Believe in Bebot:  Politics is personal ambition

By Al S. Mendoza

WHAT’S happening?

Suddenly, almost everybody is backing out.

Bebot Villar, my idol, said he is out as a gubernatorial candidate of Pangasinan.

Next, we hear Art Lomibao, my phone mate, backing away from his bid to run for congressman in the province’s fourth district.

My Pareng Teddy Cruz has quit his congressional comeback bid and will instead run for mayor in my beloved Mangatarem.

Bebot said he quit because, “I wanted to put the interest of the province first before my personal ambition.”

So, deducing from Bebot’s explanation, most, if not all, candidates actually run merely for personal ambition.

I can believe that and I praise Bebot for being straightforward all of the time.

A PNA dispatch quoted Ate Glue as saying she praised Villar “for his sacrifice.”

So, people suddenly not running for an elective post do it as a sacrifice?

Uh-oh!

I didn’t know that people running for a public office don’t sacrifice their precious time as private citizens. 

In politics, your time is also the time of the people.

I never ran for any post – n’yet anyway – because I couldn’t bear the thought of losing the company of the privacy of my waking hours.

I nearly ran for congressman though in 1992 against the late, lamented Cris Mendoza in my beloved second district. 

I backed out after hearing the words of wisdom both from my now-departed mother (formerly, the president of ABC—Association of Baranggay Captains) and the Chronicle columnist, Prof. Sol F. Juvida.

How can you go wrong with your mother and the love of your life?

I’ve never been happier in my life.

But I’m not saying I’m completely out of it.  Nobody ever holds the key to the future.

The Good Lord said, “Serve and be a servant of the people.”

I like that.  I’ve always wanted to be a servant of the people.  Politics affords you that chance.  Maybe someday, I’d be a politician, too.  Who knows?  The future’s the absolute uncertainty in this world.

Is Ate Glue a true servant of the people?

You tell me.

Anyway, Bebot turned a new leaf yesterday, March 24, and here’s wishing him more birthdays to come.

With Bebot’s decision not to run, there’s still four wannabes in the May gubernatorial battle.  They are Oscar Lambino, Dr. Jamie Agbayani, Rep. Amado “Espines” Espino Jr. and former governor Oscar “OO” Orbos. 

No one among The Fab Four has filed for candidacy – the deadline of filing being March 29 yet.

Of the four, only the doktora is the neophyte.  But she’s not to be underestimated though as she is the wife of Victor, the graduating governor.

As to Art Lomibao, well, he said Ate Glue had also asked him to quit the political derby and instead help in the nationwide campaign of GMA’s embattled Team Unity senatorial slate.

Being a soldier to the letter, Art, who had said two weeks ago he was 99.99 percent sure of opposing Joe DV, had to obey the Commander-In-Chief.

With his surrender, Art had validated anew the truism that, “Uncertainty is the language of politics.”

Brutally put, lying is a first cousin of politics.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/)

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