Nagtatahor, or ‘respecting’ in the English language and gumagalang in Tagalog, is how I write the complimentary end of my letters in Asi, my original native language. It is the present participle of the action verb ‘respect’.
Nagtatahor is the safest word in my lexicon. Its root word is tahor, pronounced taa-hor, with a very light emphasis on ta and a slow close on hor to distinguish it from tahor, the Asi noun for a cock’s spur, which is pronounced with a heavier, faster accent on ta and still a faster clip on hor.
In Asi society—the society which a hundred thousand or so Romblomanons inhabit—nagtatahor is a revered word, for it not only describes the Asi’s state of being, but also indicates his way of life. Without pagtahor, our society will lack the calm order of behavior that defines our culture. Without it, we will be in shambles.
Perhaps, because pagtahor is an ingrained Asi virtue, I had not paid close attention to this important aspect of our culture since I started to write about the Asi, so much so that when John F. Rufon, an Asi studying for his master’s degree in language at the University of Sto. Tomas, cajoled me into saying something about pagtahor, I was jolted.
John wants to know: “What is the genesis of pagtahor and what are some of its forms—in present-day and past?”
To answer this question, I have to delve deep into my memory—experienced and observed—for in childhood as well as in the formative years of my youth, I breathed the air that supplied the life of the Asi’s natural and cultural environment and drank from the fountain of my forebears from which flew the traditions I now nurture.
In short, my knowledge of pagtahor came not from the walls of the academe, and certainly not from some extant records about which the Asi culture has a scant supply.
I shall begin by recalling the experience of being caught in a conversation between two elders.
An Asi child, if his upbringing is correct, should never interpose, object, suggest, or criticize when two Asi adults are talking to each other. He or she should only listen. To say a word is impolite, the height of impertinence. And the Asi has a word for this behavior, this elder-imposed silence: it is called saligbat.
Thus, “Aya gi saligbat sa bisaya it maguyang,” means don’t you ever interpose or say a word when two elders are conversing. To obey this unwritten rule is pagtahor. To disobey it is to court rebuke.
In Asi, the genesis of this behavior is both biological and generational—two of the inherent principles governing the social kinship structure of Asi society. A child should always look up to older people not only because the elders are expected to have accumulated more knowledge and wisdom, but also because of the order of lineal descent.
The Asi, like many other Filipinos, recognize the hierarchy in the family, with the father and mother belonging to the superior lines of authority, followed by the eldest son or daughter and so on. But this is not only so. The Asi family is patriarchal. It is the father who reigns supreme at home and outside of it when it comes to making family decisions.
This structure of authority is demonstrated by words inherent in the Asi language, starting with titles or honorifics.
The honorific for father in Asi varies. The father is called tatay and the mother is called nanay; an elder brother is manong while an elder sister is manang; and the youngest child is puto. There is no Tagalog word for the next ‘younger brother or sister’, but in Asi, the equivalent is manghor.
The original Asi term, puto, has an equivalent in Tagalog: bunso.
Tatay and nanay may be Tagalog, but their pronunciation in Asi and the contextual uses render them uniquely Asi. Tatay, for example, when used as a form of reference, is pronounced slowly, but when used vocatively as a form of address, such as in “Tatay, ging aayaba ka,” (Father, you are being called.), the pronunciation is fast, with emphasis on the last syllable tah—TAY.
The word maguyang is another example. Maguyang has two meanings in Asi. If the pronunciation is slow, the word means an old person; if the pronunciation is fast, with emphasis on maguh—YANG, the word means the eldest (brother or sister).
The same pronunciation variable is true with the honorifics tatang and nanang. In some places in the Asi community the terms means father and mother, but there are also Asi who refer to their grandfathers and grandmothers as tatang and nanang. Olo and ola are contracted forms of lolo and lola and also refer to grandparents.
The extended Asi family has engendered words of address that indicate pagtahor, most expropriated from the Tagalog language: tiyo (uncle) and tiyohon (the uncle as relation); tiya, tiyahon; pinsan, pinsanon; manugang, panugangan, umagar (son- and daughter-in-law); kinumangkon (niece and nephew); bayaw (brother-in-law); hipag (sister-in-law); bianan (mother- and father-in-law); ninong (godfather); ninang (godmother); pare and kumadre (partners in godparenting); and balaye (honorific address to each other by parents of husbands and wives).
Many of these forms of address did not exist in pre-Spanish Asi society. These were introduced along with Christianity and which the Asi have adapted and grown accustomed to. But some, like manugang, panugangan, and umagar, which means the same, are original Asi terms.
Manugang and panugangan, for example, were derivatives of the Asi word rugang, which means to add. Thus, an Asi may derisively dismiss a son- or daughter-in-law who might have affronted someone with the expression, “Asi, rugang yang ka ara! (Why, you are just an addition to the family!).
And then, there is the other son- or daughter-in-law equivalent: umagar. Umagar is a derivative of the word hagar (to ask), which is what a prospective husband figuratively does when he asks for the permission of the parents of a prospective wife to marry her.
There is one word that denotes relation and which is apparently the sum total of pagtahor within the Asi family. The term is hali, a very useful word which means brother, sister, or relative.
Manggihali (relatives), maghali (brother or sister), maghalihan (group or groups of relatives) are pagtahor terms which are invoked in the socio-economic life of the Asi.
An equivalent phrase, mag-kautoy it pusor, literally ‘joined in the umbilical cord’, also indicate social relations. Other variations that are used to indicate reverence to kin is magkarugo (of the same blood).
I mention these words because in the Asi kinship system, these are major considerations in the display of public and private behavior and determines not only the level of politeness, but also the nature of dealing that an Asi has with his fellow Asi and with those outside his immediate communal circle.
Respect is an important element of Asi behavior. An Asi may show or exhibit anger but still use Asi pagtahor terms and other terms of respect or endearment. He may be offended or may suffer from a verbal or behavioral affront, but still remain deferential and respectful by remaining nagtatahor.
The Asi, ever conscious of his kinship relations and his ‘place’ in the kinship system, see to it that pagtahor is not only an abstract.
For example, even without saying a pagtahor address, an Asi is expected to run to the succor of a hali in distress; avenge a tiyo who has been wronged; mediate in or pacify a maghalihan quarrel; celebrate with a pinsan in his victory; care for a sick olo; or not answer back the reprimand of an umagar.
In any of these instances, his action or behavior—verbal or non-verbal—will be considered a form of pagtahor.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Still thieving
One would think that because Governor Natalio F. Beltran III has been consigned to the backwaters of Tondo after Governor-elect Lolong Firmalo had decisively routed him in the election of May 10, 2010, he and his cohorts in the provincial capitol would stop pronto their blatant day-time raids on the provincial treasury.
What do you know? Beltran and company continue their thievery, if the Commission on Audit is to be believed.
Kapalmuks talaga. Alam kasi na hanggang tanghali na lang ng Hunyo 30 ang kaniyang pamamayagpag kaya ayun, sinasamantala ang kaniyang walang patumanggang paglustay ng salapi ng bayan.
Wala ka nang aabutan pa sa kapitolyo, Dr. Lolong. Nilimas na ng mga buwitre ang kaban ng bayan.
While everyone in Romblon is sleeping, content in the thought that Firmalo will soon clean up Beltran’s mess, big-time thievery is taking place, again if the Commission on Audit is to be believed.
While everyone in Romblon is basking on the happy afterglow of the opposition’s victory in the election, our governor was wasting public money on—of all things—school bags.
On May 14, 2010, or only four days after the election, Concepcion M. Caldit, state auditor and Team I audit team leader at the Region IV Audit Group II, wrote a letter to Gov. Beltran informing him that a P4.196 million purchase of school bags done by the provincial government was done without basis and, therefore, illegal.
The letter called the attention of three provincial officials, namely, Ranilo F. Fruelda of the provincial accounting office; Oscar Vicente L. Ylagan, Jr. of the provincial planning and development office; and Noel M. Magracia of the provincial budget office. The three apparently had roles in the purchase.
I will quote from Ms. Caldit’s letter for the benefit of our readers, to wit:
“In view of the late receipt of CY 2010 Annual Development Plan which we only received last 5 May 2010, we are returning again the herein Disbursement Voucher No. 100-10031516 together with its supporting documents, in favor of Etcetera.Com School and Office Supply for the payment of school bags. Please consider the following deficiencies:
“The procurement of school bags of at least P4,196,000.00 was without appropriation in violation of Section 4(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1445, otherwise known as the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, thus the Province has no legal basis to purchase the same.”
Ms. Caldit went on to admonish Beltran and company by saying that “financial transactions and operations of any government agency shall be governed by the principle, “No money shall be paid out of any public treasury or depository except in pursuance of an appropriation law or other specific statutory authority.”
She said that the provincial government’s obligation request, No. R-GF 200-01-10-0298, to cover the required appropriation for the procurement of school bags revealed that P3,500,000 was lodged under the item “educational, cultural and sports development program” while P700,000 was lodged under the item “community assistance to barangays and schools”.
Tingnan natin kung papaanong pinalusot ni Beltran ang ganitong mga pagwaldas.
Ayon kay Ms. Caldit, sa kaniyang pag-rebisa sa programa at bill of materials para sa pagbili ng naturang school bags, nakita niya na ang P3,500,000 ay para sa “pagdalo sa mga seminar, pagsasanay, Quiz Bee, cultural presentation, premyo, tropeo, insentibo, at tulong pinansyal sa mga baragay, mga paaralan, at iba pang ahensya na may kinalaman sa pag-develop ng sports”.
Dagdag pa ni Ms. Caldit, ang P700,000 naman ay ginastos di-umano sa “construction materials” at “equipment” para sa mga barangay at eskuwelahan”.
Anak ka ng kagastusan, Gov. Jojo. Ang galing mong magpaikot. Pero mababaw ka pa rin. Akala mo makakalusot ka sa COA.
Mga katanungan sa taong-bayan ng Romblon.
Nakarating ba sa inyong barangay o eskuwelahan ang mga bagay na binanggit ng COA na pinamili ng lalawigan?
