Sunday, November 04, 2007 Malilong: Disease common to most politicians By Frank Malilong The Other Side
FOUR years ago on our way home to Boljoon for All Saints’ Day, we found ourselves caught in a monstrous traffic jam just before the poblacion of the then municipality of Naga. Last week, our ride was smooth until we reached Carcar. It was only 8:30 in the morning but the line of vehicles crawling towards the new city’s rotunda was already long.
I was told that the situation worsened as the day wore on. On our way back to Cebu City, I saw the row of stalled south-bound vehicles extending more than a kilometer long. I saw some people trying to put some sanity into the situation but with obvious little success.
The Department of Public Works and Highways and the Carcar City Government should address the problem before it worsens. The narrow rotunda is a perennial bottleneck. Passing through it on days like the town fiesta or All Saints Day is as difficult as making a passing shot through two players positioned at the net. I’m using the analogy because Mayor Patrick Barcenas is a tennis player.
Widening the road is out of the question because it would entail destroying the historic rotunda and many houses, some of which must be centuries old. The only solution is an alternate route. It is expensive but taking everything into consideration, it is well worth the cost.
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Losing candidates in the last barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections should stop crying about being victims of vote buying. Which election hasn’t seen candidates bribing people to vote for them?
Anyone who claims that he didn’t know this until then is either hopelessly naïve or grossly dishonest. And point to me a politician who claims that he has not bought a voter and I will point to you a liar.
Every candidate resorts to vote buying although not everyone pays in cash. A promise of a job or even a free campaign T-shirt is still bribery. So let’s stop all this hypocrisy about the other camp buying votes while you did not. Just admit that you were simply outbid and then wait for the next elections to even the score.
That is, of course, easier said than done. A disease that is common to most politicians is impatience; they couldn’t wait for their turn.
That explains why until now the Opposition (most of them anyway) continues to plot President Arroyo’s ouster. By the way, this is a disease that has afflicted some bishops, too.
Arroyo may not be a good President but unless she does something really stupid (the pardon of Erap was stupid but it falls short of being really stupid) she should be allowed to serve her full term. After all, the next presidential election is only less than three years away.
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What is wrong with consulting one’s elders?
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes should be praised for his humility in seeking the counsel of older advisers, mostly friends of his late father, on how to run the city. If he benefits from their experience and wisdom, so does the city.
The claim that the Council of Elders has no reason for being because it has no public accountability smacks of arrogance. You don’t have to be elected in order to be accountable. And it is not only self-serving but fallacious to claim that only those elected by the people can have a say on how the government must be run.
Come on, gentlemen. The elections are over. Forget politics and buckle down to work.
