Beyond the Sato-Gadiano Showdown

In military parlance as well as in classic literature, this duel is called “single combat” but in politics and sports, it’s simply a “one-on-one” fight. In Homer’s epic poem Iliad for example, the duels between individual soldiers include those between Achilles and Hector. 

Except for a few instances, it was usually a duel or face-off between two men. Opponents who are cream of the crop, the titleholders of their sides. It’s also a showdown between the Liberal Party (LP) of Josephine Ramirez-Sato and Eduardo B. Gadiano’s Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS).

Again, adhering to the dictum “The heart and soul of elections is an informed electorate”, I am writing this second blog entry on Occidental Mindoro election aspirants. (Kindly click THIS to read the first part of the series.)

Born on April 1, 1963, Gov. Ed was raised by a poor but industrious family of farmers in Rang-Ayan (now Brgy. Pag-Asa, Sablayan). His father is Prudencio “Puding” L. Gadiano an Ilocano who served as Barrio Captain of the place and his mother is Corazon Lopez Baltazar of Nueva Ecija.

Cong. Nene, on the other hand, was born in San Jose, also in Occidental Mindoro on April 29, 1954, and daughter of Pacifica Ylagan and the educator Mariano C. Ramirez, San Jose East District Supervisor of the Department of Education back then.

Although both were born in April, his zodiac sign is Aries and she is Taurus. He is 58 while she is 67.

Unlike Gov. Eduardo Gadiano’s phenomenal victory against Mario Gene Mendiola in 2019, this is an inter-gender tussle, though it is not his first-ever. He won the Sablayan mayoralty seat against Edna Mintu, wife of the former mayor in 2010, who later became his political ally.

The Hebrew Bible also includes a few accounts of single combat, the famous being David against Goliath. When Gadiano won against a seasoned political titan Mendiola, he was considered by many political observers as a giant slayer like the biblical David or the children’s book character named Jack.

But in Japan’s 14th-century Japanese literature, a lady Samurai named Tomoe Gozen is highlighted as one who defeated men in various battles. She was a remarkable swordswoman and a warrior worth a thousand. She slaughtered a ferocious male Samurai named Uchida Ieyoshi who attacked Tomoe but she swung her katana and cut him to death.

Not unlike Tomoe Gozen, Cong. Josephine Ramirez-Sato used to figuratively slay a bunch of men since her political baptism decades of decades ago, from Atty. Emil Villamar, Gov. Peter Medalla to Cong. Jose Villarosa, Damsy Malabanan, Father Ronilo Omanio, including Mayor Juan Sanchez in 2019. Thus, Cong. Nene is used to winning in inter-gender matches in the past.

Now that the candidacy of Adrian Gatdula, the third gubernatorial aspirant, according to my source, hangs in a balance apparently due to SOCE issues, the head-on one-on-one clash between Sato and Gadiano is surefire. Their face-off is certain as the sun will rise tomorrow.

Lady’s first.

Undefeated

Josephine Y. Ramirez first ventured into politics when she served as vice-governor from 1988 to 1992 of Gov. Peter Medalla Jr. She first won as governor in 1992 dethroning Medalla, her former ally, and served until 2001. Jose T. Villarosa was governor from 2001 to 2004, then the lady lawyer regained the top executive political position from 2004 to 2013. 

Before she entered politics in 1988, Ramirez (soon to be Sato) accomplished a program on Instructions of Lawyers-International Law and Taxation at Harvard University School of Law and in 1987 she completed her Urban Studies and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before that, she graduated with a political science degree from St Theresa’s College in 1973. She then attended the University of the Philippines College of Law, where she emerged among the top graduates of batch 1978.

Looking back, Sato was elected governor for three consecutive terms (1992–1995, 1995–1998, 1998–2001.) Then served her first term as congresswoman from 2001–2004. After Sato's first term as a congresswoman, she again served for three consecutive terms as governor of our beloved province (2004–2007, 2007–2010, 2010–2013). Then after her sixth term as governor, she has again elected as congresswoman of Occidental Mindoro, a seat she occupies to this very hour.

A report by certain Jan Escosio posted on INQUIRER.net last October 22, 2021, states, “Sato has been in public service for 33 years now, providing quality leadership rooted in experience, competence, dedication, compassion, and a sense of urgency to act in the best interest of the people of Occidental Mindoro.” 

Sato holds the record of being the lone representative from the province who became a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) not just once but twice — in the 17th (2016-19) and the 18th (2019-present) Congress.

For three decades and three years now, she is generally considered the most powerful and accomplished lady politician in Occidental Mindoro’s history. She’s never been defeated and holds the record as the undisputed champion in his entire political career. In one of her campaign discourses in the past, she said that the one who will beat her has not yet been born. 

Apparently, she has an unfinished business to settle.

