Wednesday, May 07, 2008 Mercado: Fer Caylao street smart By Ram Mercado
THE unmistakable sights and sounds of progress in the City of San Fernando provide evidence to the quality and depth of leadership in the city administration.
Fernandinos credit speedy transformation of their community during the past four years to the idealisms and vision of Mayor Oscar Rodriquez whose battled cry is "Magsilbi Tamu."
Mayor Oca will beat all chief executives of Central Luzon's cities in a quest for Most Outstanding City Mayor of Central Luzon; there is no debate on that.
The media, particularly its rank of hardboiled and discerning workers, have cited Rodriguez for his integrity and credibility. These are his two most valuable attributes as a leader that earned him wide public esteem and support.
The man behind the mayor's achievements, however, refused to take even a modest credit for the success of running and maintaining well-oiled and smoothly functioning government machinery that conceives, implements, and enforces Mayor Oca's projects.
"He has won my trust and so I have to give all my best and total commitment for his success," said City Administrator Ferdinand "Fer" Caylao of his boss.
Caylao, a mechanical engineer (Mapua) and a law graduate, was former Provincial Director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
He used to be the Night Operations coordinator of the San Fernando Coca-Cola Plant.
As a professional mechanical engineer, he gained his expertise and management skills as Sales/Safety Engineer of Engineering Equipment Inc., one the country's largest firms in that line.
When then congressman Rodriguez was nearing his last term and decided to run for mayor, Fer Caylao was his first and top choice as organizer and party leader. The two were neighbor-residents in Barangay St. Jude where, during homeowner's affairs, Rodriguez met Caylao and the duo struck up a solid alliance.
Caylao first impressed me when he presided over a caucus of barangay leaders, with media workers present, and organized the local officials to rally behind Rodriguez in his mayoral bid.
For a mechanical engineer adept at rabble-rousing, with articulate effectiveness and political savvy, that was quite astonishing.
When the irrepressible Sonia Soto, the female principle in the Rodriguez machinery took over the post of city administrator from Caylao (exchanging positions-Sonia was at first head of human resources), Fer played the hard role ungrudgingly and faithfully. That was how loyal and obedient he was to Mayor Oca.
If Sonia vested life and character to the Rodriguez administration, Fer Caylao was the synthesizer, implementor, and enforcer. It is a role he is doing magnificently today as outstanding City Administrator.
In office he works quietly and efficiently with Swiss clock precision.
When he goes out for fieldwork, he assumes multi-tasking as chief-of-staff party leader, peace maker, trouble-shooter, inspector general, salesman, coordinator, and personal envoy of the City Mayor.
His principal advantage is the fact that he is an expert the Filipinos' chief amusement sport-cockfighting. Fer grew up almost in the sabungan during his teenage years; he had raised and handled fighting roosters, with his father's blessing.
It was in the sabungan circles that Caylao got his baptismal fire in petty politics; he had sharpened his ability to discern people's motives and idiosyncrasies, and leaned community dynamics from the fickle crowd. He knows a potential winner among the fighting cocks.
With that background, the young man grew up to be street-smart, clever in the ways of the world, politics especially, and wise to the machinations of players regarding money matters.
When Oca invited him to his campaign, by instinct the sabungero in Fer knew a winning breed.
Fer's gregarious nature and easygoing ways complement Mayor Oca's thoughtful and laid-back personality.
Rodriguez, an intellectual appears cool and sober. With Caylao, barangay leads and city councilor park themselves in his office to shoot breeze after a session.
Former barangay chairman Du Santos said if you scratch Caylao hard enough, you would find Oca Rodriguez.
No wonder Fer, even if just aroused from a deep slumber, can recite a litany of the Mayor's achievements and cherished dreams:
Winning for San Fernando a PGS-Proficiency City status nationwide.
PGS is Public Governance System; the Rodriguez infrastructures for public schools, rehabilitation of old public market, concreted roads, an Annex City Hall, the Central Transport Terminal; rationalized traffic system; a model habitat of growth.
Mayor Oca is most applauded by the city residents for his achievements in providing educational access to the youth. New school buildings were built in each of the city's 35 barangays. It is the mayor's foremost dream of seeing every family in the city to have a family member makes it through college. A great and doable aspiration, indeed.
This school year's opening will focus anew the Mayor's greatest initiative in the city: the school enrolment of students from the marginalized rural sector under his scholarship in Education for Empowerment and Development (Seed). Last year, the City Government allocated about P26 million for this project. By June about 8,000 mayor's scholars will be welcomed in public and private schools.
Caylao has a long, long list of Rodriguez realized projects and proposed plans for implementation.
The remarkable "character" Marnie Castro said San Fernando is quite small for Mayor Oca's dream. "He will make a great governor," she added citing Oca's capabilities.
Ask Fer Caylao if his boss would play it "llamado" or dejado before you place your bets.