Kayo ba’y dumalo sa seminar, nagsanay, sumali sa Quiz Bee, nagpalabas ng tanawing kultural, nakatanggap ng premyo o tropeo, naabutan ng insentibo at tulong pinansyal, at nakatanggap ng construction materials at equipment galing sa kumpanyang Etcetera.Com School and Office Supply? Kilala ba ninyo ang may-ari ng kumpanyang ito na binayaran ng P4,196,000? May nabalitaan ba kayong bidding ukol sa bagay na ito?
Kung hindi ang inyong kasagutan sa mga katanungang ito, mapalad kayo sapagka’t mamanahin ninyo ang kaharian ng langit, hindi katulad ni Gov. Beltran at ng kaniyang mga apostoles na malamang mademanda sa Ombudsman.
According to the COA—through Ms. Caldit—“procuring school bags charged against the above programs/projects is bereft of legal basis”.
Sa Tagalog, iligal.
Ano kaya ang nasa isip ni Beltran nang gawin niya ito?
Mula noong maupo sa kapitolyo ang damuho, iniisip ko talaga kung ano ang tumatakbo sa isip ng pinakabata, ngunit pinakamatulis, na naging gobernador ng Romblon. Ngunit bigo ako. Hindi ko mahulaan ang likot ng imahinasyon ng batang ito. Sa isip ko, siguro, iniisip niya na bobo ang lahat ng Romblomanon. Marahil, iniisip niya na hindi madidiskubre ang kaniyang pagiging gahaman.
Well, well. There is a saying in English that says, “What goes around comes around.”
Sa Tagalog, “Ang umiikot, nauuntog.” Joke.
But seriously, I felt insulted by Beltran’s boldness. Can you imagine? Buying P4.196 million-worth of school bags is no mean feat. It is completely unnecessary. The timing defies logic and common sense, for in Romblon, school bags are not a priority in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
If only his heart bleeds for the Romblomanon, he would have known that the amount could have bought 2,398 fifty-kilogram sacks of rice, or 119,886 kilos at P32 per kilo, or 839,200 tablets of Biogesic at P5.00 per tablet, or 95,363 kilos of brown sugar at P44 per kilo.
This is not to say we don’t need school bags. We do. But come to think of it, when a member of a Romblomanon household is hungry, or is sick, do you think that member’s hunger would be satiated, or would his health improve, if he or she knew that the governor he or she elected in 2007 bought him or her a school bag, instead of helping him obtain food or medicine?
Go tell Beltran in Tondo your answer to this question while I puke.
What do you know? Beltran and company continue their thievery, if the Commission on Audit is to be believed.
Kapalmuks talaga. Alam kasi na hanggang tanghali na lang ng Hunyo 30 ang kaniyang pamamayagpag kaya ayun, sinasamantala ang kaniyang walang patumanggang paglustay ng salapi ng bayan.
Wala ka nang aabutan pa sa kapitolyo, Dr. Lolong. Nilimas na ng mga buwitre ang kaban ng bayan.
While everyone in Romblon is sleeping, content in the thought that Firmalo will soon clean up Beltran’s mess, big-time thievery is taking place, again if the Commission on Audit is to be believed.
While everyone in Romblon is basking on the happy afterglow of the opposition’s victory in the election, our governor was wasting public money on—of all things—school bags.
On May 14, 2010, or only four days after the election, Concepcion M. Caldit, state auditor and Team I audit team leader at the Region IV Audit Group II, wrote a letter to Gov. Beltran informing him that a P4.196 million purchase of school bags done by the provincial government was done without basis and, therefore, illegal.
The letter called the attention of three provincial officials, namely, Ranilo F. Fruelda of the provincial accounting office; Oscar Vicente L. Ylagan, Jr. of the provincial planning and development office; and Noel M. Magracia of the provincial budget office. The three apparently had roles in the purchase.
I will quote from Ms. Caldit’s letter for the benefit of our readers, to wit:
“In view of the late receipt of CY 2010 Annual Development Plan which we only received last 5 May 2010, we are returning again the herein Disbursement Voucher No. 100-10031516 together with its supporting documents, in favor of Etcetera.Com School and Office Supply for the payment of school bags. Please consider the following deficiencies:
“The procurement of school bags of at least P4,196,000.00 was without appropriation in violation of Section 4(1) of Presidential Decree No. 1445, otherwise known as the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, thus the Province has no legal basis to purchase the same.”
Ms. Caldit went on to admonish Beltran and company by saying that “financial transactions and operations of any government agency shall be governed by the principle, “No money shall be paid out of any public treasury or depository except in pursuance of an appropriation law or other specific statutory authority.”
She said that the provincial government’s obligation request, No. R-GF 200-01-10-0298, to cover the required appropriation for the procurement of school bags revealed that P3,500,000 was lodged under the item “educational, cultural and sports development program” while P700,000 was lodged under the item “community assistance to barangays and schools”.
Tingnan natin kung papaanong pinalusot ni Beltran ang ganitong mga pagwaldas.
Ayon kay Ms. Caldit, sa kaniyang pag-rebisa sa programa at bill of materials para sa pagbili ng naturang school bags, nakita niya na ang P3,500,000 ay para sa “pagdalo sa mga seminar, pagsasanay, Quiz Bee, cultural presentation, premyo, tropeo, insentibo, at tulong pinansyal sa mga baragay, mga paaralan, at iba pang ahensya na may kinalaman sa pag-develop ng sports”.
Dagdag pa ni Ms. Caldit, ang P700,000 naman ay ginastos di-umano sa “construction materials” at “equipment” para sa mga barangay at eskuwelahan”.
Anak ka ng kagastusan, Gov. Jojo. Ang galing mong magpaikot. Pero mababaw ka pa rin. Akala mo makakalusot ka sa COA.
Mga katanungan sa taong-bayan ng Romblon.
Nakarating ba sa inyong barangay o eskuwelahan ang mga bagay na binanggit ng COA na pinamili ng lalawigan?
Kayo ba’y dumalo sa seminar, nagsanay, sumali sa Quiz Bee, nagpalabas ng tanawing kultural, nakatanggap ng premyo o tropeo, naabutan ng insentibo at tulong pinansyal, at nakatanggap ng construction materials at equipment galing sa kumpanyang Etcetera.Com School and Office Supply? Kilala ba ninyo ang may-ari ng kumpanyang ito na binayaran ng P4,196,000? May nabalitaan ba kayong bidding ukol sa bagay na ito?
Kung hindi ang inyong kasagutan sa mga katanungang ito, mapalad kayo sapagka’t mamanahin ninyo ang kaharian ng langit, hindi katulad ni Gov. Beltran at ng kaniyang mga apostoles na malamang mademanda sa Ombudsman.
According to the COA—through Ms. Caldit—“procuring school bags charged against the above programs/projects is bereft of legal basis”.
Sa Tagalog, iligal.
Ano kaya ang nasa isip ni Beltran nang gawin niya ito?
Mula noong maupo sa kapitolyo ang damuho, iniisip ko talaga kung ano ang tumatakbo sa isip ng pinakabata, ngunit pinakamatulis, na naging gobernador ng Romblon. Ngunit bigo ako. Hindi ko mahulaan ang likot ng imahinasyon ng batang ito. Sa isip ko, siguro, iniisip niya na bobo ang lahat ng Romblomanon. Marahil, iniisip niya na hindi madidiskubre ang kaniyang pagiging gahaman.
Well, well. There is a saying in English that says, “What goes around comes around.”
Sa Tagalog, “Ang umiikot, nauuntog.” Joke.
But seriously, I felt insulted by Beltran’s boldness. Can you imagine? Buying P4.196 million-worth of school bags is no mean feat. It is completely unnecessary. The timing defies logic and common sense, for in Romblon, school bags are not a priority in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
If only his heart bleeds for the Romblomanon, he would have known that the amount could have bought 2,398 fifty-kilogram sacks of rice, or 119,886 kilos at P32 per kilo, or 839,200 tablets of Biogesic at P5.00 per tablet, or 95,363 kilos of brown sugar at P44 per kilo.
This is not to say we don’t need school bags. We do. But come to think of it, when a member of a Romblomanon household is hungry, or is sick, do you think that member’s hunger would be satiated, or would his health improve, if he or she knew that the governor he or she elected in 2007 bought him or her a school bag, instead of helping him obtain food or medicine?
Go tell Beltran in Tondo your answer to this question while I puke.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Dapitan: An ambitious city
Dapitan is an island.
Four bridges connect it to the mainland of the Zamboanga Peninsula and soon one more is going to be built to make the island more ‘accessible’.
That’s according to Vice Mayor Patri B. Chan who, in the absence of Mayor Dominador G. Jalosjos during our arrival, welcomed us with a brief introduction to Dapitan and to the music of the Shrine Kids Quartet and the Dapitan City Tourism Chorale.
Accessibility should not be a problem though to a Dapitan visitor, as we found out. Coming to and from the island is more than convenient enough. A twenty-minute drive will quickly find one already in Dipolog City, another laid back community that serves as gateway to other Philippine cities. Dipolog is nowadays waking up to the enchanting charm of development.
So is Dapitan, a city all of 82,000 souls living in 50 barangays scattered along 29,000 hectares of plain arable lands, wondrous rock formations, and medium-range hills, lush green on a hot summer with fruit-bearing trees, rubber and coconuts. The calm seas of the Sulu Sea wash its western shores, including its most famous, Dakak, the beach resort seven kilometers south of the city. An expanded modern highway now connects Dakak to the Dapitan city center.
Dapitan’s belonging to modernity gets a boost from its ties to history: its claim to be the Shrine City of the Philippines. Make that “Jose Rizal Shrine City” for no other city in the country has more shrines dedicated or connected to the life and times of the national hero, who lived and spent four short, but precious, years in the island.
St. James, the Apostle, is Dapitan’s patron saint. He is depicted as an image of a horse-mounted warrior raring for a fight. His feast is celebrated from July 15-25 every year, highlighted by the ‘Sinug’, a dance procession, and ‘Kinabayo’, a local pageant in living colors re-enacting the battle between the native chief Covadonga and the Moor, Clavijo. According to local accounts, the latter prevailed in this battle only because of the apparition of St. James who lent Clavijo timely succor.
Notwithstanding this depiction of the subjugation of the local people by the rampaging invaders, Dapitan has become a big story interwoven between its storied past and its yearning and aspiration for a comely and bright future.
This past—or place in history—is already guaranteed by the accident of fate. Thrust into the map as Jose Rizal’s home when the latter was punished of banishment—exile, as the history books say—the island was, and forever will be, associated with that solitary chapter in Rizal’s life and benefited abundantly from his creativity and benevolence.
The first of this association is Sta. Cruz beach in Dapitan Bay where 225 years earlier, or in 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi erected a 20-foot cross to symbolize the propagation of Christianity in this remote part of Mindanao. It is on this beach where the S. S. Cebu, the wooden corvette that sailed from Manila, deposited Rizal and a handful of Spanish civil guards on the island. This landing is honored by a shrine, the first of the must-see shrines of Dapitan.
Overlooking the bay is Ilihan Hill, an old fortress that houses the Spanish settlement at the time. The name of the place is derived from “ili”, which means “fortress” in itself. When Rizal was here, the settlement was led by Ricardo Carnicero, the Spanish commandant who was in charge of the high-value prisoner. Carnicero stayed with Rizal all throughout his banishment.
“Dapitan is a rural city dreaming of big things. We are an ambitious city,” says Vice Mayor Chan. “Our ambition is reflected in our priorities,” she added.
And those priorities include developing Dapitan as a world-class tourist destination, an ambition that is now beginning to take shape as the city emerges from its rural cocoon.
I was in Dapitan last week as part of the contingent of Department of Labor and Employment officials which sat down for a two-day workshop on the department’s balance scorecard performance report which we needed to finalize as the country moves in transition with the inauguration of a new president and a new administration.
We arrived while Dapitan was in a frenzy over the Hudyaka Festival, a one-week thanksgiving celebration (Hudyaka means thanksgiving) of songs, fashion, food, dances, parades and sporting events that announces Dapitan’s arrival in modern times and signals its membership bid to the country’s elite circle of premier tourist destinations.
DOLE Regional director Ponciano ‘Nonoy’ Ligutom hosted this visit—and our workshop—so it was his warm hospitality and the efficiency of his staff that gave us a close view of the Dapitanon’s socio-cultural upbringing. They patiently and gamely guided our education about Dapitan.
“Dapitan is an emerging eco-tourism player. It has great potential,” said Dir. Ligutom, pointing to us the colorful and varied Hudyaka Festival activities.
Vice Mayor Chan proudly agrees. She said: “The Hudyaka Festival now ranks fifth among the country’s festivals.”
Articulate and bursting with enthusiasm, Chan bared the local government’s plans for the city in the next three years. On the works is the bid of the city to host the Palarong Pambansa, the annual sporting mecca that draws thousands of athletes from all over the country.
“In December, we will be moving to our new city hall,” she said.
The new city hall is a head-turner. Standing by the banks of the Dapitan River, the domed edifice towers over the surrounding residential houses and a few commercial buildings and serves as sentinel on a busy fisherman’s wharf on its feet. On the day we visited, the wharf teemed with abundant produce from the sea and local sellers and buyers from as far as Pagadian City were haggling for the freshest at the best prices.
And what will the local government do with the old city hall? Vice Mayor Chan did not say, but most likely, it will be transformed into yet another shrine, or even into a museum. The old city hall is patterned after a Casa Real of Spanish design. Its interiors have been changed, but the exterior façade has not been touched which lends the edifice an ambience of antiquity.
One’s visit to Dapitan would be incomplete without a stroll on the Dapitan City Plaza by the yard of the century-old church of St. James and the rectory, two Spanish heritage edifices that have withstood the ravages of time.
The plaza is an old promenade that Rizal himself designed. Itself a shrine, the plaza’s lights are now powered by electricity, but in Rizal’s time, he lined the public square with tree trunks complete with lamps fueled by coconut oil. When we visited, the plaza smelt of solemn ambience. In the air, unseen, must have been Jose Rizal’s ghost taking a visual survey of his creation.
Another shrine worth a visit is the Lourdes Grotto, at the southwest foot of Ilihan Hill. Before the Spaniards dedicated the site as a Christian shrine, the place served as burial grounds of the ancient Dapitanons.
Most famous, most frequently-gawked at is Rizal’s house, a shrine that mimics the original residence of the hero in the island. One can imagine Rizal himself choosing the native, light materials that he used in the construction of his house. The house’s design bespoke of Rizal’s simple, yet utilitarian taste, as well as his attempt to be modern.
It is in this house where Rizal entertained his numerous visitors; and where his family stayed on extended visits. On the front yard is where Rizal even had whispered nightly discussion and debates with Pio Valenzuela when the latter came as Andres Bonifacio’s emissary to bring the news of the impending break-out of the Philippine Revolution in Luzon. On his visit, Valenzuela even tempted Rizal with a seemingly irresistible offer: an escape which the latter turned down to Bonifacio’s dismay.
Dapitan, according to Vice Mayor Chan, has two distinct faces. “There is an Old Dapitan and there is a New Dapitan,” she explained.
The Old Dapitan, she explained, is the Dapitanons’ heritage that they aim to preserve. “It’s our connection to the past which we strengthen and safeguard from the intrusion of modernity represented by the technology revolution—building design, infrastructure, economics, etc. In the Old Dapitan, we don’t allow just anything to be adopted, inserted or built,” she said.
The opposite is true with the New Dapitan. This section of the city is a profusion of modern structures, facilities, and commerce. “Anything in the New Dapitan is permissible, except those that violate our laws and ordinances and those that serve as an affront to decency, honor and culture of the Dapitanons,” says Chan.
The road that leads to this New Dapitan is Sunset Boulevard which provides a spectacular view of the Dapitan sunset. Imagine Rizal sitting in front of this view, beside a heart-shaped rock, while writing his “Mi Retiro” and “El Himno A Talisay”. This rock is now aptly called Mi Retiro Rock, another prominent shrine.
On Sunset Boulevard sits some of Dapitan’s resort hotels, Alexandra by the Sea, Bajamunde Resort Farms Hotel, and Dapitan City Resort Hotel, which Vice Mayor Chan swears are booked fully especially during summer. Seven kilometers south of the city, in Brgy. Taguilon, is the world-famous Dakak Park and Resort Hotel where the sand beaches are powdery white and the waters azure. For all its grandeur and elegance, Dakak is so quite you can hear nature meditating.
Tourism promotion is the function of the City Tourism Office, which also coordinates the local government’s and the private sector’s cultural and tourism efforts and activities. Lending valuable support to the office is a vibrant cultural and artistic community, personified by the Foundation of Artists and Musicians in Zamboanga del Norte, or FAMUZ.
The FAMUZ’s leading light is Alma Calasang, a nurse who has since changed careers to become a performer, voice coach, and choir conductor. As the city’s artistic consultant, Ms. Calasang is mentoring and managing the Shrine Kids Quartet, Shrine City Band, and the Shrine LGU Choir, all of which performed during our visit. Another musical group, the Dapitan City Tourism Choir, performed using the “angklong” a bamboo chime instrument that originated from Indonesia.
“These performing artists are regulars at the Gloria de Dapitan, the city’s entertainment park which is another must to visitors,” Ms. Calasang says.
The shrines, while compelling to any Dapitan visitor’s itinerary, are just one of the more abundant reasons why one should come to the city. Scuba-diving, trail hiking, mountain biking, local dining, and of course, cross cultural exchange, offer visitors alternative experiences that no other vacation destination in Mindanao can equal.
Access to Dapitan is both by land, air and sea. There are ferries and ships daily and weekly to and from Cebu, Dumaguete, Iligan, Zamboanga, and Manila. By air, one can come either through Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific via Dipolog Airport. Buses ply regularly along the Zamboanga City-Dapitan, Davao-Cagayan de Oro-Dapitan, and the Ozamis-Pagadian-Dipolog-Dapitan routes.
Once in Dapitan, imbibe the culture, enjoy the hospitality, savor the history, and partake of the ambition of Rizal’s rustic city.
Four bridges connect it to the mainland of the Zamboanga Peninsula and soon one more is going to be built to make the island more ‘accessible’.
That’s according to Vice Mayor Patri B. Chan who, in the absence of Mayor Dominador G. Jalosjos during our arrival, welcomed us with a brief introduction to Dapitan and to the music of the Shrine Kids Quartet and the Dapitan City Tourism Chorale.
Accessibility should not be a problem though to a Dapitan visitor, as we found out. Coming to and from the island is more than convenient enough. A twenty-minute drive will quickly find one already in Dipolog City, another laid back community that serves as gateway to other Philippine cities. Dipolog is nowadays waking up to the enchanting charm of development.
So is Dapitan, a city all of 82,000 souls living in 50 barangays scattered along 29,000 hectares of plain arable lands, wondrous rock formations, and medium-range hills, lush green on a hot summer with fruit-bearing trees, rubber and coconuts. The calm seas of the Sulu Sea wash its western shores, including its most famous, Dakak, the beach resort seven kilometers south of the city. An expanded modern highway now connects Dakak to the Dapitan city center.
Dapitan’s belonging to modernity gets a boost from its ties to history: its claim to be the Shrine City of the Philippines. Make that “Jose Rizal Shrine City” for no other city in the country has more shrines dedicated or connected to the life and times of the national hero, who lived and spent four short, but precious, years in the island.
St. James, the Apostle, is Dapitan’s patron saint. He is depicted as an image of a horse-mounted warrior raring for a fight. His feast is celebrated from July 15-25 every year, highlighted by the ‘Sinug’, a dance procession, and ‘Kinabayo’, a local pageant in living colors re-enacting the battle between the native chief Covadonga and the Moor, Clavijo. According to local accounts, the latter prevailed in this battle only because of the apparition of St. James who lent Clavijo timely succor.
Notwithstanding this depiction of the subjugation of the local people by the rampaging invaders, Dapitan has become a big story interwoven between its storied past and its yearning and aspiration for a comely and bright future.
This past—or place in history—is already guaranteed by the accident of fate. Thrust into the map as Jose Rizal’s home when the latter was punished of banishment—exile, as the history books say—the island was, and forever will be, associated with that solitary chapter in Rizal’s life and benefited abundantly from his creativity and benevolence.
The first of this association is Sta. Cruz beach in Dapitan Bay where 225 years earlier, or in 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi erected a 20-foot cross to symbolize the propagation of Christianity in this remote part of Mindanao. It is on this beach where the S. S. Cebu, the wooden corvette that sailed from Manila, deposited Rizal and a handful of Spanish civil guards on the island. This landing is honored by a shrine, the first of the must-see shrines of Dapitan.
Overlooking the bay is Ilihan Hill, an old fortress that houses the Spanish settlement at the time. The name of the place is derived from “ili”, which means “fortress” in itself. When Rizal was here, the settlement was led by Ricardo Carnicero, the Spanish commandant who was in charge of the high-value prisoner. Carnicero stayed with Rizal all throughout his banishment.
“Dapitan is a rural city dreaming of big things. We are an ambitious city,” says Vice Mayor Chan. “Our ambition is reflected in our priorities,” she added.
And those priorities include developing Dapitan as a world-class tourist destination, an ambition that is now beginning to take shape as the city emerges from its rural cocoon.
I was in Dapitan last week as part of the contingent of Department of Labor and Employment officials which sat down for a two-day workshop on the department’s balance scorecard performance report which we needed to finalize as the country moves in transition with the inauguration of a new president and a new administration.
We arrived while Dapitan was in a frenzy over the Hudyaka Festival, a one-week thanksgiving celebration (Hudyaka means thanksgiving) of songs, fashion, food, dances, parades and sporting events that announces Dapitan’s arrival in modern times and signals its membership bid to the country’s elite circle of premier tourist destinations.
DOLE Regional director Ponciano ‘Nonoy’ Ligutom hosted this visit—and our workshop—so it was his warm hospitality and the efficiency of his staff that gave us a close view of the Dapitanon’s socio-cultural upbringing. They patiently and gamely guided our education about Dapitan.
“Dapitan is an emerging eco-tourism player. It has great potential,” said Dir. Ligutom, pointing to us the colorful and varied Hudyaka Festival activities.
Vice Mayor Chan proudly agrees. She said: “The Hudyaka Festival now ranks fifth among the country’s festivals.”
Articulate and bursting with enthusiasm, Chan bared the local government’s plans for the city in the next three years. On the works is the bid of the city to host the Palarong Pambansa, the annual sporting mecca that draws thousands of athletes from all over the country.
“In December, we will be moving to our new city hall,” she said.
The new city hall is a head-turner. Standing by the banks of the Dapitan River, the domed edifice towers over the surrounding residential houses and a few commercial buildings and serves as sentinel on a busy fisherman’s wharf on its feet. On the day we visited, the wharf teemed with abundant produce from the sea and local sellers and buyers from as far as Pagadian City were haggling for the freshest at the best prices.
And what will the local government do with the old city hall? Vice Mayor Chan did not say, but most likely, it will be transformed into yet another shrine, or even into a museum. The old city hall is patterned after a Casa Real of Spanish design. Its interiors have been changed, but the exterior façade has not been touched which lends the edifice an ambience of antiquity.
One’s visit to Dapitan would be incomplete without a stroll on the Dapitan City Plaza by the yard of the century-old church of St. James and the rectory, two Spanish heritage edifices that have withstood the ravages of time.
The plaza is an old promenade that Rizal himself designed. Itself a shrine, the plaza’s lights are now powered by electricity, but in Rizal’s time, he lined the public square with tree trunks complete with lamps fueled by coconut oil. When we visited, the plaza smelt of solemn ambience. In the air, unseen, must have been Jose Rizal’s ghost taking a visual survey of his creation.
Another shrine worth a visit is the Lourdes Grotto, at the southwest foot of Ilihan Hill. Before the Spaniards dedicated the site as a Christian shrine, the place served as burial grounds of the ancient Dapitanons.
Most famous, most frequently-gawked at is Rizal’s house, a shrine that mimics the original residence of the hero in the island. One can imagine Rizal himself choosing the native, light materials that he used in the construction of his house. The house’s design bespoke of Rizal’s simple, yet utilitarian taste, as well as his attempt to be modern.
It is in this house where Rizal entertained his numerous visitors; and where his family stayed on extended visits. On the front yard is where Rizal even had whispered nightly discussion and debates with Pio Valenzuela when the latter came as Andres Bonifacio’s emissary to bring the news of the impending break-out of the Philippine Revolution in Luzon. On his visit, Valenzuela even tempted Rizal with a seemingly irresistible offer: an escape which the latter turned down to Bonifacio’s dismay.
Dapitan, according to Vice Mayor Chan, has two distinct faces. “There is an Old Dapitan and there is a New Dapitan,” she explained.
The Old Dapitan, she explained, is the Dapitanons’ heritage that they aim to preserve. “It’s our connection to the past which we strengthen and safeguard from the intrusion of modernity represented by the technology revolution—building design, infrastructure, economics, etc. In the Old Dapitan, we don’t allow just anything to be adopted, inserted or built,” she said.
The opposite is true with the New Dapitan. This section of the city is a profusion of modern structures, facilities, and commerce. “Anything in the New Dapitan is permissible, except those that violate our laws and ordinances and those that serve as an affront to decency, honor and culture of the Dapitanons,” says Chan.
The road that leads to this New Dapitan is Sunset Boulevard which provides a spectacular view of the Dapitan sunset. Imagine Rizal sitting in front of this view, beside a heart-shaped rock, while writing his “Mi Retiro” and “El Himno A Talisay”. This rock is now aptly called Mi Retiro Rock, another prominent shrine.
On Sunset Boulevard sits some of Dapitan’s resort hotels, Alexandra by the Sea, Bajamunde Resort Farms Hotel, and Dapitan City Resort Hotel, which Vice Mayor Chan swears are booked fully especially during summer. Seven kilometers south of the city, in Brgy. Taguilon, is the world-famous Dakak Park and Resort Hotel where the sand beaches are powdery white and the waters azure. For all its grandeur and elegance, Dakak is so quite you can hear nature meditating.
Tourism promotion is the function of the City Tourism Office, which also coordinates the local government’s and the private sector’s cultural and tourism efforts and activities. Lending valuable support to the office is a vibrant cultural and artistic community, personified by the Foundation of Artists and Musicians in Zamboanga del Norte, or FAMUZ.
The FAMUZ’s leading light is Alma Calasang, a nurse who has since changed careers to become a performer, voice coach, and choir conductor. As the city’s artistic consultant, Ms. Calasang is mentoring and managing the Shrine Kids Quartet, Shrine City Band, and the Shrine LGU Choir, all of which performed during our visit. Another musical group, the Dapitan City Tourism Choir, performed using the “angklong” a bamboo chime instrument that originated from Indonesia.
“These performing artists are regulars at the Gloria de Dapitan, the city’s entertainment park which is another must to visitors,” Ms. Calasang says.
The shrines, while compelling to any Dapitan visitor’s itinerary, are just one of the more abundant reasons why one should come to the city. Scuba-diving, trail hiking, mountain biking, local dining, and of course, cross cultural exchange, offer visitors alternative experiences that no other vacation destination in Mindanao can equal.
Access to Dapitan is both by land, air and sea. There are ferries and ships daily and weekly to and from Cebu, Dumaguete, Iligan, Zamboanga, and Manila. By air, one can come either through Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific via Dipolog Airport. Buses ply regularly along the Zamboanga City-Dapitan, Davao-Cagayan de Oro-Dapitan, and the Ozamis-Pagadian-Dipolog-Dapitan routes.
Once in Dapitan, imbibe the culture, enjoy the hospitality, savor the history, and partake of the ambition of Rizal’s rustic city.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The local races: Madrona retains the upper hand
Looking at the results in the municipal level, one cannot avoid the conclusion that the challenge for change and reform did not make much relevance to Romblon voters’ choices in the May 10, 2010 elections.
This is in contrast to the big win in the provincial level, personified by governor-elect Lolong Firmalo and vice governor-elect Mel Madrid who, from the looks of it were catapulted to their positions on the strength of their principled stand for change and, if I may add, on the gravity of the people’s desire to banish back to Timbuktu the corrupt and irresponsible governor Natalio Beltran III.
It can be recalled that during the last three years, Beltran had been the consistent object of public scorn due to his gross mismanagement of the capitol. Add to this the fact that the young governor, while refusing to answer directly the criticisms against him, also dismissed these as “politically-motivated”, not knowing that such casual dismissal is the usual refuge of scoundrels.
That he was allied with Cong. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona and the unlamented former district engineer Dodoy Perez, who themselves are not without critics, made matters more untenable for change and reform in Romblon. A trio of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, and speak-no-evil politicians, thus, were ripe for the picking when the campaign for the elections started, so the pundits opined.
And so this was the situation that the reformists—Firmalo and his political ally, vice-governor Alice Fetalvero—faced. It was not so much of a change in policies, governance styles and political culture that they sought to effect. It was also the faces and personas of the current power holders that they sought to replace. It was the malignant tumor of corruption and indolence that they sought to excise.
But how deeply the municipal candidates of both the administration and opposition parties understood the relevance of the May 10 elections to the cause of change and reform could not be ascertained. It could be that they were aware of what were at stake. Or, it could be that they were not, but were only too willing to take sides and fight to hide their ignorance. Worse, they could not really care whether they knew or not.
In Alice’s and Lolong’s part, they knew. They knew too well that the May 10 polls would be a referendum on Madrona’s and Beltran’s performance, as well as a judgment on Perez’s idiocy. They knew that the three are formidable opponents, with access to huge election resources and entrenched grassroots machinery. And they knew that if they fail to dislodge the trio, chances are it will be impossible to unseat them in 2013.
In fact, anyone who is in his right political frame of mind will not dare fight Madrona—whether he is alone or in the company of highway robbers—without risking a big bruise—or a fat loss. I found this out in 2001.
Yet, for all Madrona’s perceived impregnability and commanding (broken) track record, he is not unbeatable. We all knew that Lolong out-dueled him in 2004. But even so, Alice and Lolong knew that they needed to rally on their camp as many municipal mayors as they could, for on them would hang the balance between failure and success of their change and reform crusade. If they win, and they don’t have any ally in the 17 municipalities, it would be next to impossible to carry on their new policies and programs.
Well, there is a danger this may be so, gauging from the results of the local races where Madrona won the battle and retained his grip on municipal politics. How?
It must be noted that Madrona was able to do this only because of his being a political chameleon. He always runs astride two or more political parties without the benefit of any formal coalition, an anomaly for which he is yet to be punished. He did it in 2001, 2004 and 2007. He did it again in 2010 with abominable results.
For instance, in the May 10 elections, he rode at the back of the Nacionalista Party and the Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats. This could have reinforced the suspicion that Manny Villar, Madrona’s patron, is the candidate of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, so much so that Villar lost heavily in Romblon. A different outcome could have arisen if Madrona chose only one party, although that is wishing for the moon.
This brings the question of who did Madrona campaigned for as president. Was it Gilberto Teodoro or Manny Villar? If it was Teodoro, then what makes Madrona and Secretary Bernie Fondevilla and his Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) candidates led by Alice Fetalvero who also campaigned for Teodoro? Weren’t they bedfellows, however strange?
If on the other hand, Madrona campaigned for Villar, as he must have promised when he and Gov. Beltran rushed to the NP’s headquarters after pledging allegiance to Teodoro, wasn’t this a betrayal of the highest order that deserves the voters’ outrage?
Apparently not, for Madrona’s mayors won in majority of Romblon’s 17 towns. These towns are Alcantara, Banton, Concepcion, Corcuera, Ferrol, Looc, Magdiwang, Romblon, San Agustin, San Jose, and Sta. Fe. The winners in these municipalities all filed their certificates of candidacy as members of Partido PaLaKa, the same party under which Madrona filed his CoC.
In the towns of Sta. Maria and San Andres, the winners are also Madrona’s lapdogs, but who filed their CoCs under the Nacionalista Party, under whose banner defeated vice gubernatorial candidate Rolindo Perez and SP members Sam Romero and Michael Arevalo also filed.
There is a Tagalog saying which goes this way: “Ang naghahangad ng kagitna, isang salop ang nawawala.”
I don’t know if this is true, but looking at Beltran’s and Perez’s defeat, as well as in the defeat of some of their SP candidates, Madrona’s gamble of embracing all available political parties just to ensure that he will have his cake and eat it too, backfired. Another way to look at it, though, is to say he was also successful. Tingnan natin.
Madrona’s mayors, save for a few, are the same old bunch of politicians that have stuck with him through thick and thin. Just sample the names: Madrona, Arboleda, Visca, Faderanga, Manzala, etc. They have been winning elections not because of their progressive leadership styles, or because they promise change, but because of their association and loyalty to Madrona.
They don’t have any record of spectacular achievements or of superior performance, if we use as a measure the socio-economic situation in their respective municipalities. In short, they are the same local traditional elites that resist intrusion into their self-proclaimed political fiefdoms. Pa-wardi-wardi. These elites do not regard lightly any attempt to erode their influence and, therefore, use all of their power to retain power.
One of the few exemptions is Concepcion Mayor Lemuel Cipriano, a non-trad Madrona convert whose industry and excellent leadership have brought Sibale to a record of growth and prosperity. The only thing that tars Cipriano’s accomplishments is his falling as victim to Madrona’s political double-talk. In the last election, he slugged it out with another Madrona acolyte, Adrian Feudo who, like Cipriano, was promised by Madrona “unlimited campaign support”. The promised support came in an empty “supot”. Unfortunately in Romblon today, there are still some, like Cipriano and Feudo, who are slow to learn of Madrona’s classic divide-and-rule tactic.
On the other hand, the cause of change and reform found a new adherent in Cajidiocan where Festo Galang Jr. slew a giant in Mayor Nicasio Ramos, another Madrona apostle. In Odiongan, Calatrava and San Fernando, progressive mayors in the persons of Baltazar Firmalo, Robert Fabella and Dindo Rios won.
Note that I did not say these “progressives” are Lolong Firmalo’s mayors. More likely, their loyalties are to their constituents who must have seen their performance during the time they were holding the reins of power.
For example, Mayor Firmalo of Odiongan has spectacularly transformed Odiongan into a progressive commercial enclave, while Mayor Fabella has won the hearts of Calatravanhons for his efforts at fostering food sufficiency and agricultural productivity.
In the end, whether or not the loyalties of these mayors are to Sec. Fondevilla or to Alice Fetalvero or to Lolong Firmalo hardly matter. What is important was that they were seen by the voters as change agents, and that’s a plus that Firmalo as governor should factor in his bid to change and transform Romblon’s cacique political culture into a modernist and non-traditional one.
But as experience tells us, local politics is characterized by atrophy and a seemingly immovable resistance to change. However, local politics has also the character of impermanence in personal relationships. So, I am sure that when the dust of the May 10 election settles, we may yet to see political re-alignments that would change the balance of the political equation in Romblon.
The re-alignments will most likely involve Madrona’s mayors who, knowing that a Noynoy Aquino is a Firmalo ally, would think twice about NOT going with the current. Those who will go against the tide could do so at their own peril. It would be like committing hara-kiri or seppuku without the cha-no-yu, or tea ceremony.
So, Madrona, while having the upper hand at the moment in the municipal level, should not fall asleep but watch his rear. So does Firmalo. He, as governor, should not lose precious opportunity to enlist more mayors, vice mayors, and councilors, even barangay captains. This is the only way he can effectively move forward his agenda for change and reform which the present representative and his cohorts, particularly Gov. Beltran, has been holding back for obvious reasons.
This is in contrast to the big win in the provincial level, personified by governor-elect Lolong Firmalo and vice governor-elect Mel Madrid who, from the looks of it were catapulted to their positions on the strength of their principled stand for change and, if I may add, on the gravity of the people’s desire to banish back to Timbuktu the corrupt and irresponsible governor Natalio Beltran III.
It can be recalled that during the last three years, Beltran had been the consistent object of public scorn due to his gross mismanagement of the capitol. Add to this the fact that the young governor, while refusing to answer directly the criticisms against him, also dismissed these as “politically-motivated”, not knowing that such casual dismissal is the usual refuge of scoundrels.
That he was allied with Cong. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona and the unlamented former district engineer Dodoy Perez, who themselves are not without critics, made matters more untenable for change and reform in Romblon. A trio of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, and speak-no-evil politicians, thus, were ripe for the picking when the campaign for the elections started, so the pundits opined.
And so this was the situation that the reformists—Firmalo and his political ally, vice-governor Alice Fetalvero—faced. It was not so much of a change in policies, governance styles and political culture that they sought to effect. It was also the faces and personas of the current power holders that they sought to replace. It was the malignant tumor of corruption and indolence that they sought to excise.
But how deeply the municipal candidates of both the administration and opposition parties understood the relevance of the May 10 elections to the cause of change and reform could not be ascertained. It could be that they were aware of what were at stake. Or, it could be that they were not, but were only too willing to take sides and fight to hide their ignorance. Worse, they could not really care whether they knew or not.
In Alice’s and Lolong’s part, they knew. They knew too well that the May 10 polls would be a referendum on Madrona’s and Beltran’s performance, as well as a judgment on Perez’s idiocy. They knew that the three are formidable opponents, with access to huge election resources and entrenched grassroots machinery. And they knew that if they fail to dislodge the trio, chances are it will be impossible to unseat them in 2013.
In fact, anyone who is in his right political frame of mind will not dare fight Madrona—whether he is alone or in the company of highway robbers—without risking a big bruise—or a fat loss. I found this out in 2001.
Yet, for all Madrona’s perceived impregnability and commanding (broken) track record, he is not unbeatable. We all knew that Lolong out-dueled him in 2004. But even so, Alice and Lolong knew that they needed to rally on their camp as many municipal mayors as they could, for on them would hang the balance between failure and success of their change and reform crusade. If they win, and they don’t have any ally in the 17 municipalities, it would be next to impossible to carry on their new policies and programs.
Well, there is a danger this may be so, gauging from the results of the local races where Madrona won the battle and retained his grip on municipal politics. How?
It must be noted that Madrona was able to do this only because of his being a political chameleon. He always runs astride two or more political parties without the benefit of any formal coalition, an anomaly for which he is yet to be punished. He did it in 2001, 2004 and 2007. He did it again in 2010 with abominable results.
For instance, in the May 10 elections, he rode at the back of the Nacionalista Party and the Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats. This could have reinforced the suspicion that Manny Villar, Madrona’s patron, is the candidate of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, so much so that Villar lost heavily in Romblon. A different outcome could have arisen if Madrona chose only one party, although that is wishing for the moon.
This brings the question of who did Madrona campaigned for as president. Was it Gilberto Teodoro or Manny Villar? If it was Teodoro, then what makes Madrona and Secretary Bernie Fondevilla and his Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) candidates led by Alice Fetalvero who also campaigned for Teodoro? Weren’t they bedfellows, however strange?
If on the other hand, Madrona campaigned for Villar, as he must have promised when he and Gov. Beltran rushed to the NP’s headquarters after pledging allegiance to Teodoro, wasn’t this a betrayal of the highest order that deserves the voters’ outrage?
Apparently not, for Madrona’s mayors won in majority of Romblon’s 17 towns. These towns are Alcantara, Banton, Concepcion, Corcuera, Ferrol, Looc, Magdiwang, Romblon, San Agustin, San Jose, and Sta. Fe. The winners in these municipalities all filed their certificates of candidacy as members of Partido PaLaKa, the same party under which Madrona filed his CoC.
In the towns of Sta. Maria and San Andres, the winners are also Madrona’s lapdogs, but who filed their CoCs under the Nacionalista Party, under whose banner defeated vice gubernatorial candidate Rolindo Perez and SP members Sam Romero and Michael Arevalo also filed.
There is a Tagalog saying which goes this way: “Ang naghahangad ng kagitna, isang salop ang nawawala.”
I don’t know if this is true, but looking at Beltran’s and Perez’s defeat, as well as in the defeat of some of their SP candidates, Madrona’s gamble of embracing all available political parties just to ensure that he will have his cake and eat it too, backfired. Another way to look at it, though, is to say he was also successful. Tingnan natin.
Madrona’s mayors, save for a few, are the same old bunch of politicians that have stuck with him through thick and thin. Just sample the names: Madrona, Arboleda, Visca, Faderanga, Manzala, etc. They have been winning elections not because of their progressive leadership styles, or because they promise change, but because of their association and loyalty to Madrona.
They don’t have any record of spectacular achievements or of superior performance, if we use as a measure the socio-economic situation in their respective municipalities. In short, they are the same local traditional elites that resist intrusion into their self-proclaimed political fiefdoms. Pa-wardi-wardi. These elites do not regard lightly any attempt to erode their influence and, therefore, use all of their power to retain power.
One of the few exemptions is Concepcion Mayor Lemuel Cipriano, a non-trad Madrona convert whose industry and excellent leadership have brought Sibale to a record of growth and prosperity. The only thing that tars Cipriano’s accomplishments is his falling as victim to Madrona’s political double-talk. In the last election, he slugged it out with another Madrona acolyte, Adrian Feudo who, like Cipriano, was promised by Madrona “unlimited campaign support”. The promised support came in an empty “supot”. Unfortunately in Romblon today, there are still some, like Cipriano and Feudo, who are slow to learn of Madrona’s classic divide-and-rule tactic.
On the other hand, the cause of change and reform found a new adherent in Cajidiocan where Festo Galang Jr. slew a giant in Mayor Nicasio Ramos, another Madrona apostle. In Odiongan, Calatrava and San Fernando, progressive mayors in the persons of Baltazar Firmalo, Robert Fabella and Dindo Rios won.
Note that I did not say these “progressives” are Lolong Firmalo’s mayors. More likely, their loyalties are to their constituents who must have seen their performance during the time they were holding the reins of power.
For example, Mayor Firmalo of Odiongan has spectacularly transformed Odiongan into a progressive commercial enclave, while Mayor Fabella has won the hearts of Calatravanhons for his efforts at fostering food sufficiency and agricultural productivity.
In the end, whether or not the loyalties of these mayors are to Sec. Fondevilla or to Alice Fetalvero or to Lolong Firmalo hardly matter. What is important was that they were seen by the voters as change agents, and that’s a plus that Firmalo as governor should factor in his bid to change and transform Romblon’s cacique political culture into a modernist and non-traditional one.
But as experience tells us, local politics is characterized by atrophy and a seemingly immovable resistance to change. However, local politics has also the character of impermanence in personal relationships. So, I am sure that when the dust of the May 10 election settles, we may yet to see political re-alignments that would change the balance of the political equation in Romblon.
The re-alignments will most likely involve Madrona’s mayors who, knowing that a Noynoy Aquino is a Firmalo ally, would think twice about NOT going with the current. Those who will go against the tide could do so at their own peril. It would be like committing hara-kiri or seppuku without the cha-no-yu, or tea ceremony.
So, Madrona, while having the upper hand at the moment in the municipal level, should not fall asleep but watch his rear. So does Firmalo. He, as governor, should not lose precious opportunity to enlist more mayors, vice mayors, and councilors, even barangay captains. This is the only way he can effectively move forward his agenda for change and reform which the present representative and his cohorts, particularly Gov. Beltran, has been holding back for obvious reasons.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Romblon's disjointed opposition
Now that the election is over, I can bare my chest off on some issues left unsaid during the campaign.
They were left unsaid because of strategic reasons; more so because I didn’t want Rep. Madrona and company to capitalize on these issues and use them against vice governor Alice Fetalvero and former representative Lolong Firmalo.
One of these things that perhaps Alice’s and Lolong’s opponents didn’t know was the fact that the opposition in Romblon was far from united as others believed it were.
Yes, Virginia, there was no united opposition to the Madrona-Beltran-Perez troika during the campaign. The “united” was “disjointed”, unorganized and in disarray. Had Madrona and Beltran knew it, they might have pounced on Alice and Lolong and the outcome of the election might have been different.
The “disunity” was fostered by no less than Secretary Bernie Fondevilla who had only contempt and immense dislike for Firmalo. It was actually Fondevilla who drove a wedge between the opposition in Romblon by being selective in dispensing his goodies only to allies who bow before him.
Last year, when the Alice-Lolong team was looking for a party, it was Fondevilla who orchestrated the oath-taking of Fetalvero and several of Firmalo’s mayors before the Nationalist People’s Coalition, despite the very fact that the NPC had no presidential candidate.
These mayors, such as Juliet Ngo Fiel of Looc, Dr. Fernald Rovillos of San Andres, and Bong Fabella of Calatrava, orchestrated with vice governor Fetalvero, SP member Mel Madrid, Atty. Jim Fondevilla and a few others in exerting pressure to Firmalo for him to also join the NPC, despite the fact that Firmalo had earlier swore his oath of party affiliation with the Liberal Party. It was reported that even Mayor Fabella had allegedly said in public he will not campaign for Firmalo.
Well, they had reason to pressure Firmalo because, sadly, the former representative himself did not inform them he was joining the LP. They begrudged the doctor for “going it all alone.”
But this was only a minor matter. Of grave import was the question of who was wielding the baton over Fetalvero et al. The answer was Bernie Fondevilla who, while undersecretary of agriculture aspiring to become secretary vice his boss, the controversial Arthur Yap, was already playing politics. Question: Did President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at that time know that Fondevilla was playing footsie with the NPC, and not with Lakas-NUCD which supported Gilberto Teodoro? Probably not.
So, the opposition in Romblon went in two separate ways—one going with Alice Fetalvero who filed her candidacy as NPC, and one going with Lolong Firmalo who, with second district SP member Benjamin Irao Jr. and another SP aspirant Dr. Venizar Maravilla, filed as LP. In the first district, only Rodne Galicha remained in Noynoy Aquino’s party.
Prior to the campaign, efforts were made to patch up the opposition to no avail. Playing a pivotal role in ensuring that a “unity ticket” materializes in Romblon was Dr. Tato Sison who initiated meetings between the Fetalvero and Firmalo camps.
Sure, both Alice and Lolong showed no animosity towards each other, but that was only in the surface. At the backrooms, there were obvious attempts, particularly on the part of the mayors to “ostracize” or even isolate Firmalo.
That there was no single campaign organization, no campaign plan, no campaign headquarters, and no campaign message for the opposition was indication of this disunity. Even the campaign color, which was supposed to be yellow, was dispensed with, with the group coming out with the red color which it justified as indicative of the group’s “fighting” or “palaban” stance.
Prior to the campaign, I said that the division of the opposition along two parties will pose problems. True enough, when the campaign began, Bernie Fondevilla asserted himself mightily as the man in charge to the consternation of Fetalvero. I heard that in the dispensation of campaign resources, Fondevilla directly distributed money to the mayors, not to Fetalvero, so much so that her campaign manager, Ramon Reandelar, when asked about his plans, allegedly could only answer in desperation, “I am only an office boy here,” showing his helplessness due to lack of funds for the Fetalvero campaign.
Before the election, I said that because Fetalvero et al were kowtowing to Sec. Fondevilla’s wishes, chances are that the Fetalvero congressional campaign will be seen as very dependent upon the whim and caprices of Fondevilla, and this will not sit well with the voters.
True enough, and as the results of the election will show, Madrona’s margin over Fetalvero was such that one would think Bernie Fondevilla deliberately played his card for Alice Fetalvero to lose. This is possible, because Bernie Fondevilla, as I have observed before, is entertaining a dream bigger than himself. He might challenge Madrona in 2013.
Unfortunately for Bernie, the platform from which he could launch his challenge is now punctured with large holes largely due to his ill-conceived strategy of isolating Firmalo and casting his fortune with a loser like Gilberto Teodoro. Also, unfortunately, his mayors and SP candidates who joined him in trying to belittle Firmalo heavily lost in their own bids. That’s karma.
That’s also a monumental mistake on the part of the opposition. And what is this mistake? It is to wage a campaign for reform based solely on the motivation of the alleged availability of campaign resources from Bernie Fondevilla, and not on the efficacy of the Romblon reform agenda. That’s beginning a right cause on the wrong foot.
The signs were easy to recognize. The May 10, 2010 election is a banner year for the opposition. The drama that was sure to be played was the battle of epic proportion between good and evil, lightness and darkness, good governance and ineptness, honesty and corruption, compassion and abuse, reform and the status quo, and progressive and the traditional.
Had Alice and his mayors didn’t misread these signs, they would not have sided with Bernie Fondevilla.
Had they, as advised, hewed consistently on the themes of the yellow revolution—the slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and the genuine change and reform agenda, the outcome would have been different.
Had they not danced to the traditional political music of Bernie Fondevilla, who is out of touch with ground realities, the outcome would have been that Budoy Madrona could be now licking his wounds like Beltran, her mayors would have renewed their respective mandates, and the opposition would have been more united.
But those are “ifs”--supposition--fit only for discussion. As I said, the election is over, so let’s begin the campaign for the election of 2013 by working hard for the people of Romblon.
Good luck to us.
They were left unsaid because of strategic reasons; more so because I didn’t want Rep. Madrona and company to capitalize on these issues and use them against vice governor Alice Fetalvero and former representative Lolong Firmalo.
One of these things that perhaps Alice’s and Lolong’s opponents didn’t know was the fact that the opposition in Romblon was far from united as others believed it were.
Yes, Virginia, there was no united opposition to the Madrona-Beltran-Perez troika during the campaign. The “united” was “disjointed”, unorganized and in disarray. Had Madrona and Beltran knew it, they might have pounced on Alice and Lolong and the outcome of the election might have been different.
The “disunity” was fostered by no less than Secretary Bernie Fondevilla who had only contempt and immense dislike for Firmalo. It was actually Fondevilla who drove a wedge between the opposition in Romblon by being selective in dispensing his goodies only to allies who bow before him.
Last year, when the Alice-Lolong team was looking for a party, it was Fondevilla who orchestrated the oath-taking of Fetalvero and several of Firmalo’s mayors before the Nationalist People’s Coalition, despite the very fact that the NPC had no presidential candidate.
These mayors, such as Juliet Ngo Fiel of Looc, Dr. Fernald Rovillos of San Andres, and Bong Fabella of Calatrava, orchestrated with vice governor Fetalvero, SP member Mel Madrid, Atty. Jim Fondevilla and a few others in exerting pressure to Firmalo for him to also join the NPC, despite the fact that Firmalo had earlier swore his oath of party affiliation with the Liberal Party. It was reported that even Mayor Fabella had allegedly said in public he will not campaign for Firmalo.