Phenomenon

Eduardo B. Gadiano is the most accomplished politician yet, from Sablayan being voted to the position of a provincial governor. In the political history of Occidental Mindoro, he is the only politician from the ranks who was able to gain the gubernatorial post.

Indeed, he went down in the province’s history as the only barangay captain, and the only municipal councilor, and vice-mayor, as I have said, who eventually became governor. However, a feat that cannot be easily accomplished, especially nowadays, when political overstaying is rampant all over the country. It would probably take centuries before one could break such a feat.

He took up Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering at Gregorio Araneta Foundation and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Anybody who rigidly followed the political career of the province’s incumbent governor knows that he scaled the political ladder from the ranks and that makes him a political phenomenon. He was Punong Barangay in Brgy. Pag-Asa, Sablayan, his place of birth, from 1994-1998, then became the town’s municipal councilor from 1998-2001 and concluded his term. Next, he was elevated to vice-mayor, completing his full 3-year terms from 2001-2010. He was elected mayor, finishing his full three-year terms from 2010 to 2019.

Under Gadiano’s watch, Sablayan gained four Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awards, a coveted national award bequeathed by no less than the Department of the Interior and Local Government or DILG. That was in 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2018, respectively. The DILG bestowed Sablayan’s fourth Seal of Local Good Governance in 2018 and just four other LGU-awardees in the MIMAROPA Region.

He believes that an elected official cannot unceasingly join the political fray forever. Gadiano is confident that politics cannot be bottomless as there is a limit to everything like the rubber band’s stretching ability. It is so fluid that anything could happen in the end.

From the looks of it, he wants to continue the change he has started after he took office barely three years ago.

Agriculture and Health

Our province has a land area of 5,851.09 square kilometers or 2,259.12 square miles. In the 2020 Census, it was determined that the population was 525,354. It comprises 11 municipalities and 164 villages or barangays. Let us just focus on these two major concerns: agriculture economy and community health. These two are the most important part of the political discussion involving the gubernatorial candidates as Election Day approaches, as far as this writer is concerned. Of course, one should not overlook other issues and concerns experienced by our people which were included by the politicians in their platforms.

Since Occidental Mindoro is an agricultural province majority involved in rice farming, the biggest black-eye confronting our farmers is the high cost of production due to escalation prices of farm inputs. Because of our deforested watersheds, shortage of irrigation became a nagging problem. Occidental Mindoro’s river systems are no longer capacitated to the needed volume of water to make irrigation possible. This situation is aggravated by the recent implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law by the national government. It is now progressively causing an increase in income poverty in the province according to the local farmer leaders themselves. Agriculture is still the provinces’ economic driver.

According to a study conducted in September 2014 by Rosa Mistica C. Ignacio, et. al, of Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea titled “Health Status of the Residents in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines: A Way to Make a Healthy Community”, Occidental Mindoro suffers from lack of health workers compared with the total population of each municipality. Not to mention the scarcity and the upgrading of medical facilities and equipment and other health necessities.

The study has this conclusion: “Socio-economic support will provide a good occupation or stable income to the villagers, which could meet the needs of each household, such as good education, healthy lifestyles, and good reproductive and environmental health. Health programs do not guarantee a healthy individual and a healthy society, but a combination of health programs and socioeconomic support can help in creating a healthy community.” And due to Mandanas Ruling which will initially be implemented next year, with additional revenues intended for LGUs, therefore, there is a dire need for a governor who is good in financial and human resource management.

By prioritizing agriculture economy and community health, social protection programs, employment diversification, and sustainable economic empowerment, sustainable and pro-poor tourism, infrastructure development, investment in agribusiness enterprises, nutrition and combating diseases, and disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation by increasing resilience and decreasing vulnerabilities, to mention a few, would easily fall in its proper places.

It is imperative that these two concerns, among other things, should not be left out in the campaigns and should be our basis for whom to vote for governor come 2022. Weighing who among the two aspiring provincial heads has doable, practical, and responsive socio-economic support in the campaign promise or agenda with the people, is essential than cheap discussions stirred and fanned by gutless, passionate fandom opinions and rantings. People will also judge them both by the character of their propagandists.

This cannot be just a contest of commanding interests, personal, desperate, and cowardly attacks, sound bites, and social media hype. 

We will not only vote for them

Understandably during elections, everyone and everything is so focused and so concentrated on how to vote and/or get votes for certain candidates. This gubernatorial election isn’t necessarily only about Sato and Gadiano. Voting is participatory governance at its best.

When we become more aware of the importance of one vote, we gain a better appreciation that all our votes are not for the politicians, but God and the country. We do not vote only for politicians. We vote for the province, for our people, those living today, and those who will come after us. Ergo, we will vote for our children and children’s children and of course, ourselves.

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(Photo: Gov. Ed Gadiano’s FB Page)

Meet Our Congressional Aspirants

Never in the history of the province has that election for its lone congressional district is this crowded. As of today, among those who have filed are the former city treasurer, a successful businessman, and Rotarian, a lawyer daughter of a known political clan in the province, a controversial DPWH engineer, an incumbent Sangguniang Panlalawigan member, and the current vice-governor.

