garcia on this matter and she told me that this was a dead issue and didn't want to make any further comments. It does take a special kind of courage for one who is the Governor of Cebu and chair of the Peace and Order Council who doesn't want to pursue this case anymore because it involves her son and she doesn't want any public fuss.

We are writing this piece in the hope that we learn lessons from it. First of all, I have always maintained that policemen should never frequent bars. Doing so often gets them so drunk, they forget that they are protectors of the citizenry. Last June 20,2006, I wrote about that traffic incident involving Mrs. Michelle Cortel, daughter of my classmate Narciso "Butch" Macahor and SPO1 Eriberto Dacalos Jr. and SP01 Delfin Bontuyan of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). It was a simple sideswipe incident, which was magnified by too much alcohol on the part of the police. Hence, if we keep the police from bars we would have less trouble with them with the rest of the citizenry.

When our beloved Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal gave a lecture during the Don Sergio Osmeña Memorial Lecture, his topic was about "Humility while in power," one of the endearing traits of Cebu's Grand Old Man, which is why we immortalize him as one of the greatest Cebuanos who ever lived.

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I was saddened to hear that a family of six drowned in their own home at the height of the raging floodwaters along Sindulan Creek in Mabolo. Once more this tragedy reminds us of the reality that we in this country do not solve our problems, which is why this happens time and time again. Supposedly, there's a three-meter easement along the riverbanks or creeks but alas, no one gives an inch of this. Hence, whenever the flood waters rises, it takes its toll on innocent lives.

That the areas in Mabolo get flooded during strong rains can be blamed on the North Reclamation Project. In the old days, small creeks like the Sindulan Creek or the Subangdaku River do not overflow simply because behind the old Pepsi Bottling Co. was already the seashore. But when the North Reclamation was built, the only way rainwater can go downstream is through the creeks, which now overflows because of the greater volume of water, plus the fact that squatters living on its banks have constricted it.

When he planned the South Reclamation Project (SRP) Mayor Tomas Osmeña made sure that this mistake doesn't get repeated. Hence the small Ponce Island disappeared into the North Reclamation, while the Kawit Island did not disappear, it actually became a bigger island, as there literally is a moat around the SRP, as we have kept the original coastline of Cebu City. This is what is known as learning from the lessons of our past mistakes.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit's columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com