'IMPERIAL MANILA'

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

When I covered the 8th Congress in late 1980s, one of the first things that I noticed from then Sen. John Osmena was how he spoke about "Imperial Manila." 

It was about his intense abhorrence of the way policies were made in Manila. 

In his distorted view, the people from the South, the Visayas and Mindanao, in particular, were not consulted in policymaking. 

Hence, policies have not been benefiting the people in the South.

Later, his brother, Emilio, or Lito, ran for president under the Promdi banner, trying to take advantage of that "Imperial Manila" sentiment. 

He did not capture the national imagination; he was a dismal failure. He lost; he did not get even the second or third prize. 

Since then, the Osmena brothers have kept quiet. They are not heard anymore. 

Their "Imperial Manila" battlecry is half forgotten, consigned to remain a mere footnote in our political history.

In the last elections, this "Imperial Manila" was being resurrected by zealots, who successfully pushed the presidential candidacy of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. 

The incoming president however won largely because of his anti-criminality and anti-drug stance.

The stand on federalism, which has sought to destroy the "Imperial Manila" concept, was more of a rider in the last political campaign.

The "Imperial Manila" slogan is not exactly based on power-sharing, but a tendency to dominate. The Osmenas thought that by banking on the power of the people of the Visayas and Mindanao, they could have the entire Philippines. 

But the Osmenas are Osmenas. They are politicians; they are not gifted visionaries; they are opportunists. 

They live for the day and think that tomorrow is just another day. This is the reason the people rejected them.

The Pimentels, father Aquilino Jr., or Nene, and son Aquilino III, of Koko, talked of federalism without necessarily putting the blame on "Imperial Manila."

This could be a reason the Filipino people somewhat accepted, albeit awkwardly, the idea of a federal Philippines.  

People who cry "Imperial Manila" are generally people with a strong inferiority complex. These are people, who could not compete with the other guys from Luzon, or from Manila. 

They are not exactly good and could boast of no special talents. They are basically envious of the success of other people, believing that successful people owe their successes for being in Manila.

This is not true though. 

Certain people from the South have become successful too. 

The late Supreme Court Chief Justice and Senate President Marcelino Fernan, a Cebuano, made it to the third and fifth highest political posts without saying a thing about "Imperial Manila" unlike his rivals in Cebu - the Osmenas. 

Sen. Franklin Drilon, who is from Iloilo, never spoke about "Imperial Manila."

The list can proceed with other names. But they are no believers of "Imperial Manila." 

It's because it exists in the mind of the paranoids, who think they are being persecuted.