Here are the 6 registered HOR contenders that you need to know: Peter Alfaro, Manuel “Noli” Leycano, Josefino “Jojo” Melgar, Mark Philip Ramirez, Leody “Odie” Tarriela, and Mariliza “Bunny” Villarosa-Kalaw.

I am publishing this blog entry believing that the heart and soul of elections is an informed electorate. 

The guessing game is on!

Peter (PDP-Laban)

Peter J. Alfaro is the sitting vice-governor of the province. He had been in the local political groove since he was just 20 years old when he served as Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) president from 1993-1996 and a former successive three-termer Sangguniang Panlalawigan from 1998-2007. He was a protégé and close political ally of Congressman Josephine Ramirez-Sato but not chosen recently by their groupmates to be her successor in the HOR.

After his SK stint, Alfaro worked as Computer Operator – I and got employment from the Provincial Government of Occidental Mindoro from 1996-1998. During his tenure as an ordinary employee, he was able to learn the trade and was considered by many as worthy of the position because of his readiness and for his all time-presence in the province immersing with the people even in far-flung communities. His longtime experience as a local legislator is one of his winning edges in the forthcoming polls. He is already a household name in OCM politics. He once worked as Provincial Agriculturist that is why he banners environment and agriculture.

Alfaro finished his Master in Public Administration at Occidental Mindoro State College (OMSC), he also took the Licensure Examinations for Agriculturists and passed with a score rating of 82.83%. I just do not know how his former union or latest separation (at least on paper?) with his former patroness would play in his bid.

Noli (Partido Para sa Demokratikong Reporma)

Dr. Manuel “Noli” Leycano is the former treasurer of the City of Pasay and upon his retirement in September 2020, he launched an organization called KNL or Kilusang Nagmamalasakit sa Lalawigan as his wagon to move onward with his candidacy as a congressman. Leycano was the provincial treasurer of Laguna for 14 years before he took over Pasay’s treasury in April 2010. He took up a Bachelor of Arts in Commerce Major in Management at the Divine Word College of San Jose and later finished his Masters and Doctorate Degree in Public Administration at MLQU.

Leycano was a former president of PHALTRA or the Philippine Association of Local Treasurers and Assessors and was strongly elected by 2,000 out of 2,700 of its members nationwide. He is married for 43 years to Maria Teresa "Tess" Santos Boongaling, granddaughter of the late Mayor Juan G. Santos of San Jose.

Noli Leycano was born and raised in Brgy. Barahan, Sta. Cruz, Occidental Mindoro, and an up-and-coming businessman in the municipality and served as OIC treasurer of San Jose and was assigned in Calintaan for the same position for about 6 years and assistant treasurer in his hometown Sta. Cruz for 2 years. He is a brother to incumbent Mayor Meriam Leycano – Quijano of Sta. Cruz.

Jojo (Nationalist People’s Coalition)

Josefino “Jojo” Melgar was once district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) and known for distributing pandesal to residents to woo voters since early this year. This is what I know about him as of yet.

Philip (Liberal Party)

Board Member Mark Philip Ramirez is an incumbent member of the Provincial Board and a relative of his running-mate Congressman Josephine Ramirez-Sato who is an aspirant for governor. In his Twitter account, he described himself as, “A public servant and pro-active legislator at (sic) the Province of Occidental Mindoro.” My information about him is limited at this point.

Odie (Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan)

Leody “Odie” Tarriela is the President/CEO of three more companies, the Triple 8 Auto Seat Cover, Inc., JC Leonie Holdings Inc, and the Tarriela Agri-Aqua Ventures Corporation. He is the Vice President and Treasurer of DAKKI Classic Concept Inc., creator of quality vacuumed-packed pillows in the country.

Overwhelmingly chosen by 120 Rotary Clubs from Manila, Pasay, Cavite, and Occidental Mindoro, he is the first Rotarian from the Occidental Mindoro Area who was elected as Governor of District 3810 until he finished his term lately. He showed exemplary leadership in the said world-acclaimed organization and successfully led various programs and projects for Rotary International.

He completed his Elementary Education at Looc Central School and Secondary Education at Looc National High School in Occidental Mindoro. He finished his college education with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Accounting at the Far Eastern University in Manila. After completing his degree, he started working as an Accountant and rose from the ranks to become an Accounting Manager and eventually as General Manager. He was a greenhorn in politics but he is expected to get high numbers in the two municipalities of Lubang and also garner big votes from the province’s municipalities in the north and elsewhere.