Well, they had reason to pressure Firmalo because, sadly, the former representative himself did not inform them he was joining the LP. They begrudged the doctor for “going it all alone.”
But this was only a minor matter. Of grave import was the question of who was wielding the baton over Fetalvero et al. The answer was Bernie Fondevilla who, while undersecretary of agriculture aspiring to become secretary vice his boss, the controversial Arthur Yap, was already playing politics. Question: Did President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at that time know that Fondevilla was playing footsie with the NPC, and not with Lakas-NUCD which supported Gilberto Teodoro? Probably not.
So, the opposition in Romblon went in two separate ways—one going with Alice Fetalvero who filed her candidacy as NPC, and one going with Lolong Firmalo who, with second district SP member Benjamin Irao Jr. and another SP aspirant Dr. Venizar Maravilla, filed as LP. In the first district, only Rodne Galicha remained in Noynoy Aquino’s party.
Prior to the campaign, efforts were made to patch up the opposition to no avail. Playing a pivotal role in ensuring that a “unity ticket” materializes in Romblon was Dr. Tato Sison who initiated meetings between the Fetalvero and Firmalo camps.
Sure, both Alice and Lolong showed no animosity towards each other, but that was only in the surface. At the backrooms, there were obvious attempts, particularly on the part of the mayors to “ostracize” or even isolate Firmalo.
That there was no single campaign organization, no campaign plan, no campaign headquarters, and no campaign message for the opposition was indication of this disunity. Even the campaign color, which was supposed to be yellow, was dispensed with, with the group coming out with the red color which it justified as indicative of the group’s “fighting” or “palaban” stance.
Prior to the campaign, I said that the division of the opposition along two parties will pose problems. True enough, when the campaign began, Bernie Fondevilla asserted himself mightily as the man in charge to the consternation of Fetalvero. I heard that in the dispensation of campaign resources, Fondevilla directly distributed money to the mayors, not to Fetalvero, so much so that her campaign manager, Ramon Reandelar, when asked about his plans, allegedly could only answer in desperation, “I am only an office boy here,” showing his helplessness due to lack of funds for the Fetalvero campaign.
Before the election, I said that because Fetalvero et al were kowtowing to Sec. Fondevilla’s wishes, chances are that the Fetalvero congressional campaign will be seen as very dependent upon the whim and caprices of Fondevilla, and this will not sit well with the voters.
True enough, and as the results of the election will show, Madrona’s margin over Fetalvero was such that one would think Bernie Fondevilla deliberately played his card for Alice Fetalvero to lose. This is possible, because Bernie Fondevilla, as I have observed before, is entertaining a dream bigger than himself. He might challenge Madrona in 2013.
Unfortunately for Bernie, the platform from which he could launch his challenge is now punctured with large holes largely due to his ill-conceived strategy of isolating Firmalo and casting his fortune with a loser like Gilberto Teodoro. Also, unfortunately, his mayors and SP candidates who joined him in trying to belittle Firmalo heavily lost in their own bids. That’s karma.
That’s also a monumental mistake on the part of the opposition. And what is this mistake? It is to wage a campaign for reform based solely on the motivation of the alleged availability of campaign resources from Bernie Fondevilla, and not on the efficacy of the Romblon reform agenda. That’s beginning a right cause on the wrong foot.
The signs were easy to recognize. The May 10, 2010 election is a banner year for the opposition. The drama that was sure to be played was the battle of epic proportion between good and evil, lightness and darkness, good governance and ineptness, honesty and corruption, compassion and abuse, reform and the status quo, and progressive and the traditional.
Had Alice and his mayors didn’t misread these signs, they would not have sided with Bernie Fondevilla.
Had they, as advised, hewed consistently on the themes of the yellow revolution—the slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and the genuine change and reform agenda, the outcome would have been different.
Had they not danced to the traditional political music of Bernie Fondevilla, who is out of touch with ground realities, the outcome would have been that Budoy Madrona could be now licking his wounds like Beltran, her mayors would have renewed their respective mandates, and the opposition would have been more united.
But those are “ifs”--supposition--fit only for discussion. As I said, the election is over, so let’s begin the campaign for the election of 2013 by working hard for the people of Romblon.
Good luck to us.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The boat that Budoy is rowing is sinking in the river he is drowning
The story went like this:
On the afternoon of April 20, Rep. Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona, Romblon’s most successful political butterfly, joined a group of congressmen belonging to PaLaKa (Partido Lakas-Kampi) at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City to demonstrate its show of support to PaLaKa official presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Hours later, on the same day, Rep. Madrona, like a toad, jumped to the camp of NP presidential candidate Manuel Villar and right there and then, with another toad in tow in the person of Romblon’s most despised governor, Natalio Beltran III, took his oath as an NP member. Madrona and Beltran were accompanied in the oath-taking by16 other toadies, or palakpak boys, one of whom was a classmate in high school, Adrian Feudo, a mayoralty candidate.
End of story?
Nah. There is more to it than this party-hopping, ship-jumping, boat-rowing tandem meets the eye.
So listen, you unsuspecting, politician-worshipping, readers of the Romblon Sun and I’ll deliver a blow-by-blow account of what I read behind the scenes of this story which made it to Page 1 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The reporters who filed the story, TJ Burgonio, a bespectacled Senate beat reporter, and Jhunnex Napallacan of the Inquirer’s Visayas bureau, tell us that Madrona did not return their calls to give his side of the story. Instead, it was another controversial Budoy toady, San Fernando mayor Nanette Tansingco, who spoke on Madrona’s behalf.
Tansingco said Madrona was ruing the fact that he and his candidates were not receiving any money from PaLaKa, hence their transfer. “The funds aren’t trickling down to our level; we’re not being given agriculture projects. And we are the administration candidates.”
So, it’s all about money as I have suspected all along. But wait, where did Madrona spend the millions in pork barrel funds, including his ‘tip’ for voting against the Con-Ass bill, he had amassed over the last three years? Naubos sa buyang?
It turned out Madrona had a valid complaint. PaLaKa secretary-general Rey Roquero said Madrona was complaining about Agriculture secretary Bernie Fondevilla’s allegedly campaigning for his nemesis, Vice Governor Alice Fetalvero.
Ah, Bernie Fondevilla, why did you suddenly materialize in this drama? I thought you are a bureaucrat, a non-politician, but did Budoy suddenly dragged you out in the streets? Are you, as Budoy was complaining, campaigning for Fetalvero?
Yes, you are, I suppose. I remember you have been giving away pump boat machines and other agriculture goodies before the campaign, with Alice Fetalvero and some mayor-friends as conduit. Many in my town of Sibale even received the ‘dole-out’. Did you also distribute ice-making machines which your patron, former secretary Arthur Yap, bought at very expensive prices?
I don’t know how you will react to Madrona’s accusation, but the guy was hurting. Very badly, I suppose, because Romblon’s first agriculture secretary does not love the incumbent congressman, siding instead with its well-loved vice governor. Turn of events, or turn of the wheel of fortunes. Aren't you two bosom friends before?
The equation is complete; the picture perfect. The showdown is inevitable. Fetalvero, an NPC stalwart, is getting help from all corners, including from a supposed to be non-political secretary of agriculture. Ranged against this line-up is Madrona’s army, with Beltran as barker and former DPWH district engineer Dodoy Perez, the apparition-prone but cockfight aficionado, as lieutenant.
I almost forgot another cast on Fetalvero’s camp. He is Lolong Firmalo, a doctor--often painted into a corner by his detractors for his unpredictable political mind--and incumbent SP member Mel Madrid.
But this is not about Bernie Fondevilla, or Alice Fetalvero, or Lolong Firmalo. This is about Budoy and Beltran changing boats in the middle of a boat race and navigating on two rivers.
Is there something surprising in this? None. Budoy is so used to fooling national politicians about his loyalties that he has been to all major political parties hereabouts. He is so good at political drama that even the likes of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile once complained to me about his unorthodox money-making abilities: he promised to support JPE and then dumped him after obtaining his support. Name it and Budoy has been a member of this or that political party. It’s second skin to him to switch loyalties. He is a political chameleon, with the ability to change colors at a moment’s notice.
“Ang madalas manumpa ay kasumpa-sumpa.” Guess who said that. It was former Cavite governor Juanito Remulla who blurted that out when some of his staunchest allies in the regional party, Magdalo, switched from his party to Lakas in 1997 to fight him. Magdalo, in the elections of 1998, decimated in the polls all those that abandoned Remulla.
There is a very near possibility that Madrona, Beltran, Perez and their 16 mayors will be massacred in the May 10 election by the opposition forces led by Fetalvero and Firmalo. If this happens, then Remulla’s prophetic words will be affirmed once again. If this happens, Madrona will only have himself to blame.
For abandoning a sinking ship like a rat, Budoy is courting disaster. He might drown. Beltran and Perez combined cannot save him. Both are in themselves drowning and are in deep s_ _t.
And Budoy’s mayors? Here is a very safe prediction. In the moment of Alice’s and Lolong’s triumph, they will troop to the victor’s camp faster than I can write two sentences. They will abandon Budoy and when that happens, truly that will be the irony of ironies in this truly sordid episode. I will bet my gin money on this. These mayors, after all, are traditional politicians to the core. They can’t be trusted in their words.
Of course, Bernie, regardless of his protestation that he is not involved, will celebrate—no, laugh in glee—if and when Fetalvero becomes congresswoman. He will claim credit as the architect of the victory. Is Bernie Fondevilla a member of the NPC? If he is not, why is PGMA allowing him to distribute agriculture goodies to non-PaLaKa members? Well, the information is ripe that when Bernie went to Calatrava a few weeks ago, he summoned Fetalvero's mayors and asked them to support Gibo. The opposition in Romblon is for Gibo, not Noynoy, not Villar, not Erap!
And in that moment of victory, the people who voted for the opposition will be forgotten, I hope only temporarily, for since when traditional politicians acknowledge the masses in the aftermath of a successful revolution?
More than often, they are left whistling in the dark, holding an empty bag. Say this ain’t so, Fetalvero. Say this ain’t so, Firmalo. As for Bernie, just wait, hijo, until June 30.
