Neat Nani

By Al S. Mendoza

WHO SAID NANI BRAGANZA is not a man of his own?

He proved it just a while back when he said, loud and clear here at PUNCH, 1017 would destroy his city’s tourism campaign.

 

His words were comforting. They made him 10 feet tall.

 

For a guy known to be chummy with Ate Glue for years – that hasn’t changed, right? – hearing him say Ate Glue’s 1017 is a bad decree is a fresh whiff of air, a pitch for good governance.

 

That’s neat, Nani.

 

How many had the gall, the balls, to say what Nani said?

 

I bet you, the count wouldn’t go beyond my 10 fingers.

 

We all know Nani, the no-nonsense mayor of Alaminos, as doing his utmost to resurrect the glorious past of Alaminos: a haven for tourists.

 

His efforts at it would have gone for naught, been wasted, had 1017, Ate Glue’s anti-democracy decree, not been lifted just as quick as when it was declared.

 

Because it had the chilling effect of martial law, 1017 drove out instead of drew in tourists.  It is a deterrent to everything that Nani had dreamed of: a peaceful Alaminos with all the splendor and beauty of its Hundred Islands, a veritable sanctuary for tourists yearning for peace, relaxation, solemnity and a truthful communing with nature.

 

The Alaminos of Nani Braganza is but a speck in a world filled with ironies.

 

Here’s a man driven to making his turf the best of the best.  He’s so consumed in making Alaminos the best destination for tourists both foreign and domestic.

 

Well and good.

 

Every leader has something to lean on to, something to symbolize his administration. Nani has the Hundred Islands to rally his people.

 

And rightly so.

 

Nobody can question the beauty, the built-in thrill and attraction, of Hundred Islands. Since time immemorial, it has been the place to go to not only among Pangasinenses but also all Filipinos.

 

But going to Hundred Islands and finding out what’s in it – or what’s left of it – are two different things now.

 

My brother living in Canada came home last year and the first thing he wanted was to visit Hundred Islands. I most honestly welcomed his wish. I, myself, have been dying to see Hundred Islands again. It’s been decades since I last saw it, particularly Quezon Island.

 

But, alas, the trip with my brother did not materialize.

 

Relying mainly on what our townsfolk have said to us, my brother and I ended up skipping the trip. He was not properly apprised of what’s to be seen, what’s to be done, in Hundred Islands decades after he had left the country.

 

I say it would help if there’s a major information campaign about what’s being done in your  turf, Nani? OK, I’ve read about your grand plans for Alaminos in the Inquirer. But they are not enough.

 

For starters, why not build road signs leading to Hundred Islands, beginning in Tarlac?

And then, it’d help if brochures about Hundred Islands are distributed in strategic locations up North, say begin in town halls and gasoline stations dotting the Romulo Highway going to Alaminos?

 

These are but suggestions. The final say is yours, of course.

 

But in closing, I raise a glass once more to you, Nani, for speaking your mind out about 1017.

 

You’ve got balls, I tell you.

                     

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