Bunny (Lakas-CMD)

Atty. Mariliza “Bunny” Villarosa-Kalaw is the eldest daughter of former Governor/Congressman Mayor Jose T. Villarosa and previous Deputy Speaker Ma. Amelita Calimbas-Villarosa. Her husband is Atty. Teodoro Kalaw IV from the lineage of Teodoro M. Kalaw and Senator Eva Estrada-Kalaw. She is a lawyer with an MPM from the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy, an MBM from the Asian Institute of Management, and Juris Doctor from Ateneo De Manila University. Working as chief of staff of her mother at Congress way back then, she's in a way familiar with what she aspires for.

Atty. Bunny believes that connectivity between towns is important. She said if elected, she will legislate a Mindoro Railway System to promote and increase and craft laws on education, governance, health care, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and business.  

She is new to politics but JTV is out to support her. Atty. Bunny has her intact voting base she inherited from his politician parents. That is certain about her, as certain as her sweet smile and pretty face and she is the only rose among the thorns, by the way. And the only lawyer on the list.

Imperatives

It’s a tall task ahead of them all for reasons that we are still in the pandemic therefore there will be great changes in the campaigns. Already now, sure thing they are building personal relations and linkages, making a personal presence at their most important occasions or events, having a personal touch in every way conceivable.

As aiming to represent Occidental Mindoro in Congress, each one of them must understand community issues, problems, and challenges and think of legislations with national relevance other than delivering basic public services and providing local employment and means of livelihood and other oversight functions.

The campaign period is just around the corner and rightly so, they are now in the process of saying relevant things to the right audience, crafting every propaganda or persuasive activity to each class and specific group of voters. They are now grinding their axes to come up with good and viable issues and messages or narratives coming out when the campaign period starts.

Their work ahead

We voters and citizens should base our opinions and decisions on things we know about them but we must first remember that, among other things, let us use the lenses of character and capability when we vote for any of them in due time. So, happy hunting, but remember, we are voters, not fans!

Congress is a deliberative body so spot for a congressional candidate who can communicate well and can discuss and articulate burning issues of the day. Also, their ability or capacity to explain their stand and concerns for public debate is the main meat in having their authored legislation passed in Congress, if ever.

Though our 6 congressional aspirants don't know how the campaign will unfold, they're keeping their powder dry. I am sure of that.

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(Photo edit: John Wenfred Mercene)

Sources:

http://nanovio.blogspot.com/2021/01/ex-future-congressman-peter-alfaro.html

https://rotary3810ry20202021.org/our-governor/

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/391046/women-in-politics-a-conversation-with-atty-mariliza-bunny-villarosa-kalaw/?fbclid=IwAR2yTkv2PkPzbU1wCScF3JZfWIhFJZ9ZqI2YjTUeW9gb6CsJy5CEjzFdi24

 

 

Dante Speaks

In line with the week-long celebration of the 71st founding anniversary of our province which will culminate this coming Monday, Vice-Mayor Dante C. Esteban of Calintaan tried to reflect on the Arawatan 2021 theme that reads, “Kulturang Pinagyayaman sa Kasalukuyang Panahon, Nagkakaisang Mindoreño Tayo ay Aahon,” (Culture Enriched in the Present, United Mindoreño We Will Rise Up).

The numerology number 71, by the way, is said to be fixated on the present reality accompanied by introspection and intuition and that could be our driving spirit in this celebration. But before incumbent Vice-Mayor Dante speaks on the province’s 71^st founding anniversary, allow me to travel you first down memory lane.

Island’s disunion

The grandest event in Mindoro’s history after World War II was its division into two provinces by Republic Act 505. The Act was approved on June 13, 1950, by President Elpidio Quirino and was finally penned into law on November 15 that same year. The division of the two coasts gave birth to both Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.

The inaugural ceremony was held in Calapan wherein the formal transfer of all official functions did materialize. RA 505 is the fruition of HB No. 640 sponsored by the then lone district representative Cong. Raul T. Leuterio. That was 11 years before the seasoned politician Engr. Dante C. Esteban of Municipality of Calintaan was born in Aguas, Rizal on September 19, 1961. That was decades before my high school classmate Dante graduated at La Salle de Araneta in Malabon, finishing his BS in Agricultural Engineering, and tied knots with Miriam Abellera who gave birth to Kevin Dave, now a general practitioner- physician. The family owns the DMK gas station chain in town. DMK stands for Dante, Miriam, and Kevin.

Place of leeches

In 1894, the early settler of the settlement, from a few kilometers south, saw a woodland suitable for farming. The arable land was adjacent to two big lakes full of leeches during the wet season.  “Leech” in Tagalog is “linta” therefore the place of leeches in the vernacular is called “Calintaan”. This is according to local historian Rudy A. Candelario.

The people of Calintaan rallied to local officials of the province that their barrio is created as a municipality. When Congressman Pedro Medalla, Sr. was elected to the Philippine Congress, he filed a bill for the creation of the Municipality of Calintaan.  On June 18, 1966, under Republic Act No. 4732, it was separated from Sablayan and created as another municipality.

