THE whole world is expecting a vaccine that will halt the pandemic. At this point, many respectable pharmaceutical companies are in a rush to discover one but no one can say when this can be made available. In the meantime, life goes on. Safely I can say that we are lucky in Pampanga compared to other communities in the country. In the roster of local leaders, there is Governor Dennis Pineda who is on top of the situation. Likewise, the executives like Angeles City Mayor Carmelo "Pogi" Lazatin, Mabalacat Mayor Cris Garbo, Mexico Mayor Teddy Tumang, Bacolor Mayor Diman Datu, Apalit Mayor Jun Tetangco, Candaba Mayor Rene Maglanque are reportedly scoring success in their fight vs the coronavirus.
In the meanwhile, in the City of San Fernando, local officials seemingly cannot get their acts together. Just a few days ago a controversy erupted when former Barangay Captain Melchor Caluag, together with Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Martin Dinio and an official of Violence Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) went to the office of the Ombudsman and filed a criminal case against city officials led by Mayor Edwin Santiago. (As of this writing, he said he will answer point by point the allegations once he receives the complaint sheet from the Ombudsman.)
Santiago, who is widely known as "Boy tsinelas" and Edsa, is in his third and final term. With the recent development, I don’t know how he will be remembered by his town mates after his government service. It is indeed a punctuation point in his political career. I rather not speculate.
No one stays on top forever. I remember those many political leaders who in their years carved their niches. There was the controversial Armando P. Biliwang. The late Dondoy, that’s how friends and kins called him. He was mayor during the so-called dark days. The dissident movement in Pampanga was in its height. There was even a movie made because of his exploits titled "Biliwang ng BSDU" with actor Tony Ferrer, a Cabalen in a starring role. Biliwang died pennilessly. After Biliwang, there was the late Dr. Jose Quiwa who presided on the growth of the town.
Other outstanding men served the capitol town with their brand of public service. Among them Levi Panlilio, Col. Amante Bueno, lawyer Vic Macalino, Virgilio Sanchez, Pat Guevarra and Rey Aquino. The latter became congressman and president of PhilHealth. Another local leader who endeared himself to the Fernandinos is none other than Oscar Rodriguez. He also served as a congressman. (BTW, it seems he is still contemplating to make a try for the mayorship in 2022. Abangan.)
Though a native of Sta. Ana town, he elected to establish residence in St. Jude Subdivision in the capitol town. He practiced law. Worked under then Court of First Instance Judge Ceferino Gaddi. Later he was also appointed then by the late Pampanga Governor Bren Z. Guiao as provincial administrator. Then he got involved in active politics. He became a congressman, suffered a defeat from Andrea Domingo but made a comeback and trounced Domingo in the second face-off. And after his stint in the House of Representatives, he made a run in a mayoral contest and succeeded.
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Notes... There is a call among motorists to remove the checkpoints in several areas now that the province is already under modified general community quarantine. My media colleagues have been complaining particularly against the checkpoint in the Mabalacat-Angeles boundary...Thousands of workers who commute to their works, particularly those employees working on locators inside Clark Freeport are checking in late. Restaurants should have been full of customers last Sunday’s celebration of Fathers Day, but the imposed 50percent seat-in capacity plus the observance of health protocols where families should be seated apart discouraged many.