There were a lot of soundbites made by candidates and incumbent officials running for reelection in the last Mega Cebu Candidates Forum last Monday but one made by Councilor Edgar Labella about unity stood out.
“If you run alone, you will go fast, but if you run with others, you will run far,” the councilor and vice mayoral candidate said.
His quote comparing public service to a marathon was later reinforced in a question posed to candidates soliciting their views about parochial partisan politics and a united Metro Cebu.
Not surprisingly, all of them said they support unity among Metro Cebu leaders. Rep. Pablo John Garcia of Cebu’s 3rd district, a gubernatorial candidate, went as far as saying one shouldn’t wait for legislation from Congress to create a body similar to the Metro Manila Development Authority.
“We can do it among ourselves….you cannot develop a sustainable community in one place and then leave another. What affects one place also affects the other,” he said.
That concept of unity also goes by the scientific name of symbiosis, in which one self-sustaining organism is dependent on another to enhance its own existence.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama agreed, but gave his own spin by saying that governance should be participatory and not a one-man dictatorship similar to his rival, Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district.
Osmeña and his Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) companion declined to attend last Monday’s forum as part of their “no-debate” policy. He once said it was useless to be “out-talked” by rivals who claim everything under the sun.
Osmeña actually has been identified as a key stumbling block to a Metro Cebu collaboration of local governments. The idea of cities and towns dealing with each other as equals does not sit well with the kingpin.
His insistence on Cebu City having “veto power” in decision making of trans-boundary issues like traffic, waste management, and drainage pulls the rug from under the feet of genuine cooperation.
His distrust of the Garcias, where Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia sat as chairman of the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board, has kept him away.
From the urban poor headaches of 93-1 lots to the marketing of reclamation lots in the South Road Properties, the Osmeña-Garcia rivalry has stymied several developments in Metro Cebu.
But Metro Cebu can’t wait for partisan politics to sort itself out.
Its leaders will find out that for Cebu to progress, catch up and regain a competitive edge in the global economy, planning and execution will need joint action and a single, focused direction.