Choosing a city mayor

I must admit I would be biased when I discuss this issue insomuch as most people know I am affiliated with a particular local party. But please, humor me by allowing me to just do it as I promise to do it as impartially as I can. People have their own preferences anyway, and most won’t change their choices, if they already have made any, just because of some things I say. I will be as impartial as I can.

In the first place, while we want to be objective in choosing our local leaders, there are some considerations that we must really consider. First of which is whether to choose individual people or a party. Ideally speaking, we should choose people based on our preferences, which would depend on what we want to have for our city in the future. This is a complicated issue because we are looking at the future, not the present. Towns and cities do not develop overnight.

It’s both the present and the future, of course. We elect officials so that they can govern our city at the present but at the same time plan for its development in the future. We may have different preferences on priorities, of course --some want to have good governance now, while others hope for a better development, too. We expect our leaders to address both --the present management and the future development and it might be difficult to place weights on both. Let’s just assume we look at both equally.

This translates to how we choose our executive and legislative officials --the mayor and the City Council. The vice mayor is in a unique situation because he/she is in a post that’s in the executive and legislative departments. And when it comes to choosing elected city officials, we can do this by choosing individually or choosing wholesale (by party). I know of many who mix and match --choose a party but intersperse individually with a few from other parties. It’s a personal choice.

And while many choose candidates individually, it is equally common also for others to choose candidates “wholesale”, meaning choosing entire parties. There are others also, who choose a party in general but pick a few individuals from other parties, too, who they like. There’s no hard and fast rule, each chooses as he/she wishes, which is the beauty of democracy.

But I believe choosing a party is really the better option. As I said I am biased because I belong to the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) and will certainly vote straight as I believe it is the party which had the experience and history of leading Cebu City’s development. But that’s beside the point. When we vote, we should not only because it will be good for us, but we must also ensure that our choices would be the best for our children and grandchildren. After all, while we are still in the present, what’s more important is what’s in store for our future.