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CEBU CITY, Philippines - After being home for five days, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña left again for the United States on Sunday to resume his battle against cancer.
An emotional group of political allies, friends, city officials and investors bid the mayor and his wife Margot goodbye.
Many tried but failed to hold back tears as the Osmeña couple walked off the pre-departure area of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to board Philippine Airlines flight 850 that brought them to Manila at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, en route to Los Angeles.
The mayor himself was looking glum but still managed to show a brave front as he faced well wishers and members of the media.
“I have disciplined myself of having not to worry about things you cannot control,” Osmeña told reporters.
The mayor, 60, has decided to go on an indefinite leave to undergo eight weeks of chemotherapy at the MD Anderson (MDA) Cancer Center in Houston, Texas after he was diagnosed with cancer of the urinary bladder.
Before proceeding to Houston, the mayor and his wife would stay for two days in Los Angeles to visit their son Miguel, 24, who is studying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
While his leave was indefinite, the mayor said he hoped to be back in Cebu by late January next year.
The mayor remained in high spirits as he hosted lunch with some city officials and friends on Sunday before leaving again for the US, according to Cebu City administrator Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez.
Fernandez said the mayor did not give any last-minute instructions since he had already made his public announcement in his off-scheduled State of the City Address (SOCA) last Saturday.
The Osmeña couple first went to the US on October 8 to seek second opinion and a biopsy of the mass found in his urinary bladder.
American doctors confirmed the mayor has cancer in the urinary bladder. His doctors at the MDA recommended chemotherapy to shrink the cancer before removing his bladder and his prostrate.
But the mayor decided to come home on Wednesday last week to personally inform
Cebuanos about his illness and to deliver his SOCA.
Hours before the mayor arrived at the airport on Sunday, many of his allies and supporters were already there to bid him Godspeed, similar to what they did when he first left in October.
Councilors Sylvan Jakosalem, Edgardo Labella, and Gerardo Carillo were the first to arrive at the MCIA on Sunday and were waiting at the departure area together with the local media.
A few minutes later, the mayor and his wife arrived with Fernandez, Acting Mayor Michael Rama, Representative Raul del Mar of Cebu City north district, City Hall consultant Joy Augustus Young, Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. and the mayor's good friend Ricky Dakay.
They immediately went to the VIP lounge of the MCIAA where a group of department heads was also waiting for him.
The mayor first entertained the waiting reporters.
Asked if there was a chance he could come back to Cebu in between chemotherapy sessions, the mayor replied: “You know what, I have never been through this and I am just told what to do and I will only be following orders from them. I'm not going to interrupt their medical procedures. We have to follow instructions.”
The mayor, while looking pensive and sad, however, said he has disciplined himself on not to worry too much.
“I don't want to live a life that is bound (by) fear,” he said.
In fact, he said, he considered the time that he faced the masked picketers in Gaisano Capital-South about three months ago as more life-threatening than third-stage cancer that he is now facing.
He said the situation with the picketers could easily turn ugly and he could be killed in “one strike.”
In his current condition, the treatment can arrest his cancer.
The mayor also took the occasion on Saturday to thank the some 12,000 Cebu City constituents who went to the Cebu City Coliseum to hear his SOCA.
In his address, the mayor assured the city would have a good future now that the lots of the South Road Properties (SRP) are about to be sold.
The also mayor talked about his health condition during his SOCA.
“I do not know what the future has in store for me. But let me tell you, no one can take away the great privilege of having served you. I'm very proud of that,” the mayor said.
But on Sunday, the mayor said that while he was grateful for all the affection he received from friends, allies and constituents during his SOCA, he was at the same time embarrassed.
“I feel very embarrassed because the people are doing this for me...because when you go to MDA, there are some other patients who were not being paid attention like me… it's really when you are among the patients you are not being singled-out,” he said, his face devoid of emotion.
He said his five-day visit to Cebu was “very fruitful” as he got to do what he had wanted to do, especially ensuring that the P8 billion SRP investment of giant development firm Filinvest would proceed as planned.
“(SRP) is a financial responsibility for me,” Osmeña admitted.
The mayor said he was confident that he could handle his medical battle, which he said was what his wife Margot has been praying for.
Margot, who stayed cheerful amid the family’s medical crisis, explained the condition of his husband to reporters, while the mayor was looking at her from across another bench.
The mayor was teased his wife by saying that he was watching because he was just “making sure she is telling the truth.”
Margot said she and their son Miguel are hoping “things will turn around” and are wishing that they will not have to stay in the US up to Easter.
But the cheerful city first lady turned pensive when she said: “I was wondering what it's like to have Christmas in Texas.”
The couple has rented a sprawling, two-bedroom apartment in Houston with a big kitchen for the duration of the mayor’s treatment. The apartment is overlooking a man-made lake.
Margot said Miguel would very much like to be with them but he has his studies to attend to.
“Miguel is coping and I know that he wants to be with us but he is still studying,” Margot said. /With a report from Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan
