Saturday, June 02, 2007 Ajero: Baptism of fire By Antonio M. Ajero The Sentry Point
SARA Z. Duterte will be acting Davao City mayor even before she could warm her seat as the first ever elected lady vice mayor of the city. This is if papa Rody as reported goes on indefinite leave of absence after going under the knife for injuries incurred during his big bike days.
Sara is ready to take on this very different kind of (extended) baptism of fire, or so she says in published reports.
While a great majority of Dabawenyos would certainly miss the commanding presence of the maverick chief executive, dubbed "The Punisher" by a Time writer last year, many are thrilled by the prospects of a lady hizzoner (slang of "his honor" first used by American newspapers in 1883) ruling this city of 1.5 million.
How will the "badlongons" -the denizens of the underworld and the Katzenjammer Kids in the Sangguniang Panlungsod- behave under Sara? Will she be tough-talking and hands-on like her father?
What about her lovelife -will she postpone marriage indefinitely like the leave of absence of her father? With bated breath, Dabawenyos - well-meaning and plain tsismosos - would like these and many more questions answered.
With Sara going up to City Hall, who would be manning the Sanggunian as acting vice mayor? The most qualified is another lady -Mabel Sunga-Acosta.
Mabel is the topnotcher of the topnotchers of the council derby in the three congressional districts of the city last May 14. Mabel garnered a total of 119,312 votes, which is 39.66 percent of the registered voters of District I (300.806 votes).
Comebacking Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, the other lady topnotcher, gathered 75,039 votes, or only 37.73 percent of District III's total registered voters of 198,861.
Louie John Bonguyan, the topnotcher in District II, collected a total of 84,500 votes, which is only 33.66 percent of the district's registered voters of 251,000. A lady for a mayor and another for a vice mayor. We are in for some interesting times indeed.
Who said that woman was created to cure the loneliness of man? This may be true in biblical times. Today, it has become general truth that women are capable of taking over the world given the opportunity.
