Two mayors: Perez and Revita

By Gonzalo Duque

TWO Pangasinan mayors who are definitely leaving a big mark in their terms are Amadito Perez and Ricardo Revita of Urdaneta City and Rosales, respectively.

Former Congressman Perez has radically widened the city streets and showed everyone that he has political will. Bravo!

With the full support of Congressman Mark Cojuangco, Mayor Perez has made Urdaneta the city of the millennium.

You see, the common tragedy of our municipalities is their very narrow streets. The explanation is that our former captor, the Spanish government, made our roads and streets narrow, and it’s tough to redesign or recraft them.

But Mayor Amadito did not allow it that way.

Mayor Revita of Rosales on the other hand has shown that he is a hands-on executive. And from the looks of it, super barangay Carmen will soon be a business magnet because Henry Sy’s SM is now being constructed there full blast. Woe unto the super markets in the area because the upcoming SM will flatten them all. Under Revita, crime collapsed like a house of cards. Paano, dating pulis si mayor e.

Congrats to the two of you.

* * * *

We were in Cebu last week to preside over the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities.

This city and province never stop fascinating us. Vibrant, lovely and prosperous. No wonder it’s called Queen City of the South.

We at PACU were redesigning the Philippine education road map. Our speakers were A-l such as Fr. Bienvenido Nebres of the Ateneo. We also had as entertainer the livewire and entertainment genius Nanette Inventor. Of course, with Nanette around, the house was brought down.

Collaborating with PACU in the convention were the DENR, the DOH and the PNRC.

The Red Cross has vowed to help aggressively in the area of disaster preparedness, citing the need for local chapters all over the country, an idea that is being pushed by Senator Dick Gordon, PNRC national chairman. Kilala natin yan si Dick. Kung anong sinabi, it’s done. We’d like him to be president of the country, if only Lady Luck would smile on him.

The involvement of the National Service Training Program was also taken up. NSTP has effectively replaced the ROTC in our school’s community development outreach curriculum.

* * * *

You will notice that when we became Pacu president, we immediately changed the practice that big conventions be held in Manila.

We thought a province such as Cebu has the Philippine character in the proper place. Who took the valiant stand against foreign invaders during the Spanish time? It’s Cebu and Mactan. After Cebu, we held meetings outside from Metro Manila. And many have agreed with us.

* * * *

Ahem intact. … ahem… our Lyceum Northwestern U recently received a Presidential Award for Best Environment. Not bad. In fact, it’s great, because the award is a countermove to the growing environmental degradation.

When we designed the “environment-enriched” LNU campus, we thought we were merely making our body and mind good when freshened by trees, plants and a garden. Medyo na touched ata ang mga puso ng mga bisitas at they recommended that we receive an award for it. We are grateful with the award, of course, but we didn’t aspire for it. This makes the award meaningful and pleasureable.

(Readers may reach columnist at punch.sunday@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/playing-with-fire/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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