Mayors in Bohol are standing in the crossroads following a deadlock on the presidency of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Bohol Chapter. A court order issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 52 in Talibon has stopped the scheduled second election of LMP-Bohol officials Friday at the Bohol Tropics Resort. Bien-Unido Mayor Niño Rey Boniel, who claims that the first LMP election held on Aug. 19 that ended in absolute tie was legal and valid, succeeded in securing a temporary restraining order (TRO). Tomorrow the court is set to hear the legal team of Boniel and the legal armada of Inabanga Mayor Roygie Jumamoy in what is anticipated by many as an exciting trading of verbal fireworks fraught with no-nonsense legal arguments from both parties.

Meanwhile, whether or not the court would grant Boniel’s prayer for injunction that would restrain the holding of another LMP elections, LMP Manila has been set to hold its national directorate election on Oct. 2. And the possibility that Bohol would not be represented in the national LMP elections is looming in the horizon. Without discussing the merits of the case of this controversy as both warring mayors have already entrusted the court to decide on the fate of Jumamoy and Boniel and the entire LMP-Bohol, yet we feel that there is something unspoken, unexplained about the LMP presidency. What is at stake in the LMP presidency? Will the LMP president receive any pork barrel? Is an LMP president that powerful that he/she can change the course of history in the province? How influential is an LMP president that he/she can mold and direct the will of mayors in the province?

How prestigious and honorable is an LMP presidency that our public servants have to engage in a seemingly endless tug-of-war?

At first glance, the issue appears to have more questions than answers. And the only reason that there are more questions than answers about the LMP controversy is that there are only few among us who have the intimate knowledge about the inner workings of LMP bureaucracy. The hoi polloi among us may not be able to discuss over dinner table the ramifications of a deadlock in the LMP presidency, or the impact of a TRO in the national election of LMP officials. The issue on pork barrel scam is already weighing heavily on the minds of the public. A political issue like the LMP stalemate, which could go up to the Supreme Court, has a slim chance of sticking into the minds of the public.

But just the same, since the issue has been brought to the attention of the court, let the judge dissect the merits of both arguments. As the court is set to resolve the issue, we do not discount the possibility that the court may offer a short-cut, winner-take-all solution to the controversy so that we all could move on to another agenda of our politically-rippled lives. Whatever is the decision of the court, we believe that life goes on for every Boholano – and life goes on for every mayor of Bohol. Whether or not a mayor is an LMP official, it means little to the masses. At the end of the day, what matters most is when our officials, like what Gov. Edgar Chatto has been doing for several years, would bring government projects and programs right at the doorstep of our people regardless of their status at the higher echelons of political arena.