Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Mercado: Rumble in October By Ram Mercado First Person
THE exciting saga in Angeles City, starring the feuding Lazatin and Nepomuceno families, opens a new chapter with the coming barangay elections.
Congressman Tarzan Lazatin, after 12 years in Congress, and nine years as mayor of Angeles City, has not waned in energy nor diminished in ambition as the “jungle king” in this premier city.
He has achieved all of his known aspirations in life except the one thing that has kept his eyes burning and his heart raging as in an obsession -- to defeat Blueboy Nepomuceno, the incumbent city mayor, in a sudden-death playoff in 2010.
Tarzan has conquered Blueboy’s elder brother, Robin “Bong” Nepo not once but twice in the mayoral race, the achievement being the “blood payment” of the Nepomucenos for Tarzan’s disgraceful loss to the Nepos’ patriarch, Don Francisco “Kitong” Nepomuceno in the mayoral fight in 1980.
Lazatin had sacrificed his daughter (Janet) and son (Jonjon) but only in two fights he considered as mere battles. He has set his sights on the big war.
It’s the real battle royale -- the mayoral elections in 2010. This is what keeps the congressman busy these days, in between shuffling from Congress where he answers the roll call diligently and the Casa Blanca casino at Clark which he oversees dutifully.
In all his political battles in Angeles, Lazatin depended heavily on barangay leaders who formed the backbone of his past campaigns. Except last May when the local officials failed to deliver the votes to Jonjon who was swamped by the seeded and highly popular Blueboy in a pure mismatch.
Tarzan has started warming up his political engine and put his adept ears to trace any misfiring carburetor, or a faulty spark plug. Barangay captains running for reelection have formed a beeline to the “Jungle Base,” his domicile cum headquarters, apparently to get the initial installment of their “ammunitions.”
Majority of barangay leaders in Angeles City are Lazatin protégés known for their canine loyalty, industry, and track record in “delivery” of votes. Most of these, it was reported, would not find difficult getting elected.
A head count of incumbent barangay chairmen has tallied only five or six out of the 33 village chiefs who are for Nepomuceno. Tarzan reportedly is intent on having a dozen of new chairmen elected, with some eight incumbents already in his pocket.
With only eighteen barangay chairmen on Tarzan’s side, the majority voice would belong to the Lazatin bloc. At the City Council he counts on the unwavering support and loyalty of eight council members, with only two belonging to the Nepo ticket. Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting decides a tie.
With these as his support advantage in the official level, Tarzan reportedly is confident he can topple Blueboy at the City Hall in their anticipated encounter.
Reports had it that the going rate now per contested barangay is P200,000 a figure which the Nepo camp described as exaggerated. “The amount being floated is a psy-war tool to rattle the incumbent mayor who is known for his frugal ways”, it was learned.
The Nepo camp has put a tight watch in Congress, recording Tarzan’s daily time record. Lazatin, aware of the secret surveillance on his attendance, regularly reports for work or the roll call whichever is convenient. In the evening, spy teams monitor his presence at Casa Blanca which the congressman nurtures and guards like a goose that lays golden eggs.
Nepomuceno spooks, disguised as players, reportedly estimate the casino earnings at about P25 million a month.
At City Hall, Nepo supporters were frantically worried on the possible outcome of the barangay elections by the end of October. Will Blueboy match the “going rate” at 200K per barangay if he wanted to garner majority of the winners that would be his marching soldiers in 2010?
He has started early, though, in the propaganda blitz by exposing Tarzan’s documented debt legacy to the city during well-attended People’s Day in every barangay weekly. The constituents were shocked when they are informed of the loans Lazatin got for the city and the unpaid obligations until he left, reported Dr. Bong Alvaro to newsmen.
Tarzan has not explained these but his supporters were confident the people will love him the more when he does. “He is like Lito Lapid, the people always believe them right or wrong,” a Lazatin leader said.
*****
Friends in media and colleagues of Rox Peña, Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awardee for Environment, welcomed the popular columnist, broadcaster, environmental advocate, and corporate executive (TIPCO) upon his recent return from the City of Graz, Austria and Europe. Peña is a Philippine delegate to a world forum for the Ecological Project for Integrated Environmental Technology.
Rox is now spearheading the ECOPROFIT concept in Pampanga with core groups led by the Metro Clark Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Environmental Practitioners Association, and a Makati-based environment group.
Mabalacat suffers a great loss with Peña’s ill-luck in the past elections for town councilors. He will make it to the top next time around, you bet!
