Bogo? Not really

Few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a Cebu City Council session. It was a privilege to see our local legislators in action, so to speak. The language of our councilors was almost always courteous although they, at times, took liberties of Henry Robert's Rules of Order. More important than bringing back to me memories of my stint in the council more than a decade earlier, that session was most insightful.

A lady member of the sangggunian was trying to get the attention of the presiding officer in ways that could not be found in the rule book. Oh, she appeared funny. Disquieting could have been a more appropriate word. She instead made faces where she could have simply raised her hand. Why she had to knock her table, albeit gently, when it was easy say Mr. Chairman?

On the other hand, the presiding officer seemed either reluctant to acknowledge the councilor or unimpressed by the unparliamentary manner his attention was called. He looked the other way and conveniently gave the floor to other discussants. But, he could not avoid her forever. Eventually, he had to look at something that was written by the lady to which he was signaled to read.

From where I sat, I could read the note. "Bogo!". Did she mean the town, now a city, in the northern part of this island? My innocent mind could only surmise that they probably were planning to go to that place that afternoon and with the session mired by a welter of non-siquitors, she had to remind the presiding officer so that he could steer the session to a quicker end.

Nobody really had a special knowledge how the word "Bogo" was to be taken then. Some of those who saw it had more questions than answers. There quizzical eyebrows raised them. Others could not muffle their voices. Aha, their giggling suggested a different meaning than the name of a place.

I was trying my best to catch up with the unraveling scene. Without any useful backgrounders to work my mind up, I was offended. Why should someone resort to something that was an affront to parliamentary decorum? The word bogo could none other be than the Visayan term for being dimwit. And if I were a member of the august body, I could have asked the lady for an explanation such that if she, indeed, referred to the presiding officer as dimwit, I could have asked for some sanctions to be imposed upon her.

Quite unexpectedly, the chair did not attach any contumacious meaning to the word. He registered no reaction. Not of being disturbed neither of being offended. It was just okay to him even if it was an insult that should not have been publicized. If he was used to being called bogo privately, he should not have tolerated it in the session hall of such assembly as the city council.

Thank God, present events tell us that he is not really "bogo". Doing something that was not accomplished by a predecessor is never an indication of one's being bogo. For instance, let me cite the case of the direction of then bogo presiding officer to organize a Cebu City band.

More than a week earlier, I wrote in this column the need of the city to organize the great Cebuano musicians in our midst into an orchestra or a band. And the other day, city hall announced allocating two million pesos to create the city band. I am almost certain that the new Cebu City administration must have planned this project a long time ahead of my suggestion. If I may add, this cannot be a plan of a bogo. This is visionary and there is no bogo who lines up his government with worthy undertakings.

And then some. City hall also made announcements recently that it is addressing the things that the previous administration did not do. To me, these are moves that cannot be associated to anybody who is bogo.