Kill Bill

It's funny how the proponents of Sugbuak (which we could probably anoint as the "Chop Chop Cebu" bill) have been so quiet. Their battle to divide Cebu into four provinces lies not with the press. It doesn't depend on dazzling rhetoric. There are no brilliant arguments to sway the people and win their hearts. Instead, their battle is being fought in the dim fringes, underneath the dingy sheets where they lie entwined with their political bedfellows.

The Governor has opened her re-election campaign with a bang - naming her new party "One Cebu" and gathering all her supporters for photo ops galore. She's out to convince the citizens of the rightness of her position, and she has logic, determination and the political will to give her the foundation she needs.

Arrayed against her are certain power-hungry and scheming politicos. They're not meeting the governor head-on. They've been keeping quiet, doing their wheeling and dealing at the back of the House, and trading favors (hopefully not sexual) with equally dubious colleagues. There's hardly any squabbling with the governor. They're not wasting their money on expensive paid political advertisements. They know the best way to get what they want is to do it furtively.

See, this is what I don't like about politics. You have to keep track of all your enemies and what they're doing and where they are - otherwise, you just get whacked in the head with a nasty surprise. Devious schemes are being hatched left and right, and if you don't have a good intelligence system, then any such scheme is capable of being nursed to malignant fruition.

For example, I wouldn't be surprised if, while everyone's battling it out in Congress, somebody makes a pitch to the president and convinces her to sign an Executive Order administratively dividing the island into four. Cebu might stay one in name, but functionally, it can end up operating as more. And sure, you won't get four governors that way, but enough mental conditioning can be accomplished to harm the battle for unity.

Or, an innocuous survey might suddenly appear in the ballots for this election, asking voters what they think about the split. Check the first box if you want to see Cebu divided into four. Check the second box if you don't like the way Cebu is being run now by a single governor. (Sneaky, that) The survey can then be recast into a referendum, and voila! you have a legal mandate for the division.

As the editorial in this paper just said, it was a political masterstroke for Governor Gwen Garcia to have baptized her party One Cebu and then demand that senators seeking her party's support give her their counterpart support in writing. This way, those politicians are on record if and when they are presented with a Sugbuak bill for their vote. (Not that having a statement on record is much of a deterrent these days).

Meanwhile, what are we to do? As responsible citizens, we're supposed to make as much noise as we can against the division. (Hence, this piece.) Call as many senators or congressmen as you might have known from the good old schooldays, and give them a piece of your mind. If you can't call because you have none in your mobile phone address book, then write. Letter-writing campaigns seems to have died in this country -maybe it's time to revive them. Bury congressmen in piles of letters pleading for unity.

Don't shop too much. Oh, I know it's no relation to this piece, but it sounds good. Wait, I know now why I thought about shopping. I meant, don't shop in the stores and businesses owned by supporters of the Sugbuak bill. A good old economic boycott might just work. Maybe someone should publish a list of these businesses so we can hurt them financially and directly. Send them a message.

Of course, the best message voters can send is, don't elect them back into office. And for most of the proponents of the bill, since they're on their last terms, and they would normally field their wife/husband/child/pet monkey to serve as replacement, then don't vote for their stooge. Vote for change. (Advice I can't take, unfortunately, because I'm not a registered voter).

Am I campaigning? Only for issues, I guess. And this issue is worth it.