ASPIRANTS to top provincial positions seem undecided.
They are hesitant and quite timid if not intimidated to make open declaration of their plans.
Maybe it is too early to campaign and make themselves vulnerable to alms seekers, the seasonal opportunists, and professional political leaders.
In the absence of declared candidates for governor, the people are uneasy of the existing power vacuum that may invite fearless and controversial candidates to join the fray.
There is the celebrated Muslim lawyer Elly V. Pamatong, my favorite nuisance presidential aspirant who was a former losing candidate for Pampanga governor.
The man has a wife from Arayat. He is known to have an adventurous spirit and a generosity of spreading road spikes.
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I read that ex-congressman and former lawmaker Tarzan Lazatin, CIAC chief Alex Cauguiran, and Clark locator-investor Dr. Irineo Alvaro, Jr. are the declared candidates for Angeles City mayor in addition to the sitting VM Bryan Nepo.
Lazatin is the proverbial old dog with a new collar. Alex is the strategist and partner of “Cong Ed” in restoring lahar-struck Angeles into a premier community. Alvaro has a well rounded academic, administrative, and management experience. Bryan has yet to undergo the baptismal fire from the Pinatubo disaster or by Duterte.
The older voters and millennial post-Pinatubo remember Angeles when it was devastated and undergoing rehabilitation. Cauguiran was at the center of things. He was Pamintuan’s action man who led the famous shovel brigade to shore up Abacan river. In later years he transformed idle lots and vacant public lands into mini-plazas teeming with vegetables and flowers.
His followers are proud of his record in Abacan river, saying not one of his rivals for city mayor has held a shovel against rampaging lahar. The young Nepo has yet to mature, Alavaro tested, Lazatin unplugged.
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Alex Cauguiran is of peasant stock, born of the masses. He has struggled most of his life to reach a benchmark where his survival skills have saved him, his fearless talents have served public interest, and capacity for hard work and honesty are second nature.
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What is the difference between Pacquiao and Tarzan? The Pacman fights with his body, Tarzan with his money. The Kong is known as lazy a campaigner. I remember a practical wisdom from him. “Put your money to work.”