Arrogant Miriam

I am aghast at the manner in which Sen.  Miriam Defensor Santiago has  castigated the prosecution every time she attends the  impeachment trial.

Last week, private prosecutor  Vitaliano Aguirre was caught on camera covering both his ears with his hands when Santiago berated the prosecution, even calling them gago  (stupid).   Aguirre was cited in contempt of the impeachment court for disrespect. But I think Santiago deserves the action  herself for being very  disrespectful and arrogant in her statements. She deserved Aguirre’s reaction.

While we acknowledge that she is a member of the Senate impeachment court thus deserves our highest respect  her behavior was  an indecorum or misbehavior in Parliamentary Procedure. Santiago is not and will never be a good role model for our children and lawyersbecause she is arrogant and a braggart.

I think our senator-jurors should be reminded to  be humble and  show proper decorum during the proceedings  and  refrain from using foul language especially to the participants. I think the impeachment trial is sane in its proceedings when Miriam Defensor-Santiago is absent.

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I am very happy that the unity of the Cebu city and provincial governments has resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that would pave the way for the solution to the longstanding controversy over province-owned lots in Cebu City covered by provincial ordinance  93-1.

Last week Vice President Jejomar Binay who chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Gov.  Gwen Garcia and Mayor Mike Rama signed the agreement that lay the grounds for  lot ownership of the occupants.

The city government would allocate P50 million for this effort. The provincial government has supported moves to resolve the issue amicably since the term of Rama.

Vice President Binay was instrumental in helping both local governments  find an acceptable solution to the long-standing issue. The lesson learned is that if only two local government units meet eye to eye,  solutions can be found for the benefit of the people.

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The Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) showed its  vulnerability when  Councilors Edgar  Labella, Jose Daluz and Tony Cuenco joined Team Rama. Labella accepted Rama’s offer to be his vice mayor candidate in  2013.

Daluz bolted BO-PK because he is supporting Tony Cuenco who will run again for his old seat as congressman of the south district. His son Ronald, a city councilor, is following suit.

BO-PK should not underestimate the chances of Cuenco winning in the south district  because Cuenco is a veteran and an astute politician. I think BO-PK is not taking any chances.  That’s why it’s fielding Councilor Margot Osmeña against Cuenco.

What happened to Rodrigo Abellanosa and Aristotle Batuhan who both announced their intention to run for congress in the south district under BO-PK?

The 2013 election in Cebu City will be a battle royal.  BO-PK can no longer ignore the Rama-Labella tandem especially that Tony Cuenco is part of the  new political group.

Congressman Tommy Osmeña will have to  go back to the drawing board to adjust his strategy with this latest development.