AS EARLY as October last year, when candidates trooped to the Comelec offices to file their certificate of candidacy (COC), the battle of tarpaulins started. You can’t miss them which sizes are much bigger than those commercial ads. While the three Abacan bridges (Anunas, Balibago and Pandan) were ordered adorned by Angeles City Mayor Pogi Lazatin with those colorful well carved heart shaped decorations in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, still the tarps can’t be ignored. And even Comelec cannot touch them. Nothing of that sort in the early years when election times come in our country. If only it was also the practice or fashion at the time I entered Angeles politics in 1988, I may have displayed big tarps too.
I always love to write certain episodes in the past because I get a lot of positive feedbacks from my readers, particularly from my friend successful entrepreneur Raul Aquino a dead ringer to Steven Seagal. He encourages me to write about past events. Even former Bataan Congressman Felicito “Tong” Payumo who was a colleague in the Bases Conversion Development Authority never fail to say he loves my articles. There several more.
Retro: It was in the 1988 elections when I joined Antonio Abad Santos aka “Bubusuk” as one of his council bets. I remember sharing the stage with Pacito Pabalan, Lito Ganzon, Dr. Ramon Moreno and Rafael “Pengot” Del Rosario. Abad Santos, by stroke of fate ended the political careers of the two most influential politicians in Pampanga and Angeles City. That of Rafael Lazatin and Francisco G. Nepomuceno. Both served well the province and Angeles City. Their names are still revered today. The war chest of Abad Santos was no match against the two, but what made him won against the two political giants was that he was so focused and was powered by his strong desire to win. And of course the surname bequeathed by his father, Manuel Abad Santos, the controversial mayor of Angeles town in the late fifties and early sixties helped.
The win of “Bubusuk” versus Lazatin and Nepomuceno was not a fluke (tsamba), according to his handlers. His win was described as a 20 years in the making. Abad Santos started it with a dream of someday occupying city hall as its chief executive like his father before him. And becoming a mayor of Angeles City became an obsession. He was first elected councilor in 1967 and served many years as member of the city council before he was appointed as Officer-in-charge (OIC) vice mayor by then President Cory Aquino after the latter was swept to the presidency following the end of the martial law regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.
And him being vice mayor served as his platform when he run for mayor against the two political giants in that 1988 mayoral elections.
It was one of the most interesting elections ever witnessed in the city. At that time, I was a reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the paper’s editor in Chief was Federico “Dik” Pascual. I was tasked then by Dik to write a political situationer. And I picked on Abad Santos as my material because he was a good copy. I phoned him and said I will be dropping by his office at the Morlan building for the interview. Instead of me interviewing him, he interviewed me instead and asked if I wanted to join his council ticket. His 10-man council slate had still one slot left. He assured me he will sweep the elections. I believed him, and I joined. No regrets, I placed number fourth with Ric Zalamea topping it, followed by Pabalan and third place was Ganzon. Other winners were Del Rosario, Moreno, lawyer Lorenzito Buan, Carlos Sandico III, Marianne Dayrit and Magno Pangilinan. Elected vice mayor was a young lawyer, Atty. Edgardo D. Pamintuan.
Pamintuan whose father Alberto was a long time serving vice mayor garnered impressive number of votes and political dopesters predicted his rise in public service after that victory. And the prediction became true later when Abad Santos squandered his leadership as he picked quarrel against his former supporters. He also earned the ire of the business sector of the city, and his political opponents took advantage of it. And Abad Santos had the distinct dishonor of the first Philippine city mayor to be subjected the process of recall. Though the protest movement failed, Abad Santos never recovered politically after that.