Goodbye Mayor Romero

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

LATE evening of December 23, I was roused from slumber by a shocking text message informing me that our Mangaldan Mayor Herminio A. Romero suffered a heart attack, taken to a hospital in Dagupan City, and was declared dead on arrival. I did not give much credence to it because it could have been another false alarm, like what happened to the great Filipino movie comedian Dolphy even before he actually passed away. I said to myself that it could not be because I had just conversed with him a day prior pertaining to the town’s preparation of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas 9th stage kick off which Mangaldan is ready to host.

Disturbed and irritated and thinking that the message might also be true and knowing that a disease like ‘heart attack or stroke’ could easily strike you unexpectedly anytime of the day, especially if you have hypertension, diabetes or mental and physical stress, I decided to call one of Mayor Romero’s secretaries as well as the chief of police of Mangaldan, Supt. Sapiera.  And both confirmed that the beloved town’s chief executive had succumbed to a massive heart attack.

From that hour I became so restless thinking about the good and diligent father of my town who did a lot of improvements in this first class municipality, how supportive he was of sports. These were the same reasons why my town mates (young and old) loved him so much, and voted him to office thrice. Unfortunately, he will not able to finish his third term that the Mangaldan electorate had given him due to expire on June 30, 2013. His secretary said he just finished delivering his speech during a Christmas party in nearby town San Fabian when he suddenly collapsed, which proved to be fatal. He went there to keep in touch with the San Fabianians as he was aiming for a provincial board member seat in next year’s election.

Like his brother-in-law, the late Atty. Macario G. Ydia, also a former mayor of this town, Romero, who was born (September 16, 1940) and raised in my village Buenlag. He was an avid fan of sports, especially cycling, basketball, table tennis, volleyball, marathon, among others. Despite the scarcity of sponsors in cycling activities like the traditional “Werweran ed Mangaldan” being held annually in conjunction with the celebration of our town fiesta, he never neglected to stage the event knowing that Mangaldan is considered as one of the host towns to national champions like this writer, Cariño brothers Samson and Ruben, Cesar Catambay and SEA (Southeast Asia) Games gold medalist Alex Lopez (Jakarta, 1987) and Emeterio Natavio (Manila, 1981).

It’s still hard to believe that he is gone. Mangaldanons still need him not only for his support for sports but to make Mangaldan as an urban city.

Goodbye Mayor Romero, rest in peace, and we the Mangaldanons, your town mates, will never forget you. Your legacy will never be forgotten.

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Kudos to PSSupt. Marlou Chan who was transferred from Ilocos Norte to Pangasinan PNP as head of our provincial police officers. Chan, who hails from San Quintin, Pangasinan and a PMA graduate class 1985, is a cycling and basketball fanatic who selflessly helped me organize the five-day OO na, Takbo Na bikefest in 1995 and made it a very successful event. Mabuhay ka, Colonel, sir, and keep up the good work. Sana maulit pa ung bikefest natin.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: And Jesus Christ said “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. LUKE 14: 11

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