From 1995 to 2001, VM Dante, a Seventh-day Adventist, served his constituents in this gradually progressing town which he once dreamed of turning into a city-like status, and was proposed to change its name to San Miguel years ago but to no avail.

Dante’s dynamism

The youth’s dynamism runs in Dante’s blood and it fueled his significant stint as assistant administrator and at the same time PESO manager of City of Caloocan and Quezon City, and as legislative staff at the House of Representatives before he joined the local political fray in 1995. At present, he sits as a member of the National Board of Directors (BOD) of the prestigious Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines or VMLP and vice-president of the league’s provincial chapter.

This hardworking and intelligent Ilocano has been serving as his beloved town’s chief lawmaker since 2016. During his recent watch at the height of the pandemic, VM Dante organized the so-called Bayanihan at Ambagan para sa Bayan benefitting the municipality’s frontline workers and health providers, the TODA members, and its single parents. In partnership with Gov. Eduardo B. Gadiano and the Provincial Government, Calintaan got the highest number of beneficiaries of DOLE’s TUPAD in the whole province pegged at 944 slots. This November, in cooperation with the Philippine Commission on the Urban Poor a Food and Health caravan in Calintaan will already be rolled-out. Around 70 units of water pumps were distributed by his administration as a post-harvest intervention to tillers owning rain-fed farms.

There are many legislative and oversight actions and functions of the man that cannot be contained in this write-up for lack of space but showed how Dante’s dynamism was experienced by his constituents and the municipality he aims to serve in the future as local chief executive. “As we move forward as an emerging municipality of the province, we are steadfast onward our determination for the realization of our dream,” he said, addressing his people. Yes, the mayoralty position is next to Dante’s pick.

Anniversary message

As a citizen of this province and in celebration of its 71^st anniversary, VM Dante Esteban said that our journey tells a lot about our culture that reflects our faith and celebration of life even in these challenging times. “Numerous dangers and risks are threatening our culture, but these could not make us silent and adamant in serving our people-constituents,” concludes the Calintaan mayoralty aspirant.

He believes that we continue to rise and survive the hardships in the last seven decades because of hard work and the people of Occidental Mindoro endured because they persevered.

“We have reached this far because culture plays an important role in our life, political life included. Not just by the fact that it drives and leads the people to their way of life but it is also the key to our identity,” quips the forward-looking dynamic, culture advocate leader-servant. 

True enough, taking a cue from this year’s anniversary theme, politics decides culture at the macro-level while culture decides politics at a micro-level. Understandably, for culture to change positively, politics must be changed in the same manner. 

Methinks.

Happy 71^st one and all from VM Dante and this lowly storyteller of our local history.

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(Photo: Office of the Vice-Mayor, Municipality of Calintaan)

 

Like Father, Like Sonny

The expression “like father, like son” is used to describe a son who takes after his father in some way, either in terms of appearance or behavior. But in the case of Santiago “Tiaging” Javier, Sr. and Santiago “Sonny” Javier Jr. of San Jose, it was an example where a public servant passed on the tradition to his son and namesake who followed his footstep in politics. In the political history of the town, the reality of having two politicians who share the same name is a rare phenomenon.

Their Mangarin origin

Based on many historical accounts, Mangarin is one of the oldest settlements in Mindoro, and in the 14^th century, it was greatly considered the center of trade between the Chinese and the Mangyans, the first inhabitants of the island. The settlement first appeared in history in 1679, when friars from the Order of Augustinian Recollects "established" it.

It was the midpoint of the municipal government during the American occupation but when the municipality of San Jose was created in 1910, the seat of power was moved to Pandurucan where it is situated today.

Santiago “Tiaging” Javier Sr. grew up in a big but poor family before the war in that fishing and farming community in the southern tip of the municipality though he was born in Pandurucan-Central, the site of the then Philippine Milling Company or the Sugar Central, on June 25, 1927.

Tiaging shouldered the responsibilities of helping his parents and siblings. “Tatay had a challenging and difficult life but it was not a hindrance for him, instead he tried his very best to make out of it,” says Dette Javier- Haug of his late father who served as a member of the provincial board of Occidental Mindoro. Ms. Haug now resides in the City of Ulm in Germany.

At that time, the whole province is not yet divided into two provincial districts. Unlike today that there exist two districts: District 1 is composed of Looc, Lubang, Abra De Ilog, Paluan, Mamburao, Sta. Cruz and Sablayan while District 2 is made up of Calintaan, Rizal, San Jose, Magsaysay. Before, the candidates for the provincial council coming from San Jose for instance, as an “at-large” district, are elected by the voters from all of the municipalities of the province.

