Punchline
What’s in it for young leaders?
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
If Alaminos Mayor Hernani Braganza makes good on his word to quit public life once and for all, then he will make it to the Guinness World Record as the first and youngest Filipino public official to give up politics at a time when politicians are willing not only to spend millions but to kill and be killed over elective positions!
Still, his reason for turning around and simply walking away is refreshing as it is shocking! He says he’s frustrated and disgusted with the way our political leaders are shaping our political development.
If it’s any consolation to him and to many of us, his reason for turning his back on a promising political career is admirable at the very least. But inversely, it’s the same reason that people pray would keep honest and sincere public servants to stay in office to keep the fight for good governance alive.
At the same time, it is his deep frustration (definitely shared by millions including this corner) that most pray would eventually spark a long overdue rage in our people not only against transactional governance, but against cheating, stealing and lying in government.
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Without a doubt, Mayor Braganza’s stint as a two-term mayor is perhaps one of the most impressive track record of a city mayor in the province since post-world war. The return and rehabilitation of the once neglected Hundred Islands alone is an achievement that nobody thought possible. Not only is the lost glory of the Islands now well on its way to being restored, thanks to the energy and vision of Mayor Nani, but its people are visibly motivated to keep things the way they are today. How things will be managed from hereon will be worth watching.
His stewardship is a clear example of management by leadership, and leadership by example. Install a crook as a mayor, and you get crooked deals and crooks as constituents.
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A more telling indication of Nani’s deep frustration and disappointment is his apparent falling out with the ruling party and coalition led by President Arroyo, Speaker Joe de V and Cong. Luis Villafuerte and DILG Sec. Ronnie Puno. His advice to his local political network to distance themselves from the Lakas-Kampi alliance speaks volumes!
But where is his famous relative former President Fidel Ramos in all these? Is the divide in political philosophies so wide that Mayor Nani had to offer himself as the sacrificial lamb to make that statement?
For someone who has been an extremely loyal partyman, such a thought is unimaginable but then again, he is obviously of the new breed. He is not your typical tradpol or ordinary trapo. His credibility as a politician is enhanced even further by his decision (for now) to retire from politics, and not to simply move to the opposition.
It’d be interesting to watch further the implications and consequences of Mayor Nani’s surprise ‘walk-away’ move. Just watch the body language of the politicos who have a thing or two to say about Mayor’ Nani’s “foolish” and “rash” decision.
But what is certain is it’s a shame for Alaminos and the province to lose an imaginative, resourceful and energetic public servant, all because he felt helpless against his elders in politics.
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KEEP PINGKOY OUT OF SENATE RACE. To the credit of President Arroyo, there are two cabinet members who have been focused and proven effective in their assignments and whose integrity have not been tainted by the Hello Garci scandal, they are Health Sec. Francisco Duque III and Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap, both Pangasinenses.
It would, therefore, be foolhardy for her to twist Sec. Pingkoy D’s arms into running for the senate just so her Unity ticket can be completed. She may gain some brownie points in the political arena for pitting a good man but she will certainly lose a lot more if she plucks him out of the health department that vindicated her government in many ways.
While I have no doubt that Sec. Pingkoy is articulate and can stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the senators (forget about the “acting” senators), will his joining the race worth the sacrifice of abandoning his unfinished mission at the department? And more to the point, will an endorsement by GMA help him win? I say NO!
If GMA truly cares about her health care program, then she should leave Sec. Pingkoy exactly where he is and be content with having the likes of Reps. Butch Pichay and Migz Zubiri, Sen. Ed Angara, Richard Gomez, Tito Sotto, Chavit Singson, Tessie Oreta, et al. to carry her colors.
She should also seriously consider fielding her son Rep. Mikey Arroyo, Reps. Luis Villafuerte, Constantino Jaraula and Edcel Lagman! Her options are endless!
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ET TU BRUTUS? Speaker Joe de Venecia should watch his back! There’s a Brutus lurking in the shadow.
If one goes by what one hears in the House’s corridors, the Speaker’s enemies are not found in the ranks of the minority but in the House’s majority. I’m simply aghast on hearing some political heavyweights in Kampi openly praying that the speaker will lose to Dagupan’s Mayor Benjie Lim in the 2007 polls. They have, in fact, concocted the urban legend that our Mr. Benjie will surely and certainly square it off with the Speaker – and win! And when I tried to douse cold water over their fantasy citing what I believe I know of my favorite mayor, they give me the face that reads: Don’t be a spoilsport! Hehe! Ok, so dream on.
As of this writing, I don’t see the writing on the wall for the Speaker with Mr. Benjie’s scrawling. I can sense that my favorite mayor is not spoiling for a fight but simply wants a guarantee that there will be no threat from the Fernandez’s to his mayoralty throne, that some oodles of pocket money will go with it, that his son Brian will be a part of the official ticket for the city council, that there will be a complete pardon for his sins against GMA, and that JDV gives an iron-clad guarantee that his bangus processing plant will be constructed from the Speaker’s pork barrel!
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If I were the Speaker, I won’t budge an inch and will happily take on Mr. Benjie for the ride of his life. Then, I would plan on suiting up for a new body armour on my march to the House immediately after wiping out my worthy foe to keep the traitorous predators lurking inside the halls of the House at bay. What a dream plan!
But my favorite mayor will be no push-over so Mr. JDV can look forward to a political battle that will get his adrenalin flowing like it never did since the first attempt to make GMA resign in 2005.
But . . . I am not the Speaker. So Mr. JDV may, indeed, fall for Mr. Benjie’s bait and pay up!
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/)
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