Saturday, February 24, 2007
Roperos: Leadership exchange
By Godofredo M. Roperos
Politics Also
ONCE upon a time, the town of Asturias played the role of an elder community to my hometown, Balamban.
When I was a kid in knee pants, I used to go there with my grandmother on Saturdays to sell tobacco and buyo during its market day.
Asturias was then a small sleepy town, as Balamban was, too. But it was the seat of the school district, and it had intermediate classes. It was also the site of a big sugar cane plantation that was later known as the Hacienda Osmeña.Today, the Chiongbians own the area.
Through the years, however, the fortunes of the two towns were reversed. Balamban advanced much faster economically so that just before World War II the school district seat was moved there. When a high school was opened in Balamban in the 1930s, high school kids from Asturias enrolled in Balamban.
Actually, the distance between the two towns is only seven kilometers. I taught in grade six there in the ‘50s after graduating from high school, and I had to walk back home on late afternoons when I missed the bus.
Balamban today has an industrial estate of sort, with two ship-building companies that are manned by Japanese and British nationals. The town has branches of four banks, three pawnshops, a branch of the Gaisano super-store chain, and three gasoline stations—all telltale signs of economic development.
Residents of Asturias, and even of Toledo City to the south of the municipality, come to do their marketing. With a population of about 60,000, it has four public high schools, two private ones, and a branch of Cebu Normal U.
Only a few days ago, a report in this daily said that a member of the town’s council who operates a business in Asturias, and is in fact, residing there now, will be contesting the town’s mayorship. If true, it would be like Balamban is exchanging leadership with Asturias.
I am referring to Councilor Allan Adlawan who is a civil engineer. When Balamban hosted the provincial athletic meet late last year, he was in the thick of its preparation. He worked closely with Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay in many of the town’s infrastructure projects, particularly barangay school buildings, feeder roads, and small irrigation systems for the rice fields.
Whether Adlawan’s candidacy for mayor of Asturias will be accepted by the town folk, however, is another matter altogether.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 24, 2007 issue)
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