He is probably the first Pampanga governor to be involved in a number of court cases, filed against him by co-workers and subordinates in the provincial Capitol and he, against them.
Politics and public service, after all, are contact sports.
He is also the first Pampanga governor to face a recall.
If he stays lucky and defeats his political enemies in this crucial, life-and-death political challenge, he will be the first governor of the province to do so.
In fact, if he stays luckier, the recall election might not push through at all for lack of funds, as Commission on Elections Chairman Jose Melo announced Wednesday.
But if the governor runs out of luck, the Provincial Government might just provide the P40 million required to underwrite the recall election. That is, if the governor would sign the appropriation measure the provincial board might just be too happy to enact in a jiffy.
If he is lucky, the governor might just listen to somebody not to sign it. Well, he can listen to Melo, for a change, and not try to give his enemies the rope to hang him with.
If he gets unlucky, he might just sign the recall budget without reading it as a matter of habit, as some believe him to be in.
If he runs out of luck, the governor will be the first victim of a first recall move against a Pampanga governor, or any local Kapampangan official, for that matter.
If he gets more unlucky, there is that small glimpse at misfortune that he will serve term, outside or inside jail, and may even shell out a few thousands for damages.
Well, being historic and unlucky has its price.
But whether he wins or loses in the recall polls, the governor can use the political exercise to prop up his honest-to-goodness image for a national post. Anything is possible: president, vice president or senator.
Even if he doesn't win any of these present and future challenges, the governor can always opt to go back to priesthood, and that's no less than historic.
He can even write a book about it and, if his luck gets back on track again, he might just come up with a best-seller, here and abroad.
And even if that book won't sell, it still has the making of a historic flop.
For better or for worse, a historic man as the governor will always do or be in something historical, regardless of the outcome.
It's not too far-fetched for him to run for cardinal or pope, given his across-the-board popularity and the age-old banality in his religious backyard that needs his crusading mindset. Ironies, like miracles, do happen all the time, and at times come in a neat package.
If he leaves priesthood and decides to marry -- uuuy! -- that would still be historic.
No one has gone down that road before -- from priest to governor to errand boy -- err, husband. Whatever happens, that would still be historic, wouldn't it?
