|
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Carvajal: I am simply pro-Barili
By Orlando P. Carvajal
Let me be very clear about one thing. I am unequivocally pro-Barili. As a Barileno, I am committed to helping my hometown in whatever way I can. As a columnist, I am not anti or pro anybody but will always reserve the right to criticize public officials for the common good.
I write again about Barili because when I attended my hometown’s fiesta, which Sun.Star supports yearly regardless of who is in charge, I was made aware that somebody wrote a reaction to my column “For The Love of Barili.” He or she wrote it in another daily, not in Sun.Star where my column appears and, evidently, he or she used an alias since nobody could match a face to the name he or she used. One can only wonder why.
In any case, after wading through mixed metaphors in mile-long sentences, I really could not get a handle on what he or she was trying to say. I could only understand the last sentence, the shortest in the write-up, which said in effect that in Barili many people are pro-Capitol but anti-Nemeno.
This saddens me because this is precisely the point in my column. I wrote about small towns, like Barili, that are caught in the crossfire of political infighting that is happening on all levels.
In the national level, nobody seems to be pro-Philippines. The protagonists are all either pro-Arroyo or anti-Arroyo. The pro-Arroyos compromise the common good for President Arroyo’s survival while the anti-Arroyo’s are willing to destroy everything just to vent their ire on the President.
I was happy about Mayor Chuckbong Nemeno’s shift to the governor’s camp not because I am pro-Nemeno. I was happy for Barili because it had suffered from Nemeno’s refusal, dictated by his party bosses who are non-Barilenos, to accept any help for Barili from the governor. I simply saw daylight and as is often my wont, I ran towards it by giving the mayor the benefit of the doubt.
I know that many people do not like Mayor Nemeno for maybe very valid reasons. I know many doubt his motives for switching sides. But being just anti or pro Nemeno will not help Barili in much the same way that being just anti or pro Gwen Garcia will not help Cebu and being just anti or pro Gloria will not help the Philippines.
We must find points of agreement and move the nation, the province and the town forward no matter who is in power. I wrote my column for the love of Barili and not of Nemeno. I am simply happy that the mayor is no longer taking orders from his former party bosses who are not from Barili, do not care about Barili, but are interested only in opposing the governor even at the cost of Barili’s progress.
In the end, therefore, I do not really care if you are anti-Nemeno for as long as you are, like me, unequivocally for Barili.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 29, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
