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Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Malig: Tofa and the World Mayor 2005
By Jun A. Malig
"THE important thing is the person's contribution to the community." This is how City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar "Oca" Rodriguez accentuates the qualification of an individual to be declared as an outstanding individual in his or her line of occupation. He said no matter how high or numerous the person's achievements are, he won't deserve the "outstanding" title if his works and dealings have no tangible impacts on the lives and well-beings of the people in his community. I definitely agree.
The criteria for nomination for The Outstanding Fernandino Awards 2006 (Tofa) seem to be simple enough: (1) The nominee must be born in San Fernando or at least one of his or her parents was born in the locality or has been resident for the past 15 years, (2) the nominee's achievements and contributions to his field must be recognized locally, nationally or globally, and (3) he or she must be of good moral character.
But these are only the basic criteria considered as standard requirements in any personality and achievement-based contests. And although the third criterion is usually difficult to be resolved objectively, meeting these fundamental criteria would only qualify individuals to become nominees. Earning the "outstanding" title requires greater and nobler grounds. Evidently, more is required to obtain the "most outstanding" title (e.g. the award being given by the province).
Tofa, according to Mayor Oca, aims to inspire people to do their best not only for themselves but for others. "It is not just about recognition. We are not recognizing anybody for the sake of recognizing," he stressed. He said to be declared as an outstanding person, one must have a sense of selflessness and patriotism, which is manifested by his or her good deeds. To deserve the "outstanding" title, he said the person must be truly a pride of Fernandinos in particular and of all Kapampangans in general. "Deta mung malyari tamu talagang ipagmaragul ding dapat tamung pilinan," he said, while explaining the need to preserve the credibility and significance of Tofa.
Last year, a member of the Tofa committee remarked that no winner would be declared in pre-selected categories wherein nominees fall short of grounds to become outstanding Fernandinos. "We'll just have to leave them blank if no one among the nominees truly deserves to be called as an outstanding Fernandino," he said.
His statement was compatible with Mayor Oca's explanation at the City Hall's conference room last Wednesday.
Indeed, the awarding of the "outstanding" title to anyone must not be done for the sake of mere recognition or filling in the pre-selected categories with unqualified winners. The important thing, as the mayor had emphasized, is the outstanding person's actual contributions for the benefit of his cabalens and his community.
Kudos to Mayor Oca and other City of San Fernando officials for having the precise cognition of the true essence of Tofa.
* * * * *
Mayor Oca was fourth placer in the Internet-based World Mayor 2005 contest. The soft-spoken yet assertive mayor, who is undoubtedly an outstanding public servant as evidenced by his countless deeds that made a lot of difference in the lives and welfare of many Kapampangans, received votes from all over the Philippines and from Filipinos in North America and Europe.
Of the 550 nominees, the Kapampangan mayor emerged in the fourth place. The first placer is Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyanis (Greece), second is Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion (Canada), and in the third place is Guatemala City Mayor Alvaro Arzu (Guatemala). Some 87,000 people around the globe participated in the contest.
The World Mayor website described the top four mayors as "politicians who are greatly admired by their own communities as well as nationally and internationally." It said: "All four mayors understand that local politics must have national and international dimensions. They have shown that in order to promote successfully the interests of their own communities they must also address issues faced by other cities in their respective countries and indeed across the world."
(December 13, 2005 issue)
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