HOW THE Garcias have come into their own to rival the Osmeñas' political influence is a neat lesson in contemporary politics, as they belong to what Mojares regards as an interesting segment of political leaders in the province: "middle-level both in terms of wealth and political position, often professions-based, whose appeal draws from their being well educated, successful lawyers, managers, etc." Not rooted in landed elite families, these upwardly mobile "professional politicians," as Sidel refers to them, are successfully replacing the scions of these traditional landowning families mainly through the construction of political machines.

	GARCIA patriarch, former Gov. Pablo Garcia Sr., returns to politics, eyeing a seat in Congress to represent Cebu's second district. [Photo by Alecks P. Pabico]

For sure, the Garcias are not among Cebu's wealthiest families — at least not in the top 20 — although Gwen Garcia declared a net worth of P92 million on the year she assumed office. Mojares argues that family or personal wealth is not the most important factor in political success so long as the clan has access to government resources, the local business community's support, political skills, and networks. In Cebu, he says, among such political clans and personalities have been the early Rama and Kintanar families in southern Cebu, the Gullases, the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan, Raul del Mar, and now the Garcias.

"They don't have a significant power base of their own compared to kingpins like the Osmeñas and the earlier Cuenco and Durano families," explains Mojares. "They are positioned as junior allies or, you might say, consiglieris of such dominant figures as Marcos (as in the case of Gullas) or the Osmeñas — a connection that facilitates their advancement to positions where they can begin or are able to break away and challenge their patrons."

This was the case with Fernan, a longtime Osmeña lawyer who, once he became chief justice, eventually challenged Lito Osmeña. This, too, was the case with Pabling Garcia, who was a Lito Osmeña protégé when he first ran for governor, even though by then he had been in politics for years. A successful and brilliant lawyer, Garcia wound up in politics through his association with politicians who were his clients, including the Duranos, who were known Marcos allies. He held various posts as Dumanjug town councilor, Cebu Provincial Board member, and vice governor until the imposition of martial law. In 1978, he ran for assemblyman in the interim parliament as part of Marcos's Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ticket, which was beaten badly by the opposition coalition Pusyon Bisaya.

Unlike most of Cebu's traditional political clans, however, the Garcias emerged as a political family only after 1986, when other family members decided to take their chances in the political arena at the behest of their patrons, the Osmeñas. With Pabling sitting as member of the 8th and 9th Congress from 1987 to 1995, his nephew Alvin Garcia (son of his late elder brother Jesus Garcia Sr., Sun.Star publisher), a non-politician, was handpicked by Tomas Osmeña to be his running mate in 1988. Alvin was vice mayor for two terms until 1995. He was elected mayor for two terms from 1995 to 2001.

Under the Ramos administration, Alvin's brother, Jesus Garcia Jr., was also appointed secretary of the Department of Communication and Transportation (DOTC) from 1992 to 1996 while Winston Garcia, one of Pabling's sons, was Cebu provincial board member from 1992 to 1995 and became top honcho of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Both reportedly landed their appointive posts due, in no small measure, to Lito Osmeña.

Succeeded by daughter Gwen as Cebu governor, and now seeking a congressional seat along with his youngest son, Pabling Garcia resists the "political dynasty" tag. "No, we are not," he insists. "It just happened that this situation is obtaining now. These two districts will be vacated by their respective congressmen by June 30 of this year. Both of us feel that we can better represent these districts not only in bringing their voice to Congress but also in bringing benefits to them from the national government."

Gwen Garcia is even more emphatic: "One bad Garcia in office is too much, but a number of sincere, competent and qualified Garcias who are truly serving the public is too little."

YET TO some like political science professor Ricky Poca of the University of San Carlos, there are indications that the Garcias are heading toward establishing a dynastic rule in Cebu. Poca points to the recent formation of the One Cebu Party, which has allied itself with President Arroyo's party, the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), in time for the upcoming local elections. The creation of a new local political party was necessitated by the filing of three separate bills in Congress to carve out three new provinces — Oriental Cebu, Cebu del Sur, and Cebu del Norte — from the towns in the districts of three outgoing representatives, all of them the Garcias' political rivals: Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez of the fourth district, Kintanar, and Yapha.

	GOV. Gwen Garcia inspecting the construction of the new Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Bgy. Kalunasan, Cebu City. [Photo courtesy of Cebu Provincial Government]

Gov. Gwen Garcia is strongly opposed to any gerrymandering of the province and has even coined a term for what her family regards as a "selfish and greedy" act: Sugbuak, a contraction of Cebu's native name, Sugbo, and buak, which in Cebuano means to divide or break apart. In fact, protecting the territorial, historical, social and economic integrity of the province has been made the "cornerstone" of the One Cebu Party's election campaign. The governor even declared that among the senatorial candidates, the party will support only those who would sign a covenant to oppose Cebu's division.

Sugbuak has turned out to be an extremely unpopular issue not only among Cebu's local officials and political leaders, but also with the business sector, civil society, and even the Roman Catholic Church. As such, it has provided Gov. Garcia the perfect vehicle on which to consolidate her political base in the province and hence stabilize her fragile hold on power.

Garcia, after all, became governor on the strength of a mere 7,000-vote lead. She had no support from congressional and mayoral candidates, most of whom cast their lot with eventual third-placer John-John Osmeña. But she won in almost all the districts, though the margins were not huge especially in the third and sixth districts. The bulk of her support came from the grassroots, courtesy of barangay officials who owed her father a debt of gratitude for the financial assistance they received regularly from him (as governor) for their projects.

Her father's ordeal of having to fend off his rivals' political assaults during his last two terms — primarily dealing with an uncooperative provincial board — must have been a painful memory for the governor, who was Gov. Pabling's consultant on systems promotion and development, and financial affairs. Once she took her oath of office, Gov. Gwen lost no time reaching out to form alliances with local leaders and political wards, abiding by her father's dictum of drawing not a line to divide, but a circle to unite. Pabling himself says his family does not nurture or hold grudges. "As long as we can serve the people better," he says, "we make no distinctions as to how they voted in the last election."

In this regard, Malilong thinks Gwen Garcia has done even better than her father, taking good care of the barangays not only by pouring money into the usual infrastructure projects — road asphalting, setting up water systems, rural electrification — but also visiting them and calling regular barangay council meetings. "She pampers them like they are her children," he says.

Even the former governor acknowledges that his daughter is the better administrator. "For one thing," he says, "she is more active in visiting the municipalities and cities." He also believes that Gov. Garcia has done more in the three years she has governed the province compared to his nine years.

If the older Garcia feels that way, it's because Gov. Garcia is able to devote more time to her development plans, having won over to her side erstwhile adversaries like Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr., who was Martinez's running mate in the 2004 elections, and most of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan members and town mayors from rival parties.

For the coming elections, she has also formed alliances with the Duranos (fifth district), Rep. Eduardo Gullas (first district), and Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (sixth district). Though not part of One Cebu, two powerful political blocs in the province — the Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud), the Duranos' political party, and the Alayon Party headed by Gullas — have expressed support for Garcia's reelection bid.