“The election of Tiaging to the provincial political seat can be attributed to his teacher wife who had a swarm of relatives from the province’s northern municipalities especially on the island of Lubang and Paluan. The former Remedios Villar, Tiaging’s wife, is part of the well-known and pioneering Tria clan of Occidental Mindoro,” says Jimmy “Usog” Dela Cruz, a former teacher and local media practitioner and a previous municipal councilor and a barrio-mate. Incidentally, Jimmy “Usog” already filed his certificate of candidacy, seeking to return to the legislative halls next year. Moreover, the late Mrs. Javier, or Meding to his coterie of friends, was in the teaching profession for many decades and became well-known in the academic sector. She even became district supervisor of the San Jose East District of the Department of Education and it is her birthday now, November 5, and she would have been 94 today.

Tiaging became the trailblazer in the place in such an accomplishment. Since then, this old place in Occidental Mindoro became a seedbed of local politicians like his brother Ulysses and his son Sonny. Ulysses Javier, past councilor, ex-barangay captain, and the erstwhile board member, will again try to come back to the provincial board next year. Aside from the Javiers, the other politicians from the place are brothers Polding and Jimmy “Usog” Dela Cruz, Nathan Cruz, the incumbent councilor Arnel Argame, and Warren Sales, councilor aspirant for the next local polls and Mangarin’s former barangay captain. Sonny was born there on Dec. 17, 1963.

Here comes the son

Santiago Jr. only entered politics years after his father retired as a provincial board member in the 90s. When his father is already ill and aging, his only son Santiago Jr. or Sonny, took the helm and managed their family farm in Mangarin and elsewhere. He is a mechanical engineer by profession but he opted to manage the Gessnec, their family enterprises, and a business landmark in downtown San Jose. It is one of the successfully managed establishments in town. But people from practically all the barrios know him as one toiling in the fields, a farmer. He is married to Aurora Javier (nee Corpuz) who gave birth to their four big boys. 

Politics came knocking on his door in 1997 when he was first elected as barangay kagawad of Labangan Poblacion where their ancestral house in the town proper is located. He is a two-termer barangay kagawad and served until 2013. SB Member Sonny Javier was first sworn into municipal office in 2013 and now completing his full three terms as councilor. He reached this far like his father due to his diligence and humility. When he was first elected to the municipal council, residents from a place called Arik-ik (now called Antipolo), the hilly part of Mangarin, were amazed how the lowly farmer they always saw in the field made it to the town’s legislative body.

At present, Konsehal Sonny chairs the Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Facilities. His milestone legislations consist of ordinances and resolutions in line with his committee.

Ms. Haug further stressed, “Sonny is by nature so helpful and with a big heart. It hurts him to see our people suffering from natural calamities especially during the time of the pandemic.” To his siblings, friends, and constituents, Councilor Sonny is a man who truly values reputation, accomplishment coupled with fear and obedience to the Creator.

Education, above all

All of his sisters are supportive of him, be it in material and moral terms. Since Sonny’s early years in politics, his sister, Dr. Eva Javier Bansil, an obstetrician now residing in San Fernando, Pampanga, has continuously extended educational assistance to less fortunate but deserving pupils of Mangarin. Their parents always tell their children that the best help they could give is by helping the poor kids in their studies.

“As his children, we are so thankful, proud, and lucky to have an education. This is the priceless legacy our father left us,” Ms. Haug says in recollection of her old man. The education that we have, along with his example of displaying faith in God by keeping your family intact and by serving the needy. God, Family, and Community are the focal themes of the pursuit of education and faith as what their parents always reminded them. Dr. Bansil and her late husband Dr. Arce Bansil showed unconditional love by taking care of their tatay until he yielded to lingering illnesses on January 9, 2012.

­Vice-Mayor Aspirant

Without a doubt, Ms. Haug believes that Konsehal Sonny is trying his very best to make his father proud of him. Especially his pop’s humility and firmness. Like his dad Tiaging, Sonny is a man of the masses and does not speak ill of anybody. His father too was a man of peace and has never been involved or suspected in any violent confrontations.

Santiago Javier Sr. helped Santiago Javier Jr. shape a political conviction by the way he molds his son’s personality towards his sustaining and developing social awareness. According to Konsehal Sonny in one of our chats in the past, as a chief legislator, the vice-mayor needs to lead the law-making process for we need laws to facilitate, enforce, protect, and resolve conflict for the greater good, rather than to benefit the few. With that, the vice-mayor must have the utmost character and untainted name deserving to the role of a leader in lawmaking, he told me. He already had a short stint in the position when he was appointed as acting vice-mayor in 2019. He learned a lot from that shift, he added.

Sonny is very much like Tiaging not only because they share the same name or they are a father-and-son. They are both men of integrity and can easily mingle with people from all walks of life.

Councilor Sonny Javier already filed his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) and is ready to face all the odds this coming 2022 elections as vice-mayor of his town of birth, San Jose. The town that gave him and his father a great reason to live and the equally great opportunity to serve.

