Political brinkmanship
The rift between Cebu City Mayor Michael “Mike” Rama and his predecessor in City Hall, now Cebu City’s South District Rep. Tomas “Tommy” Osmeña has worsened, but what I find interesting is that instead of conceding to Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan’s (BO-PK) political interest, Mike is trying to wrest control of contracts under the council’s authority. The mayor’s move asking City Hall lawyers to study and review the powers of the executive as it relates to the appointment of legislative consultants practically courts the ire of councilors belonging to Tommy’s BO-PK.
Mayor Rama is also keen to revamp the different departments, boards and commissions and fill up key positions with his own men. The hiring and firing of casuals as well will go by the code of loyalty, so everybody is virtually a floater in City Hall. Rather than compromise, the mayor is pushing things to a head. In international politics, the provocative situation is called brinkmanship.
As we know, the council is packed with followers of Rep. Osmeña. Even Councilor Edu Rama, the mayor’s nephew, is allied with BO-PK. Unlike Uncle Mike who bolted the party, Edu made it clear he won’t cut his umbilical ties with the Osmeña camp but he continues to support his uncle. That’s expected but sooner or later Councilor Edu will also have a decision to make. He can’t ride on two horses without being perceived as a Janus-faced politician.
After leaving BO-PK, Tommy declared war and placed the party’s five-star general, Councilor Margot Osmeña in front as incoming finance and budget committee head in the City Council. That might as well be Tommy in the powerful body. With that, the fate of Mike’s projects and programs is a no-brainer.
It will be interesting how this situation would play out in the next couple of weeks, how Mayor Rama will address public outrage if there’s delay in the delivery of basic services. That could happen if the Council will also play the provocative game of political brinkmanship by obstructing his programs at every turn.
One thing is sure, though. Mike knows the ins and outs of City Hall. For 15 years he worked under the tutelage of BO-PK, first as councilor then as vice mayor.
Summing it up, there’s nobody in City Hall who knows Tommy more than Mike does. Meaning, one can never second guess the erstwhile apprentice in putting up a challenge to his former political mentor.
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The spectacle of our local government leaders endlessly quarrelling and clawing at each other is dismaying but fortunately for Cebuanos, investments keep pouring in, specifically in the property sector.
To date, the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Body (HLURB) has approved 36 condominium projects around Metro Cebu. Condominium living is gaining acceptance especially among families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Their substantial earnings enabled them not only to purchase nice-looking houses but also acquire condominium units as an investment.
Young urban professionals or yuppies have also taken to condo living. The term yuppies used to be applied to young, upwardly mobile executives of Makati’s financial district but it has now expanded to include workers in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
The BPO sector has an employee base of 500,000. In Cebu, more than P50,000 people are employed in the IT BPO and their numbers further enhance the viability of the property sector. Once the 36 condo projects go into full gear, expect a lot of economic activity in the construction business, manufacturing, food, transportation, etc.
I gathered these interesting facts from Mr. Jun L. Garing, founder and president of a sales training institute called Salesman’s Centre in Manila. He currently heads the marketing and sales group of Filinvest SRP.
Garing’s center has trained more than 90,000 salespersons, many of whom became top sales executives of leading real estate developers in the country. In the property sector, Jun is known as the guru of Pinoy salesmanship, having written two books on the subject.
By way of helping rationalize the industry, Jun and a group of sales professionals from Manila, mostly graduates of his institute and currently occupying top level positions in major real estate companies like Century Properties, SM Land Inc. and Megaworld will present Exsell 2011. The forum on June 24, from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. at Radisson Blu Hotel will tackle not just selling but will focus more on “best practices” of the trade.
Opportunities in the selling of condominium units will be tremendous in Cebu in the next two years and this seminar will greatly help those who are looking at a career in selling real properties. For more information, call (0923) 509-6111, 514-0060 and 402-9346, or register online by e-mailing [email protected]
