Thursday, February 08, 2007
Ariola: Easing out Cano'
By Jose Paolo Ariola
I Still Walk the Line
Why don't they want Ricardo "Cano`" Tan to run for mayor of Bacolod City ?That's the question that came into my mind as I watched the DOTC Undersecretary being interviewed on local cable TV over the weekend in the wake of Pres. GMA's visit to Bacolod City. As soon as the President landed on Negros soil, she lost no time in breaking to him the news that she had appointed him to a much higher office in Manila - no less than the plum Land Transportation Office. But this has put the good assistant secretary in a quandary. What's to become now of his mayoral candidacy in the City of Bacolod especially now that he has already laid in place his electoral machinery?
It is of public knowledge in Bacolod City that Cano's affinity with Pres. GMA goes way back when she was still a Senator, then Vice-President, and now as President. And no one can dispute that. Unlike other politicians who cuddled up to the President only after she ascended to the presidency, Cano already stood by her when she was still earning her spurs in the dirty world of Philippine politics. Of course, who is to question the president's wisdom that she "needs" Cano` real bad in Manila. As a matter of fact, it is rather flattering for us Bacoleños that our very own local boy is being beckoned to a much greater responsibility in the Big City by no less than Malacañang itself. But doesn't Bacolod need Cano` too? Now that he has offered himself as an alternative choice for the city's top post, he is being eased out of Bacolod's electoral contest by dangling upon him an offer apparently too good to refuse. But will Cano` bite the bait? I hope not.
Methinks that the Bacoleños deserve another choice for mayor in the forthcoming local elections. We've been through with the administrations of the other two front-running candidates for mayor. And to be blunt about it, there appears to be not much improvement in our city. Traffic is still a mess (and getting worse). Sidewalk vendors still hawk their wares in just about anywhere in the downtown area with impunity. The garbage problem is still, well, a stink. So why not give Cano' the chance to show what he can offer for the city? And the city has not much to lose either if he were to pursue his political plans. If as the president says she needs him badly, doesn't Bacolod need Cano' "badlier?" I believe that the greater interest of national service (the LTO?) can wait for a while and that Cano' Tan should be given his chance to show to the people of Bacolod the stuff that he's made of by allowing him to run for mayor. If he wins, then he's got three years to prove his worth. And I believe that not a few Bacoleños will be willing to take a chance on him. If he loses in the election, the President can always re-appoint him a year later if she really trusts him. Otherwise, Bacolod will remain pretty much the same and we will only lament that Cano' would have been arguably the better (if not the best) mayor Bacolod never had.
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And while we are it, the presidential visit to Negros last week has shown yet another humorous facet of local politics. For instance, at airport while waiting for the arrival of the President, it was rather amusing to see bitter political rivals trying to appear civil (without being uncivilized) vis-...-vis each other even as they were vying for the president's attention. In Silay City , two mayoral wannabes (one the incumbent and the other, the just declared albeit disputed winner) were on hand to welcome the President. Oh well, politicians as I have been saying all along, are like professional wrestlers. They're good at acting also. But wait. To borrow Rep. Zubiri's favorite slogan in his TV advertisement, there's one who made "sapul" of everybody - as in "talbog silang lahat." As the President disembarked from her presidential plane, guess who followed close behind her in his signature striped shirt? Yup, it was our very own Cong. Newks Puentevella.
"O, ti`, maano kamo da?" Ina` ya, Newks!!For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (February 8, 2007 issue)
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