Where were those allies?

I do not wish to put my thought on why the honorable Congressman Tomas R. Osmeña of the Cebu City South District lost in the last election to incumbent Mayor Michael L. Rama. Other writers and opinion makers, who are more profound on the subject than me and my superficial understanding of politics, have done that already and mine might only sound like a hollow echo.

Despite having said that though, I cannot totally veer away from talking about the politician whom I met sometime in the third quarter of 1988. Then a young man who insisted to be addressed only as Tome (pronounced To-me, not Tommy, as his name evolved) was then preparing for his participation in the first democratic election after the so-called EDSA revolution, vacillating whether to launch his candidacy for a lower position as councilor or aim to become mayor of this city.

He had to weigh his chances carefully.  There was the financial component to consider, of which, some claimed that he had little compared to the kitty the Cuencos possessed. The political empire his father established since the early 50s got whacked by the regime of Ferdinand E. Marcos and those left from the Marcos raid seemed inaccessible. He himself stayed abroad for almost two decades and lost contact with allies.  Of course, as history tells us, he opted to contest the mayoralty with then Officer-in-charge Jose V. Cuenco.

As the campaign began, Tome also started toget noticed. The number of supporters, while starting as a trickle, developed in unbelievable pace. From where I sat, it was an incredible sight to behold. Well-heeled ladies and astute businessmen, people I could never imagine to brush elbows with, began to converge. Putting them together was already, by itself, a herculean task, let alone asking them to hit the campaign trail, an effort they would not normally undertake. I do not want to print their names here because, I have no right to do so and to mention them might breach their right to privacy.

Also, people from what economists, statisticians and demographers label as the C,D and E group came. Tome was, after all, the son of their "niño bonito Serging" and they naturally, almost instinctively, multiplied his corps of determined campaigners. Remarkably, when the day of the election came, the massive support reached a ground swell.

Fast forward to the present day.While participating in the election canvass, upon the engagement by the mayor and Hon. Eduardo Rama, the south district councilor, I could not avoid listening to conversations during canvassing breaks. People were talking about Tome and despite their effort to pry me open to discussing what I wrote earlier on kindred topic, I thought it was most prudent to keep my mouth shut.

In their discussion, some names propped up as constituting the juggernaut named BOPK. Of those perceived to have contributed to, or worked, in the previous endeavors of Tome, Sammy Darza, Dodong Holganza and Bobit Avila were, among many, mentioned with great respect. Darza became a trusted man overseeing the MCDP and the SRP. Holganza kept the contact with established political groupsfresh and Avila a respected member of the media continued to write highly of the administration. There was also Manoling Langub, now deceased, whose ability to infiltrate the “masa” was recognized.

Then, they could not peel off from their talk without admitting that a deluge of such political families the Garcias, the Jacas, the Aznars, the Cabreras and late, the Ramas was equally, even if partly, responsible for  the previous successes of Tome.

The point of the discussion was that Cong. Tomas Osmeña, had, at one time or another, been the object of hero-worship by business, social and political leaders of the city.Their support made his previous electoral campaigns virtually unchallenged. His almost total dominance of the city politics was attributed to the loyalty and hard work of these men.

One by one, these men fell out of grace or contradicted his brand of leadership. There were others too, who just silently stayed off Tome's course. They were no longer on Tome's side when Mayor Rama, dared to square off with his former boss. Where are they now?

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