Frustrated superheroes

So politics in Cebu City barangays has boiled down to this: candidates for captain and councilor in elections this Oct. 28 are styling themselves as superheroes who promise to save the day for their constituents.

Residents are hard-pressed to ignore tarpaulin banners in which barangay council bets flamboyantly dress-up as and parrot the tag lines of fantasy protagonists.

The Commission on Elections through Elections Officer Michael Sarno of Cebu City’s north district all but green-lighted this stomping in advance of the official campaign period from Friday Oct. 11 to Thursday Oct. 17.

Sarno told Cebu Daily News that sans any call to vote in the banners, persons represented there are shielded from electioneering raps.

Will City Hall cite the candidates for violating ordinances against illegal posting? Will Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama risk being perceived as meddling in the supposedly politics-proof barangay polls?

If he throws the book at barangay officials or candidates who are close to him, he will risk fractiousness in his alliances.

If he also runs after those allied with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan of his arch critic Tomas Osmeña, he will risk being perceived as vindictive.

If he chooses inaction, he will be crucified for being toothless.

The substance of these campaign materials is a more serious matter.

In his posters, councilman Joel Garganera of barangay Tinago who wishes to return as barangay captain appears as “Ang Panday” or the swordsmith, a character that the late actor Fernando Poe, Jr. made popular on the silver screen.

“It’s more of a gimmick to get attention and somehow I succeeded,” Garganera told CDN.

Has Garganera been lawful in executing his gimmicks? Does he have permission to use “Ang Panday” merchandise for his political purposes?

Did Tinago barangay captain Domingo Lopez and his team not violate intellectual property laws in passing themselves off as Marvel’s “The Avengers?”

The same question should be asked of Aileen Guardo and her team in barangay Sambag I and Eugenio Faelnar and his team in barangay Guadalupe.

The former are dressing up as DC Comics’ Justice Leaguers while the latter channel characters from George Lucas’ “Return of the Jedi.”

Whitewashing barangay bets as superheroes evinces not just their and their campaign operators’ lack of creativity as well as discomfiting ambivalence towards plagiarism.

Worse, it muddles public discourse by ramming shameless comedy into a time when aspiring barangay leaders ought to be teaching residents how to contribute to development through participatory governance.

Voters, do not be distracted.

You are not damsels in distress waiting to be rescued by Superman or Thor.

You are judges tasked to sift comic acts from candidates who have clear and doable plans for your barangay’s progress.