Wednesday, November 07, 2007 Wenceslao: ABC presidency, Faelnar and Dave Ompoc By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
AFTER the barangay elections comes the positioning for available Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) posts. In Cebu City, reelected Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio “Jingjing” Faelnar has announced he won’t be seeking the ABC presidency, which he held for the past years. He said he will concentrate on his work in Guadalupe.
In cases like this, one could not really rely on reasons publicly stated because of backroom deals politicians enter into. There should be an explanation other than the small lead Jingjing got over his opponent for letting go of the ABC top post and the perks it carries, considering that the ABC president sits as ex-officio member of the Council.
While Faelnar’s decision opens the way for ambitious barangay captains to try taking over, I doubt if that would lead to a substantial change in the manner the city’s ABC will be run. Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan-allied candidates for barangay captains form an overwhelming majority in the ABC, thus puppetry will be retained.
I say the most visible achievement of the ABC under Faelnar was when it allowed itself to be used as an instrument to spite Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s “enemies.” The last few resolutions of the organization supported the mayor’s unpopular initiatives, like the attack against Lahug aimed at Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos.
By the way, I don’t know why Mary Ann is wasting time talking about running for the ABC presidency. Maybe she just wanted to tease Osmeña, who gets angry every time her name is mentioned. No way she will win even for lower ABC posts because her colleagues dislike her. I mean, whoever the mayor dislikes, his underlings dislike, too.
As for the ABCs outside Cebu City, I am sure local chief executives are already plotting ways to ensure the ascendancy of allies in the list of the organization’s officers. In doing this, it would be interesting to find out if the practice of sequestering barangay captains in resorts before the ABC elections will again be used as strategy for control.
***
He may not be your ideal broadcaster, but I think lawyer David Ompoc will be mentioned when historians write about the Cebu media in the waning years of the Marcos dictatorship. Ompoc was the sidekick, or should we say sparring partner, of commentator Migs Enriquez in their popular “Saksak-Sinagol” program in the late ‘70s and ‘80s.
Ompoc was actually more of a lawyer than a broadcaster but he was at the right place at the time he sidelined as a commentator. While his delivery was not flawless and he sometimes tripped over the pronunciation of some words, he was sharp. That was why he became an effective foil to Migs. Listeners laughed when Ompoc was teased on air.
Ompoc died on Nov. 1 at the age of 77. I have not heard him on air the past few years, although I heard broadcaster Choy Torralba talk about him at one time or another in his dyLA program “Tug-ani ang Lungsod.” I am sure many people will miss him especially in this age when many commentators sound like empty barrels being banged.
