The boiling political kettle in Cebu

In our special presentation on our talkshow Straight from the Sky, we bring you a talk about MEGA Cebu or the Metro Cebu Development & Coordinating Board (MCDCB) which was created way back on April 1, 2011 through a memorandum of agreement with heads of the national government agencies, local government executives and the private sector. I have always wondered what was happening with this group, which is chaired by Gov. Gwen F. Garcia, co-chaired by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Sir Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI).

While the 2013 elections are coming very soon… one might ask what would happen to this MEGA Cebu project? The answer is… the private sector, which is composed of RAFI, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (CCCI) the Mandaue Chamber, the Cebu Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and Industry, the Cebu Business Club, the Cebu Leads Foundation and IBM Philippines, who are all apolitical. This should be enough to encourage our political establishment to work with the private sector.

So tonight, we have with us Sir Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz of RAFI and Ms. Evelyn Nacario-Castro of RAFI, which acts as the secretariat of MEGA Cebu, then we have Assistant Regional Director of NEDA Mr. Efren Carreon and Engr. Jun Sanchez, chairman of the infrastructure committee, and they will give us an idea of what’s happening with the MEGA Cebu. So watch this very interesting show on channel 15 at 8:00PM with replays on MyTV at M-W-F.

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The political kettle is starting to heat up. After all, the deadline for the filing of candidates is just around the corner. The big news came from Gov. Gwen F. Garcia who threw in the towel for her senatorial bid. Of course, people are saying that she never even got into the top 20 in the list of senatoriables that only has to elect 12 senators.

So once again, we will have no Cebuano in the senatorial lineup, something that we must find ways to change because the present electoral system allows senators to be voted at large; and in the end only famous names from Metro Manila are voted into this office to the detriment of all Filipinos. If you ask me, senators should be voted by regions or if we become a federal system… by state.

Now, I can tell my story. Last April, I was in Manila staying at the fabulous Makati Shangri-La for a series of meetings… and after my dinner meeting as I was headed towards my room, I saw the bodyguard of Gov. Gwen Garcia and as it turned out, she was in the lobby lounge with brother Rep. PJ Garcia. I joined their table and we talked for a long time. It was there that I learned that Rep. PJ Garcia was going to be running for Cebu Governor.

Then Gov. Gwen asked me about the senatorial race… and frankly speaking, I told her that there must be some point in time where you must decide to give up that bid if your name is not on the magic 12 list. Well, I guess that point was already reached and let me say that Gov. Gwen Garcia did the most practical thing by running for Congress in the 3rd District. I always say that it is better to be a congressman in your district than a wannabee senator that couldn’t make it to the top 12.

Furthermore, the expense of running a senatorial bid runs in the billions. But in my book, there are far more important things for Gov. Gwen to do and that is to keep her One Cebu Party intact. Already, the Liberal Party is grabbing away her allies in the One Cebu Party, lured naturally by money and promises of projects…something that One Cebu Party could also promise to give. But with Gov. Gwen campaigning in the 3rd District and the rest of the Province of Cebu, I’m positive the One Cebu Party would close ranks with her and Rep. PJ Garcia. Of course that means that the Liberal Party would now have to double their efforts to win allies in the Province of Cebu.

Meanwhile, the political kettle in Cebu City is also at the boiling point with the completed lineup of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) ready to do battle against the still unnamed party of Mayor Michael Rama. Of course it must be told that as of press time, Mayor Mike Rama is still waiting for word from the Liberal Party as to who they would anoint as the standard bearer for Cebu City.

While Mayor Mike is correct that he has always attended the LP meetings and therefore, he should be the LP standard bearer. However, there is no question that the friendship between Rep. Tomas Osmeña and now DILG Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas goes a long way. So what will the Liberal Party finally do in Cebu City? It is worthwhile to wait. As for the councilor lineup of the two political groups, it only shows how much BO-PK has already splintered. There is no doubt that the 2013 race will be interesting. Let’s hope that we will get the best candidates for Cebu City.

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