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Photo: Dr. Tilmann Haug

All Souls’ Day and the Petition for the Cancellation of BBM's Candidacy

Yesterday, All Souls’ Day, which was declared by President Rodrigo Duterte as a Special Working Public Holiday, a group of petitioners from the ranks of political detainees, human rights, and medical organizations that opposed the Marcos dictatorship filed a petition to disqualify Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from running as president in the May 2022 elections.

The Petition to Cancel or Deny Due Course the Certificate of Candidacy of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. under Section 78 concerning Section 74, Article IX of the Omnibus Election Code was filed with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the country’s supreme poll body.

Fr. Christian “Toots” Buenafe, O.Carm.  was one of the petitioners and said that Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) is full of false material representations claiming he was eligible to be a candidate for the upcoming national polls when in fact he is not. They claim that BBM is a convicted criminal, ergo, cannot be a candidate. For the record, Marcos was convicted by the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City in a July 27, 1995 Decision for his multiple failures to file income tax returns. Apparently, BBM did not pay his taxes for 4 years so it could be classified as tinted with moral turpitude.

Having been convicted by final judgment of a violation of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), Marcos is perpetually disqualified from holding any public office, to vote, and to participate in any election as mandated under the NIRC, according to the Petition. The Petition emphasizes too that the crime is one involving moral turpitude since, among others, Marcos and his family refused and continue to refuse to pay to the Filipino people roughly PhP 203.8 Billion in estate taxes, inclusive of interests, surcharge, and other penalties.

Fr. Toots through his private message to me this morning said that he is praying that the COMELEC will listen to their appeal. He also told me that, “The petition to disqualify Marcos Jr. to hold any public office is a test of the rule of law.” The petitioners' lawyer is Theodore Te, a human rights lawyer from Free Legal Assistance Group or FLAG and former spox of the Supreme Court. 

This is a question of integrity and would be a burden and a challenge not only to Marcos Jr. but to the poll body itself and also the petitioners for there would be a tedious legal battle ahead of them. Fr. Toots signed the Petition in his capacity as chair of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), a church-based organization headed before by Sister Mariani C. Dimaranan, a Catholic nun jailed and tortured by the despotic martial rule of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. in 1973. The late Sister Mariani, considered a pioneer human rights defender in the land and our province mate, was born February 1, 1925, in Lubang, (Occidental) Mindoro.

A dark and uncertain legal tunnel is ahead of us in this case but one thing is certain: of all the 2022 presidential aspirants, only Marcos Jr. has been convicted in a tax evasion case in court.

My short reflection for these two junctures: All Souls Day then reinforces our longing for a more just and legally upright society and our determination to act and build a nation where truth prevails and the laws and justice are implemented to all without fear or favor, particularly those oppressed and victimized by injustice. Our fellow Filipinos who have died, like Sister Mariani, live beyond the reach of this political condition, but they provide a mirror for us to judge how we participate and get involved in earthly affairs, especially in politics.  

The petitioners lighted a candle yesterday in this light.

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(Photo: Philippine Star)

 

The Mandanas Challenge

The LGU funding expansion brought about by the so-called “Mandanas Ruling” to start in 2022 is either a curse or a cure. It would be a cure if we will vote local chief executives who are knowledgeable in local governance and with utmost competence in fiscal and resource management and curse if we happen to elect the contrary. The LGUs, both the provincial and the municipal, can acquire more money because of such a ruling of the Supreme Court (SC). This means additional responsibilities to whoever wins in the forthcoming local elections. There is more money now to the LGUs than the national government that is why some congressmen though they are yet to complete their terms, they slid down to governorship for the next elections.

The Mandanas issue and the devolution of functions to the LGU, next to the responses on economic recovery and the road to new normal and in curbing the raging pandemic, among others, is a very crucial question to ask aspirants to LCE positions, namely, mayors and governors.

Looking back, the SC in 2018 granted and reaffirmed in 2019 the petitions of Batangas Gov. Hermilando “Dodo” Mandanas and former Bataan Gov. Enrique “Tet” Garcia Jr., under which LGUs’ IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) would come from 40 percent of collections of all national taxes—the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) tax take plus the Bureau of Custom’s (BOC) collections of import duties and other taxes. At present, LGU’s IRA only came from two-fifths of national internal revenue taxes collected by the BIR. In response, the National Government has decided to reduce its workforce by devolving many functions formerly carried out by its agencies down to the level of the LGU. From now on, the IRA will be known as National Tax Allotments or NaTA.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Executive Order No. 138 to set the timetable for the devolution, which is to be completed by 2024.

Depending on the quality of governance, the years 2022 onwards to 2024 are a delicate balance of economic growth and the delivery of basic social services. Our choice of mayor or governor, or elected officials in general, must know that there is a need for better oversight not only on the use of local fiscal resources but human resources as well.

In November 2019, Vice-Mayor Walter B. Marquez of Sablayan, having accurately followed the updates on the Mandanas-Garcia petition, authored Resolution No. 2019-II-SDM130 appreciating Gov. Mandanas for “leading the fight until victory the LGU shares in the form of IRA … “ saying that Sablayan and its barangays would benefit from it.