On the afternoon of April 20, Rep. Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona, Romblon’s most successful political butterfly, joined a group of congressmen belonging to PaLaKa (Partido Lakas-Kampi) at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City to demonstrate its show of support to PaLaKa official presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Hours later, on the same day, Rep. Madrona, like a toad, jumped to the camp of NP presidential candidate Manuel Villar and right there and then, with another toad in tow in the person of Romblon’s most despised governor, Natalio Beltran III, took his oath as an NP member. Madrona and Beltran were accompanied in the oath-taking by16 other toadies, or palakpak boys, one of whom was a classmate in high school, Adrian Feudo, a mayoralty candidate.
End of story?
Nah. There is more to it than this party-hopping, ship-jumping, boat-rowing tandem meets the eye.
So listen, you unsuspecting, politician-worshipping, readers of the Romblon Sun and I’ll deliver a blow-by-blow account of what I read behind the scenes of this story which made it to Page 1 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The reporters who filed the story, TJ Burgonio, a bespectacled Senate beat reporter, and Jhunnex Napallacan of the Inquirer’s Visayas bureau, tell us that Madrona did not return their calls to give his side of the story. Instead, it was another controversial Budoy toady, San Fernando mayor Nanette Tansingco, who spoke on Madrona’s behalf.
Tansingco said Madrona was ruing the fact that he and his candidates were not receiving any money from PaLaKa, hence their transfer. “The funds aren’t trickling down to our level; we’re not being given agriculture projects. And we are the administration candidates.”
So, it’s all about money as I have suspected all along. But wait, where did Madrona spend the millions in pork barrel funds, including his ‘tip’ for voting against the Con-Ass bill, he had amassed over the last three years? Naubos sa buyang?
It turned out Madrona had a valid complaint. PaLaKa secretary-general Rey Roquero said Madrona was complaining about Agriculture secretary Bernie Fondevilla’s allegedly campaigning for his nemesis, Vice Governor Alice Fetalvero.
Ah, Bernie Fondevilla, why did you suddenly materialize in this drama? I thought you are a bureaucrat, a non-politician, but did Budoy suddenly dragged you out in the streets? Are you, as Budoy was complaining, campaigning for Fetalvero?
Yes, you are, I suppose. I remember you have been giving away pump boat machines and other agriculture goodies before the campaign, with Alice Fetalvero and some mayor-friends as conduit. Many in my town of Sibale even received the ‘dole-out’. Did you also distribute ice-making machines which your patron, former secretary Arthur Yap, bought at very expensive prices?
I don’t know how you will react to Madrona’s accusation, but the guy was hurting. Very badly, I suppose, because Romblon’s first agriculture secretary does not love the incumbent congressman, siding instead with its well-loved vice governor. Turn of events, or turn of the wheel of fortunes. Aren't you two bosom friends before?
The equation is complete; the picture perfect. The showdown is inevitable. Fetalvero, an NPC stalwart, is getting help from all corners, including from a supposed to be non-political secretary of agriculture. Ranged against this line-up is Madrona’s army, with Beltran as barker and former DPWH district engineer Dodoy Perez, the apparition-prone but cockfight aficionado, as lieutenant.
I almost forgot another cast on Fetalvero’s camp. He is Lolong Firmalo, a doctor--often painted into a corner by his detractors for his unpredictable political mind--and incumbent SP member Mel Madrid.
But this is not about Bernie Fondevilla, or Alice Fetalvero, or Lolong Firmalo. This is about Budoy and Beltran changing boats in the middle of a boat race and navigating on two rivers.
Is there something surprising in this? None. Budoy is so used to fooling national politicians about his loyalties that he has been to all major political parties hereabouts. He is so good at political drama that even the likes of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile once complained to me about his unorthodox money-making abilities: he promised to support JPE and then dumped him after obtaining his support. Name it and Budoy has been a member of this or that political party. It’s second skin to him to switch loyalties. He is a political chameleon, with the ability to change colors at a moment’s notice.
“Ang madalas manumpa ay kasumpa-sumpa.” Guess who said that. It was former Cavite governor Juanito Remulla who blurted that out when some of his staunchest allies in the regional party, Magdalo, switched from his party to Lakas in 1997 to fight him. Magdalo, in the elections of 1998, decimated in the polls all those that abandoned Remulla.
There is a very near possibility that Madrona, Beltran, Perez and their 16 mayors will be massacred in the May 10 election by the opposition forces led by Fetalvero and Firmalo. If this happens, then Remulla’s prophetic words will be affirmed once again. If this happens, Madrona will only have himself to blame.
For abandoning a sinking ship like a rat, Budoy is courting disaster. He might drown. Beltran and Perez combined cannot save him. Both are in themselves drowning and are in deep s_ _t.
And Budoy’s mayors? Here is a very safe prediction. In the moment of Alice’s and Lolong’s triumph, they will troop to the victor’s camp faster than I can write two sentences. They will abandon Budoy and when that happens, truly that will be the irony of ironies in this truly sordid episode. I will bet my gin money on this. These mayors, after all, are traditional politicians to the core. They can’t be trusted in their words.
Of course, Bernie, regardless of his protestation that he is not involved, will celebrate—no, laugh in glee—if and when Fetalvero becomes congresswoman. He will claim credit as the architect of the victory. Is Bernie Fondevilla a member of the NPC? If he is not, why is PGMA allowing him to distribute agriculture goodies to non-PaLaKa members? Well, the information is ripe that when Bernie went to Calatrava a few weeks ago, he summoned Fetalvero's mayors and asked them to support Gibo. The opposition in Romblon is for Gibo, not Noynoy, not Villar, not Erap!
And in that moment of victory, the people who voted for the opposition will be forgotten, I hope only temporarily, for since when traditional politicians acknowledge the masses in the aftermath of a successful revolution?
More than often, they are left whistling in the dark, holding an empty bag. Say this ain’t so, Fetalvero. Say this ain’t so, Firmalo. As for Bernie, just wait, hijo, until June 30.
Monday, March 15, 2010
One honest woman gone
The story is told of the Greek mythical god Diogenes who goes from house to house in the middle of the day with a lighted lantern in hand and knocking on every one’s door.
When asked what he was doing, Diogenes replied that he was looking for an honest man.
In the Philippines, Diogenes would have stopped looking for his honest man once he’d knocked at Emilia T. Boncodin’s door. Just from the looks of the door, Diogenes would have known that the house’s occupant was honest.
And Emy, as the former Budget secretary was called by friends, is dead. She died of kidney failure at the age of 55, honest as she was when she first joined the government at age 18.
The Inquirer, in its news about Emy’s death, said Emy lived simply.
She did.
When the late Blas F. Ople, another honest man, was elected Senate President in 1998, one of the very first things he did was to ask Emy and her friend, Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, for a meeting at Ople’s office at the Marbella Condominium on Roxas Boulevard. Emy and Pat then were out of government, having resigned when Joseph Estrada took the reins of government after trouncing Jose de Venecia in the presidential election. Emy was teaching at the UP at the same time that she and Pat were doing consultancy work.
“We need honest people to help us in the Senate. Let us meet with Pat and Emy,” Ople told me in summoning the meeting. Also summoned were Willie B. Villarama, Art Brion, Fred dela Rosa, and Fred Rosario. All were Ople protégés and have worked with the country’s longest-serving labor and employment secretary.
Emy spoke softly and with conviction. On occasions when I visited her at her office in Malacanang to run errands for Ople, she saw me promptly, going straight to official business because she was so busy. The Department of Budget, where she served for the longest time, was a beehive and, as the official money adjunct of the government, a nest of whispered corruption. But under Emy’s captainship, it was run as a tight ship. No leak. No whiff of scandal. No corruption. Her honesty rubbed off on every body. Even her dress bespoke of her simplicity and honest living.
As budget official, she knew her work like no other, and Ople was astounded by her phenomenal command of the budget—its details and implications and the policies that govern it. She served gratis as Ople’s consultant in his Senate office, same with Pat, Willie, Art, and the rest of Ople’s people.
Emy is gone.
It might take a long time coming for another Emy, yet with her legacy of honesty in public service indelibly etched on in our memory Diogenes can take comfort and take a respite from knocking on doors looking for an honest man.
When asked what he was doing, Diogenes replied that he was looking for an honest man.
In the Philippines, Diogenes would have stopped looking for his honest man once he’d knocked at Emilia T. Boncodin’s door. Just from the looks of the door, Diogenes would have known that the house’s occupant was honest.
And Emy, as the former Budget secretary was called by friends, is dead. She died of kidney failure at the age of 55, honest as she was when she first joined the government at age 18.
The Inquirer, in its news about Emy’s death, said Emy lived simply.
She did.
When the late Blas F. Ople, another honest man, was elected Senate President in 1998, one of the very first things he did was to ask Emy and her friend, Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, for a meeting at Ople’s office at the Marbella Condominium on Roxas Boulevard. Emy and Pat then were out of government, having resigned when Joseph Estrada took the reins of government after trouncing Jose de Venecia in the presidential election. Emy was teaching at the UP at the same time that she and Pat were doing consultancy work.
“We need honest people to help us in the Senate. Let us meet with Pat and Emy,” Ople told me in summoning the meeting. Also summoned were Willie B. Villarama, Art Brion, Fred dela Rosa, and Fred Rosario. All were Ople protégés and have worked with the country’s longest-serving labor and employment secretary.
Emy spoke softly and with conviction. On occasions when I visited her at her office in Malacanang to run errands for Ople, she saw me promptly, going straight to official business because she was so busy. The Department of Budget, where she served for the longest time, was a beehive and, as the official money adjunct of the government, a nest of whispered corruption. But under Emy’s captainship, it was run as a tight ship. No leak. No whiff of scandal. No corruption. Her honesty rubbed off on every body. Even her dress bespoke of her simplicity and honest living.
As budget official, she knew her work like no other, and Ople was astounded by her phenomenal command of the budget—its details and implications and the policies that govern it. She served gratis as Ople’s consultant in his Senate office, same with Pat, Willie, Art, and the rest of Ople’s people.
Emy is gone.
It might take a long time coming for another Emy, yet with her legacy of honesty in public service indelibly etched on in our memory Diogenes can take comfort and take a respite from knocking on doors looking for an honest man.
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