LAZATINS, Nepomucenos, Pamintuans – all political families that have ruled Angeles City.
They held power at different points in time. I am middle-aged and if you do the math, I was still very young when husband and wife Francisco and Juanita Nepomuceno occupied seats of power not just in Angeles City but also at the provincial level.
They held other positions like in the Pampanga Provincial Board, the House of Representatives, and the Pampanga Capitol (as Governors on different periods). Francisco or Apung Quitong ruled Angeles for several years in the 70s and 80s.
Their sons – Robin (Bong) and Francis (Blueboy) also entered the political fray. The former became a Board Member and even a Vice Governor while the latter took the city helm and was a Congressman too.
Blueboy first came to power when Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan picked him to be his running mate in the 1990s. Many had said that the Nepomucenos might have gone into political oblivion if Edpam did not choose Blueboy to become his vice mayor then. That was the retrospection.
Comes now another Nepo in Atty. Bryan Matthew, who was elected as vice mayor in 2015. He is said to be in the 5th generation of politicians in his genealogy. One that started in the mid-1800s with Pio Rafael Nepomuceno serving as gobernadorcillo of Angeles. There were other Nepos that ruled in between.
As for Lazatins, who does not know Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin? Not just in Angeles and Pampanga but also elsewhere. He was a many-termer Congressman and Mayor. He is now in the running for Barangay Captain of Balibago, Angeles City’s premier village.
His son Carmelo II or Jonjon is now the incumbent congressman of Pampanga’s first district while Carmelo Jr. or “Pogi” is a city councilor (Yes folks, those are three Carmelos). Pogi exudes great PR and might just bag the vice mayorship in the future. Apung Tarzan’s father Rafael was also a former Pampanga Governor and mayor of Angeles City.
The Pamintuans are different breed. They are altogether of different class. Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan or EdPam first started his mayoral career in the 1990s. He was greatly responsible for the recovery of Angeles City from the double whammy in Pinatubo’s eruption and the pullout of American troops in Clark.
He was also credited for some of the infrastructure and road network loops that are coming to realization in Metro Manila. That, he had helped plan for when he was appointed by former President Arroyo as in her Cabinet as Presidential Adviser for External Affairs.
Then he came back to City Hall with vengeance when he beat Blueboy in 2010, the very same person he picked to be his running mate in 1995 but would later trounced him for Congressman years later.
Edpam’s father, Alberto, was vice mayor of Angeles City in the 1980s while his son Edu (Edgardo Jr.) is, just like the mayor-dad, is about to complete his three terms as Councilorand is said to be a possible vice mayoral candidate for 2019.
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Making a big wave in the political realm lately is Bong Alvaro, a former City Councilor himself who had also served as City Administrator during the stint of BlueboyNepo.
This fellow is known more as a businessman, a locator and investor inside Clark Freeport, especially among the so-called millennials. That is because of his many exposure as of late in the social and mainstream media. His face has been made more recognizable by today’s youth through the huge billboards of Aqua Planet in strategic points in the city.
His superimposed photo on those billboards that announced the opening of Clark’s newest attraction could not be ignored. Rather, his outstretched arms seemingly convey openness, approachability – a beckoning. As one politician commented of his pose: “he is like Moses summoning his people to come with him for a better life.”
Did anyone quip promise land? Nahh, I don’t think so. Alvaro is a religious guy but I don’t think he would want to be known as somebody who could lead people to “promise” land. Besides, in the time I have known him and in how he laid bare his life to the public, he is not the Trapo type (traditional politician) who will make this and that promise.
What I know is he delivers things without mincing a word.
One example of his good deeds is the hanging bridge which he has help fund for Aetas few years ago. Sans fanfare and media mileage that typically go along every politicians endeavour, his donation of a 6-digit sum of money had made life easier for our kulot brethren to get to hard-to-reach SitioHaduan, one of their ancestral domains near Clark.
What I know too is that he returns bread for a stone thrown.
Recently, he donated huge volume of water (in bottles and other containers) to SapangBato and Margot – two Angeles City villages affected by water crisis. That, despite Aqua Planet being unfairly pinpointed to as culprit to their water problem. Experts had already said that the water table and source of these barangays is nowhere near Aqua Planet is getting water from. Besides, the resort just recycles water it uses on its pools.
His acts of kindness do not go unnoticed by Angelenos. Already, some people are clamouring for him to make a comeback in the political realm. Already, I’ve been seeing (and reading) on social media the call for a new brand of leadership in Angeles City. Already, I’ve been hearing people coin two words “ibanaman.”
While I’m no fan of acrostics, but the IBA there is actually the initials of his full name Ireneo B. Alvaro (Jr.).
Such call reverberates throughout the city, giving possible candidates for mayor like Brian Nepo, Alex Cauguiran a run for their moneys.
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The call is for someone to lead Angelenos to a better life in the next few years.
Alvaro, who had once said and proven that there is (better) life after the US bases, perfectly knows what a good life is and how to reach it.
He had humble beginnings in Concepcion, Tarlac where the family barely made both ends meet. But poverty was no reason for him not to succeed. Even the closure of bases where he once worked did not deter him to succeed.
He worked his way up from a mere production worker (valve maker and designer) to an entrepreneur. From there, he found good deals and partners. He strived to become one of the most successful businessmen in the region that he now runs a multi-billion dollar (not peso there, for emphasis) company that owns an integrated hotel casino complex, an online gaming company and a resort.
Now, I am not saying that in order for opportunists to milk him dry if he decides to run for office. No, Mr. Alvaro does not and will not give away free lunches. He does not believe in dole-outs.
Now, I am not saying all these to boost the stock of a man that no longer need such. I am saying this to highlight that better life indeed comes when one strives for it. Better life is seen at those who face the challenges in the eye. Just as he had experienced and shown in his life (he recently celebrated his 50th birthday).
I am saying this to state the difference between a man of his own and the rest who are depending on somebody else’s anointment to lead the people, the city. Between a man whose name might be new and men who possess surnames of a political clan that ruled for many years.
I am saying that, perhaps, Angelenos no longer want a political dynasty, no longer want promise breakers, no longer want trapos, no longer want those who wait for decision of their benefactors – as they now loudly say: “IBA naman.”