Cebuanos do not twist words either, Grace Poe

Grace Poe has visited Cebu again. This time she denied accusing Cebuanos of being cheats. From February, when she said her father was cheated in Cebu, to May, when she said her words were twisted, is a good three months.

That is too long a time to issue a denial over something that has so incensed Cebuanos. So when will you really level up with the Cebuanos, Grace Poe? And when will you stop insulting their intelligence?

That it took you a good three months to issue a denial underscores the real intent of your visit, which is not to set the record straight but to pursue your relentless drive to woo the Cebuanos, and the 2.5 millions they represent -- the biggest voting bloc in the country.

Of course you never said in those exact words that Cebuanos cheated your father. But when you said your father was cheated in Cebu, isn't that the same poison in a different plate? Please do not try to engage the Cebuanos in semantics, Grace Poe.

However you may have phrased it, Cebuanos can understand that what you meant was cheating occurred in Cebu, and that had no cheating occurred, your father might have won here, and perhaps the presidency as well, considering the one million “cheated” votes that went to his rival.

Grace Poe, please disabuse your mind from the movie invincibility of your father. With due respect to his memory, what he was in the movies does not apply to Cebu. Just as he lost in 2004, so did another movie guy in 1998. Movies and politics just do not mix in Cebu.

To the Cebuanos, Grace Poe, the choices were very clear to them in 2004. Between a US-educated economist who can hold her ground on any governance subject in representation of her country in any forum with world leaders and a movie star, there is really no need to cheat.

Besides, Grace Poe, you are not exactly being honest if you ignore the political reality on the ground at the time of the election in question. All the mayors, congressmen and governor of Cebu were allied with the rival of your father. No need to cheat all the more.

If what you are really driving at is a little sympathy for the cause of your father, in the hope that some of it can be converted to votes in your favor, then you are making a very poor job out of it.

There are many ways of courting sympathy without ascribing ill, in whatever form, on your intended benefactor. Instead of crying about something that never happened, you could have told us you respected our decision in 2004 and that maybe this time we might be ready for a new Poe.

But you did not do that. You waltzed into our home, savored our warmth, then bitched about our wine. Well, for your information, Grace Poe, the best drinks on the house are for those who truly deserve it. If it is not served, you should know why.

Again, and no matter how you may have said it, no cheating against your father happened in Cebu. Whether by Cebuanos or by others, as you now put it, the opponent of your father won in Cebu fair and square. And that is because that was clearly their choice.

And we did not twist your words. Cebuanos are not in the habit of engaging in verbal calisthenics. We are very capable of divining what words truly or fail to convey. Bet you didn't know they had a Cebuano clean up the excess verbiage from the 1987 Constitution.

Listen, Grace Poe. First you come here saying your father was cheated in Cebu. Then you come again, three months later, to say your words were twisted while continuing to insist your father was cheated. You must think so lowly of us as to insult our intelligence twice.

But don't worry, Grace Poe. Cebuanos are not bright all the time. Guess who won here in 2010? Maybe he can pull another imponderable and give you what was withheld from your father in 2004.