WHILE most residents are occupied with prayers and Lenten activities, our elective leaders are busy in securing their place in the temporal world.
Competing interests and ambition go against the way to a spiritual journey in this season of grace. The city mayor and her vice mayor of choice in past elections have gone their separate ways.
Vice Mayor Vicky has been intensifying her campaign to dislodge Mayor EdPam who has stockpiled a warehouse of accomplishments including several awards.
Vicky has the energy of a sumo wrestler who can engage her opponent in vital areas of public service. The politician-wrestler in her tried to pin down EdPam in some defects including the alleged removal of the public schoolteachers allowance under SEF.
Smarting from the scathing innuendoes of her erstwhile party mate and friend, EdPam kept his hurt to himself, choosing to remain silent out of “finesse and propriety” according to his media officers.
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City Administrator Albert Pamintuan belied Vicky’s “wrong information” and chastised Vicky for sowing lies and disinformation to the public.
The vice mayor belied any black propaganda from her camp saying she was “bothered and bewildered”, citing political harassment from the mayor’s side.
She lectured Atty. Dennis on the “indispensable qualities of a leader” and vowed to fight for the rights of whoever asked her help.
Soon after, while local priests urged the faithful to give and forgive during this holy week, the vice mayor organized and led the launching of massive women power in Angeles City dubbed as “Mothers for Mother Nature.”
To neutralize the pro-women initiative, Mayor EdPam has thrown his support to the proposed Expanded Maternity Leave Law. This expands the maternity leave of working mothers – married or unmarried- from 60 to 90 days. The mayor’s move gained widespread support from thousands of women folk.
The city’s gender development office continues to receive citizen’s support to the mayor’s move. Husbands, too, were elated to know the benefits from a lengthened maternal leave.
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Atty. Dennis, one of the best city administrators in Region 3, intimated that the city mayor will not make “patol” nor engage Vicky in a battle of black propaganda.
The city administration is at a gross disadvantage in a word war with the lady who wants to be mayor, according to newsmen at the monthly “Kapihan with EdPam.” Vice Mayor Vicky enjoys front page treatment of her press release at the Sun.Star Pampanga and more frequently and prominently at the CL Daily where her husband Art Cabigting is the editor in chief.
Mayor EdPam seldom gets equal treatment at the latter, the observers said.
“So while Vicky has the double-edged publicity advantage, EdPam is at the shorter end of the word war,” the newsmen said. “But only for now.”
The camp of Lito Lapid is happy and encourages the word war between the former allies. They expect to get the votes of the disgruntled from both sides. Happy Easter to my readers!