Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Ledesma: El Sid in the 3rd district? By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
IT LOOKED like it was strategically correct to forge a unity ticket. It is less expensive, less stressful, everything to gain.
That was what was agreed upon and hoped for by the parties who entered into a covenant for a unity ticket, which was crafted by Congressman Boy Nograles. But that covenant was doomed seconds after the deadline of the submission of certificate of candidacy ended. In the first opportunity to campaign Ruy Lopez went on a separate way and campaigned tooth and nail for FPJ.
What made it ironic and comic was that he does it sometimes and openly in the same stage where his colleagues were rooting for GMA. But Ruy was not alone, there were other candidates who ran in lesser office against those of the unity ticket.
I thought that Mayor Rody Duterte and Representative Nograles have learned from that mistake. Apparently they did not. In the present congressional race, Ruy is fielding his brother Rene.
Early on, a straw poll was conducted and Rene garnered more votes that all three other contenders combined. The three are Al-ag, Zozobrado and Advincula in that order.
Because of his showing, I was told that Mayor Duterte and Congressman Nograles wooed Rene to join their unity ticket. They moreover made it clear this time that they must support the administration ticket. Obviously, the lesson from the past never sunk in.
To his credit, Rene had the delicadeza to tell the Mayor that he cannot join the unity bandwagon. That was the difference between him and brother Ruy.
The polls that were conducted showed a number of undecided votes. Jess Z, Al-ag and Vic A have agreed among themselves that whoever will be selected by the mayor, they will support to the hilt. But this does not look politically correct. Now the unity ticket is looking for a strong bet. That person is Sid Ungab.
Sid, if you remember, ran for vice mayor as an independent candidate in the last elections. He convincingly beat Louie Bonguyan in the Third in what seemed like an incredible feat.
But Sid Ungab is a Lopez boy, so to speak. Which means that between him and Rene, the Lopez captive votes will never go to him. It was a different story when Sid ran for vice mayor for then Ruy was vying for congressman. There is no conflict there in same manner that he topped the council slate in the 3rd district, a feat Dr. Rene Lopez failed to achieve as it was Al-ag who was the topnotcher.
But we will see. Will Sid turn his back to the Lopezes? Maybe, in the same way that Ruy turn his back on the unity ticket. The other way to look at this is whether Sid, being a banker and therefore knows economics than most of us hoi polloi do, believes more in the leadership of GMA than Erap. That should matter most for he serves best the presidency when he knows the economic principles of GMA. Well, in the end Majority Floor Leader Boy Nogales knows best but in local politics, Mayor Rody Duterte knows better.
Aerial Ban. I am being asked what my stand now that the aerial application of agricultural inputs has been banned. Well, I think that if the intention is to protect workers in banana plantation from chemical hazards, the city just succeeded in turning matters from bad to worst. I also maintain that the imposition of 30-meter buffer zones is superfluous given the fact that aerial ban shall be enforced.
A two meter-deep hedge would have sufficed in vegetable, rice and cornfields. The councilors should have considered that farmers use manual sprayers. Although most if not all of the chemicals being used by the farmers have very high toxicity levels compared to the fungicides applied on bananas, the chemical mist or drift is limited. Height of the hedge used as buffers should have been given premium and not the dept of 30 meters.
The farmers may not die of chemical hazards, they will die of malnutrition for then they will effectively lose not less than 30 percent of the land area and consequently the income. My two cents worth of advice?
Amend the ordinance before enforcement.
The son can also rise. A young man (in his 20's) is catching attention in the Third District. His name is Karlo S. Bello. He is the son of twice justice secretary and solicitor general Silvestre "Bebot" Bello III, and grandson of former mayor and former local government secretary Luigi Santos. An Ateneo de Manila law graduate, Kaloy wants to try his hand in politics to follow the footsteps of his grandfather, father and older brother, who's No. 1 provincial board member of Isabela.
Bebot, who is now director of the San Miguel Corporation, supports the decision of Kaloy to come home and carved his own name in public servant. The young Bello is quite good in articulating issues on children and woman's rights and the indigenous peoples.
