This week saw elected officials take over the reins of office from their predecessors or in the case of re-elected officials, re-take their oaths with more assurance and weight brought by a fresh mandate from the people.
Yesterday saw Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia turn over the reins of the Capitol to Governor-elect Hilario “Junjun” Davide III. The ceremony was not just a changing of the guards but a dramatic decline in the rule of the Garcia dynasty.
Gwen’s brother Congressman Pablo John lost the gubernatorial race, ending an unbroken 18-year father-daughter reign of the Capitol.
Their father Rep. Pablo Garcia, who lost reelection, abruptly slid into retirement.
Gwen, about to start a new term as congresswoman narrowly beating her opponent, is the clan’s remaining champion.
When she returned to office on June 19 for her last working week, one of her first acts was to fire the provincial administrator to show that “disloyalty” was an affront and that she shouldn’t be discounted as a lameduck governor.
But with a mandate of an overwheming vote-mandate Davide is no pushover and even Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia with three terms as governor under her belt cannot ignore that.
The turnover was a gracious goodbye and her last hurrah at the Capitol.
It remains to be seen how she will steer her new political couse in the national legislature.
For Cebuanos, the next three years will see how Davide will lead them towards the participatory growth that he had campaigned for in the last few months.
The same can be said of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama who, despite winning with a lower margin of victory over Rep. Tomas Osmena, still managed to prove that he has moved out of his predecessor’s shadow.
The mayor did the media rounds this past week to preach practically the same message that Davide delivered to constituents which is consensus-building and participatory governance.
We wait and watch to see if victories of both Rama and Davide signal a new era of governance in the province.
Rama belongs to the illustrious Rama clan who helped found Cebu City and Davide’s father is a Supreme Court chief justice who presided over the country’s first presidential impeachment trial.
Both have a heritage they must live up to with vigor and consistency.
For the good of Cebu, we hope they succeed.