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By Bencyrus Ellorin

LIKE father, like son.

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TO get away with sticky issues, the late former mayor of Cagayan de Oro and governor of Misamis Oriental would always say “politika man kana.”

People had enough of it, they eventually did not vote for him and his political party, except perhaps the son who the people may have thought was made of different matter.

Is it lack of creativity, comprehension or the thought that people are imbeciles who believe whatever they say hook, line and sinker that drives them to oversimplify things as just politics, pamulitika?

Nakaka-insulto na po.

Clearing public roads is an order from  President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in his last State of the Nation Address, and a follow through with an order from Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano.

In response to calls made by city hall for him to clear roads around the provincial capitol or else the city’s demolition team will do the job, Gov. Bambi Emano was quoted in a statement released by the provincial government that he will protect the capitol grounds from the “lampingasan” or people who are indifferent, oblivious, arbitrary – haters.

He seemed to be drawing his conclusion from the fact that since the clean-up, which may cover the capitol unless he cleans up, is implemented by Mayor Oscar Moreno’s city hall, it must be bad.

And as governor of the province of Misamis Oriental, he has to be fiercely territorial like a kitten discovering it has paws which protrudes from its paws when angry or threatened — rawr… lampingasan.

The governor’s logic is faulty.

1. The capitol is located within Cagayan de Oro City, a chartered city. The capitol is basically a guest of the city.

2. Roads around the capitol are used by the public like ambulances going to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center or to the National Bureau of Investigation and all public offices and facilities in the area.

The essence of the clean-up ordered by the President is to clear from obstruction public roads.

3. To reiterate, city hall is just implementing an order under the pain of getting hauled to the Office of the Ombudsman if he fails.

Having laid the facts: Did Bambi just say that President Duterte and Secretary Año are “lampingasan”?

Logically, he just did.

But power may have messed up the coconuts already. If another case is to introduced to the equation, capitol, its head, actually is behaving like it is above the law.

As reported, despite several notices from the Office of the Building Official, the building of the Provincial Tourism Office violated the building code — it was built and now being used without a building permit.

Now if Bambi cannot abide by laws and rules in Cagayan de Oro, and since he cannot carve out the capitol from the territorial jurisdiction of the city, he should just move out.

As they say, when the kitchen gets too hot, get out! And never come back!

(The author is a former journalist with experience in managing and editing online news portals here and abroad. He is now a public relations consultant and political campaigner. One of the social media groups he co-administered was a finalist in Globe’s Tatt award in 2012.)

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