Steady and principled leadership.
His first few weeks as Angeles City Mayor could be characterized as such. Less fanfare, less grandstanding, Mayor Carmelo “Jon” Lazatin, II has plunged himself in running the affairs of the city with courage.
Carrying still that Lazatin kind of leadership that is enamored by people, his style may seem tame but direct, delicate but cultivated —like a breath of fresh air that gives Angelenos a new brand of governance. He is inculcating in residents a shared duty: to build a safer, cleaner, more likable city.
From the moment he took his oath, Mayor Jon set the tone that he means business. On the very first hours of his administration, he suspended a controversial environmental fee that had become a flashpoint in the heat of the campaign season. It was not merely a policy reversal. It was a statement about listening—about pausing the drumbeat of political posturing to weigh the real costs and benefits for ordinary families and small businesses.
Critics already cast doubts and are dismissing this as a not-so-new political maneuver. Supporters view this as a bold, people-centered decision that foregrounds the city’s welfare over electoral gain.
This action alone is convincing Angelenos that the new administration is not afraid to take decisive steps even if it invites controversy. And they are willing to support this path as majority believes that the city’s welfare in the future matters more than the comforts of the present.
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Mayor Jon’s governance philosophy appears to rest on a single, sturdy axis -- do what is right, do what must be done, with a disciplined clarity that leaves no room for ambiguity.
He has shown a remarkable willingness to engage both private and public education sectors, meeting school heads to lay out a transparent policy on suspension of classes. The policy allows for granular, localized decisions—recognizing that a single city-wide standard declarations may do more harm than good when weather, traffic, and infrastructure conditions vary from zone to zone.
Mayor Jon signals a deeper belief in the autonomy and responsibility of educators and administrators in various barangays and sectors. He is adopting a new policy that threads towards empowering schools to protect students while maintaining continuity in learning wherever possible. He is, in a way, framing class suspensions as a professional and non-political prerogative.
Sorry sa mga abangers but I think there will be a more rationalized basis for the suspension of classes during typhoons.
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Mayor Jon is putting high premium on discipline. His administration has set out to reshape the ethos of the Angelenos.
He speaks of discipline—not as punitive rigidity but as a communal commitment to accountability and service. The way he places education at the center of reforms acknowledges a timeless truth. A city’s future could be written by the daily choices of its children, teachers, and families. By aligning policy with the everyday realities of classrooms, curricula and school calendar, he invites parents to trust in a process that leads to consistency, fairness, and a better perspective of youth development.
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Education is but one aspect where he wants discipline and trust to be applied.
The early days of any administration can be lost to fulfilling grandiose promises made. Mayor Jon’s style, however, seems rooted in both the practical and practicable. He has initiated regular clearing operations with ACTDO (Angeles City Traffic Development Office), signaling that governance works best when it begins with consultations that bear positive tangible results.
It is not merely about keeping streets clean. It is more than just a ceremonial declaration that calls for the premier city to be orderly, pleasant and a model for other LGUs. After all, Angeles has always blazed the trail for Pampanga and Central Luzon. We have seen this all in the way former Mayor Pogi Lazatin, his brother, has made the city come more alive during his mayorship.
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In private conversations and public statements alike, he has described his approach as a synthesis of practical and the no-nonsense leadership of Lolo Feleng, with the straightforward candor of Tatang Tarzan—where the emphasis is on action rather than chatter. He is exhibiting a conviction that effective governance must translate into the obvious: reforms and changes. Again, a embodiment of “Ditak a salita, dakal a gawa.”
In another personification of quiet courage is the resolution of informal settlers and encroachers that have mushroomed in bypass or loop roads along rivers. The torrential rains that started in July revealed anew this problem.
Towards resolving this debacle, Mayor Jon is willing to trade popularity for orderliness in the streets, give up praises for regulation, swap personal comfort for a collegial accolade.
In this delicate issue of rooting out encroachers, he has given barangay authorities to point to him any blame or misgivings that may arise from solving ages-old problem of making use of public domain as extension of residences. While there has been no issuance of press releases to announce this unselfish move, this gesture bespeaks volumes about accountability, camaraderie, and cooperation.
Rather than letting barangay leaders hang dry, he is willing to be taking the flak should there be any. Rather than seeking refuge in popularity, he chooses the tougher path of owning outcomes, even when the consequences are not of his own making.
In a political culture where blame can be as powerful as praise, this willingness to bear the heat underscores a truism in leadership -- that right decisions are often uncomfortable for the moment but beneficial in the future. Not that his administration is unmindful of the few but this kind of stance would always redound to the good of a great majority – motorists, traders, students, parents, businessmen, investors – the whole spectrum.
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Quiet leadership it may seem but many observant Angeleños (and outsiders) may hear a resonance from Mayor Jon’s style. There is a distinct sense of “Vico vibes” in Angeles City—an echo of a practical, results-oriented character that some communities have long appreciated in local governance – THAT DISTINCTIVE LAZATIN BRAND passed on from many years.
That kind of leadership where everyone is a friend and that no one is considered as a foe.
Again, in the quietness of days and weeks past, Mayor Jon has been talking to members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, with the new Vice Mayor Amos Rivera – who ran on another party and line up – included in the weekly consultations. To other leaders, mustering courage to have someone from other side of the fence may take time.
He does not only meet them once but twice a week. His own initiative calls for a Monday executive-legislative meeting right at his conference room at the City Hall. He gets to meet them also the following day after City Council sessions where councilors troop to his office. They tackle ways and means that would have the City Government’s services delivered to the public faster and better.
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Mayor Jon prefers to shun personal aggrandizement on the public stage. He would rather favor a report of what services are being rendered. This may be evident on official Facebook page of Angeles City where he maintains low key to give way to what his whole admin can offer and serve. It’s a subtle, symbolic choice: the city, not the man, should be the main story.
Mayor Jon’s Admin is not flawless nor it seeks perfection. But it is exuding resolute virtue in the face of complexity. It is not about pleasing people but about doing what it thinks is right and above board.
He is the city’s new leader who also espouses integrity, clear policies, transparent processes, and accountable actions. These are but the gamut of qualities of a true leader that form the bedrock of trust.
In his first weeks or months, people may learn to anticipate that tough choices will have to be made and they are aimed to protect and impart a shared purpose.
To the Angeleños, this is not a moment to chase charisma in their leaders but another opportunity to help nurture their character. It is, again, a time to support a leadership that measures success not by the ease of every decision but by the steadiness with which the right ones are pursued. It is a call to rally behind a vision of governance that elevates public service to a new level.