IT’S final -- incumbent Bacolod mayor Bing Leonardia and former Third District congressman Albee Benitez for Bacolod mayorship in 2022.
Will it be a battle royale?
Well, it could only be if both are equaled in class background and rearing, value formation, political bias, LGU, and HUC development governance and administration experience, personal resources, and wealth.
Obviously, except in perceived professional gambling stamina, and personal resources and wealth where Albee was reported the richest in Congress during his term, in all other aspects, Mayor Bing and Albee are unequaled, [and] incomparable.
Albee is a landed elite, reared in the culture of feudal fiefdom where nobody dares to challenge. He is also perceived as an astute gambling businessman who knows who to be with, what cards to play under given conditions, and what to keep to survive the trade.
Mayor Bing is the opposite. He is a middle-class intelligentsia, reared in the culture of liberal thinking, community service, a bias for like class and bottom of the socio econ pyramid, desirous of higher and critical learning, and the value of humility and frugality of his class.
I'm not a biography expert, but reading through and between stories, testimonies, and perceptions of him by his kin, peers, party mates, friends, and foes alike, Mayor Bing may not be the ideal representation of the middle class, but he has done beyond his class and generation which has elevated the definition of politician and public service from the myopic and perverted concepts of Machiavellians and his likes and has given more depth to the meaning of human existence.
As a politician who is probably the longest to rule Bacolod until transforming it into a highly urbanized city (HUC), many have perceived him as an exemplary man and public servant despite his imperfections and weaknesses partly influenced by the brutality of our political structure and the capacity of many politicians who took power after another mindless of their reinforcing the skewed economic system, and the patronage and feudal political system.
The accusations that he is corrupt have done nothing for the betterment of the city, anti-poor is a gross and sweeping judgment, only politically insane people can make.
Even his accusers and persistent tormentors cannot deny that they enjoy their existence in the city. For others of their like, it is even ironic that they attack the city's imperfections when they enjoy so much living in their well-protected plush subdivisions that even the poor they used as pawns and props in their arguments can't easily enter their places without going through their numerous guards and security electronics.
The maxim that people often only remember our mistakes than our good deeds is a deep-seated enigma that is already embedded in our culture and system.
But history also tells us that the best judge of every one of us is not our friend or foe, nor the possessions we have, but the changes we have caused that produced the kind of society and people that we are.
This is the bottom line of the whole public hullaballoo on Albee coming to Bacolod. A misrepresentation of core issues, and replacement of petty talks good for the street thugs and gangs.
Like Mayor Bing, I have equal respect for Albee for being that he is, not what he possess, nor the army of followers he has.
I believe that as a former congressman, just like Mayor Bing, he also has some good thoughts and lessons in governance which he should have shared with and could benefit more the people of his native district.
Let Bacolod be for thousands of Bacolodnons who know their conditions, anxieties, and aspirations better, and who have the potentials to become like Mayor Bing or any other freat leaders of our land.
I hope this Albee entry in Bacolod with his political partisans with varied personal agenda would not fuel divisions among our people, not a political circus for a holiday, but true realizations, fellowship, and cooperation.