LIFE has its surprises. Life has it twists. Things have changed, and even realities keep changing. Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan and Alexander Cauguiran are supposedly BFFs (best friends forever).
Now there is a high wall that separates them in this coming elections as they are on the opposite side. And both are relating not palatable stories against each other. Many suspects that it’s a zarzuela being played by the two.
No Virginia, it is for real. Pamintuan has been bashing and weighing down his former friend, just like when Jun Sula of this paper why he isn’t supporting Alex. I was expecting Pamintuan to come out a motherhood statement like, well that’s politics, friends today, enemies tomorrow. Period. But no he said a mouthful like that ‘he’s not even popular with city hall and airport workers’, etcetera etcetera.
Cauguiran is hurting. And it is the hurt in his heart that more than ever he vowed to himself that he can make it against moneyed opponents and despite Pamintuan. He believes just like his erstwhile friend accomplished as a start up in the early nineties and realized his dream, he will also make it with a flying color. But to this day, Pamintuan is telling all and sundries that Caugiran can’t make it.
Their friendship can be traced during the time that Alex was the intrepid and furious student leader of the turbulent first quarter storm. He was one time about to face jail, but the Pamintuan provided him legal service 'gratis et amore.’ That started the long friendship.
There’s a flood of memories about the two as I write this article. Just few years back and it was the birthday of Pamintuan and workers mounted a stage for an early evening celebration. Local bands were invited. Food and drinks eagerly prepared by Friends of Ed flowed. And special guests that night were Pampanga Governor Lilia 'Nanay Baby' Pineda and husband Rodolfo also known by friends as Bong.
The biggest story that night was the two speeches made by Edpam and Alex!
Not only beers flowed that night but tears as well. In an impassioned speech, Alex recalled how he and Edpam met, how they went underground together during the martial law years, how they struggled together, how they waged success after success in their political runs.
When Alex stepped down from the stage, still with welling eyes, he was met by the Mayor Edpam's wife Aling Miniang who was also in tears and embraced him tightly obviously commiserating. But just like the green leaves turn into golden yellow in autumn and will fall in the ground, Pamintuan changed lane and left Caugiran in the cold. It was Cauguiran’s luck though that a cloak was wrapped around him by the influential Pinedas and made him the standard bearer of Kambilan, a local party.
It still few months before balloting time. Things can change overnight. As it is Bryan Nepomuceno is still leading the surveys but both Caugiran and Carmelo ‘Pogi’ Lazatin, another mayoralty candidate, are closing in the gap. From 3% late last year Cauguiran inched his way to 8% and now 15%.
The case of Pamintuan and Caugiran is a story told a thousand times about friends going separate ways and forgetting what was in the past. A vivid display of what is real in life when reasons prevail over sentiment.
TIDBITS: So the construction of the Macabebe’s Caduang Tete Bridge is now in full swing. What about the two bridges in Porac? Will congressional aspirant Mikey Macapagal Arroyo intervene please. The constituency of his mother, Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo has suffered enough... Will The Department of Public Works and Highways also tighten the screw on the contractor of the Friendship bridge. Can they work 24 hours. Motorists also suffered enough on the daily bottleneck at the Korean town in Angeles City... Will the Angeles city council pass a resolution requesting Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation to make the overpass bridge in Pulung Maragul two lanes. And will City Hall please find a solution to the daily traffic gridlock in that area.