By Farah G. Decano

 

UNLIKE in some local government units here and abroad, Mayor Belen’s style of leadership, at least when I was her City Administrator, encompassed political and administrative matters.  She was a micro manager in the good sense because she was aware of the smallest detail in each department.

For example, she actively participated in planning and approving infrastructure projects with the City Engineer and City Planner, allocated funds for programs with the City Budget Officer, and extensively discussed other programs with the concerned department heads. She signed every check and granted monetized leaves. She presided over meetings and called the shots. She defined my powers as one of her trouble shooters, legal counsel, assistant in the implementation of executive orders, and drafter of ordinances and resolutions.

Because she decided mostly on everything that she inquired into, Mayor Belen stood up for decisions she made.  Matapang talaga. If balls meant courage, she has several of them.   During the prolonged floods in 2018, she bravely faced the issue and did not point fingers at her city planner, the city engineer or any of her department heads. Mayor Belen was not one who would hide behind anybody’s back. She took seriously the phrase, “command responsibility.”

Unlike Mayor Belen, a powerful few aligned with her, especially in the Sanggunian subjected me to “scapegoatism” during those times.  Mga duwag. Pare-pareho lang kami na department head level, yet they could not own up to their responsibilities.

Sadly though, this scapegoatism remained even if I was long gone from the City Hall.  I remember a verbally flamboyant councilor, who was a partymate of Mayor Belen, blamed me for a resolution they passed.  He publicly and intentionally misread my past letter to the Sanggunian in order to evade collective responsibility.  This councilor loved to question my sexuality but unbeknownst to him, he is famous for his lingering stares at male buttocks.  Ah, probably he was looking for his missing balls?

Just a few days ago, I was asked by a civic leader who inquired from a Sanggunian employee about a resolution passed by the Sanggunian.  He was asking why the subject resolution was drafted that way.  Guess who was the convenient escape?  Me!   Que horor! Ang tagal ko nang wala dyan! Perhaps, the Sanggunian Panlungsod Secretary, Ryan Ravanzo, can stop this cowardly practice and direct concerned colleagues to man up with their decisions.  When a resolution or ordinance is passed by the Sanggunian, it becomes a collective responsibility of those who approved it.  It is likewise the accountability of the SP Secretary who attested to its accuracy.

This is no longer about who is Maka-Lim or Maka-Belen.  It is about the quality of people in the City Hall.  Sana po Mayor, damihan ninyo ang kinukuha ninyong sintapang ninyo.  Yung kaya nilang tayuan ang desisyon nila. 

In fairness, maraming matatapang na kaalyado si Mayor Belen. Nangunguna na dyan sina VM BK at Councilor Michael Fernandez. Among the department heads, Doktora Opal is one who displayed courage in the face of the deadly COVID Virus.

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China will not initiate war. 

 By just looking at the topography of China, one third of its borders are exposed to the west.  It faces South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines where US military bases are now strategically located. Once the Asian red giant makes the mistake of starting the battle against the Philippines, the US Defense Treaty will be triggered and the US may resort to assistance from these bases. Imagine the numerous missiles attacking China from at least four countries.

 I still think that those who float the possibility of war are those who want the Philippines to remain subservient to China.  They should remember that the Philippines is not aggressive in that part of the ocean. We never threw balls or sprayed water on Chinese vessels.  We are merely asserting our fishing and navigation rights. What do these warmongers want us to do?  Behave like dogs with tails between our legs? 

 I do not remember our ancestors behaving that way. 

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