With the ruling in full swing, the DBM estimates showed that first-class municipalities such as Sablayan would have an increase of about P187.62 million to P1.01 billion. As the bigger IRA would carve a bigger chunk from the record P5.02-trillion national budget proposal for 2022, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the functions to be devolved “must permanently be taken out from national agencies to empower LGUs to assume them.” Then-mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano and then Councilor Marquez likewise keep themselves abreast on the developments of the Mandanas-Garcia petition. With a push coming from Gadiano, Marquez dipped his fingers on the issue by crafting, as early as 2017, a legislative act authorizing the Philippine Regional Investment Corporation or PRIME to meet, study and discuss matters on the petition in various venues and halls on behalf of the Municipality of Sablayan free of charge. Under Gadiano’s watch in Sablayan as mayor, the partnership between Mandanas and the municipality on such a petition came into fruition.

What we need are local chief executives, at the municipal and provincial levels, or a set of elected officials for that matter, that would not neglect local revenue collection despite this. With this sudden increase in their allocation in the national revenues, the soon-to-be elected LGU officials, should not be negligent in local income generation. Marquez pointed out that the most important things as ever for voters and citizens are as follows: the improvement of citizens' participation in the budgeting process, the boosting of transparency and accountability, the civic monitoring of transfer and utilization of funds, and the monitoring of provision of social services in every barangay.

It appears that devolution, as sure as I am writing this, is already in the bucket. But I tell you, as we battle the pandemic in the next few years, we will also be facing a massive layoff of national government employees from all over the land.

The proposed establishment of new hospitals, for instance, would also fall under the aegis of the LGUs for health services is also fully devolved as per the EO of President Duterte. Chances are, the highly publicized establishment of a nationally-funded general hospital in the province with this development would pass into the eye of the needle, to say the least.

Also, this would not resolve the problem of the highly fragmented government system in the country and the LGUs perennial problem of neglecting its revenue-raising power.

In the hands of unscrupulous, traditional, overstaying, and inept or ham-fisted politicians, this development is a bane than a boon. So, the ball is in our hands come May 2022.

Since election season is fast approaching, our questions to aspirants and soon-to-be candidates should center on more significant issues such as their responses to the future effects of the Mandanas ruling than fandom-fanned and senseless queries, or gossips, surveys, and mudslingings under the guise of political analyses.

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(Photo: Jasper Francisco)

 

Beyond Sorrows: Remembering Kalibasib

It was truly depressing that Kali died on the very day when the whole country is celebrating Tamaraw Month, a celebration that centers on the protection and conservation of this critically endangered wild buffalo. This coming Sunday, October 10, 2021, we will be commemorating the first death anniversary of the last captive-bred Philippine tamaraw (Bubalus Mindorensis) known as Kalibasib or Kali. Kalibasib is short for “Kalikasang Bagong Sibol” (nature newly sprung).

The whole community of environmental activists and conservation advocates mourned the death of the animal considered as the ambassador for conservation who lived his entire 21 years in captivity at the Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm in Barangay Manoot, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro. Another tragic thing is, Kali passed away in the time of COVID-19 when movements of some groups and individuals who want to visit and see him for the last time are restricted.

Death Within a Celebration

The Tamaraw Month is declared under Presidential Proclamation No. 273, series of 2002, where the month of October of every year is declared as Special Month for the Conservation and Protection of the Tamaraw in Mindoro.

According to the Tamaraw Conservation Program or TCP, Kali was born on June 24, 1999, to his mother Mimi. The wildlife veterinarian who performed the necropsy on Kalibasib said the iconic land mammal had a cardiac failure that led to his death. Mimi, together with the rest of the twenty adult tamaraws who were taken care of under the TCP in 1980 came from its natural habitats in Mounts Aruyan, Malati- Siburan, all within the territorial jurisdiction of Municipality of Sablayan.

Equally distressing is the truth that Kali never seen his expected environment and he died away from home, just as though. But in this situation exists a good side, not to Kalib’s species but us humans. His captivity provided a chance for us human beings to see a tamaraw in bones and flesh. His life allowed us to have closer look at his kind for whatever ends. Kali opens us the rare opportunity of having a close encounter with his kind. 

Name Game

People from all over, journalists, environmentalists, students, professors, tourists, athletes, and scientists, name it, knows Kalibasib and were able to write many stories, researches, and studies about him or shared moments with him. Kalibasib was well known and could be Googled, while the girl who christened him as such is virtually unknown to everybody. The name Kalibasib was actually given by Nova Embanecido Zubiri, a resident of Bagong Sikat here in San Jose. Zubiri won a contest and brought home some cash and a plaque from DENR.

The competition was covered in a radio program called "Todo Pasada" aired over DZVT hosted by veteran local broadcaster Ferdie Data in 1999 when Zubiri was still in high school. It was sponsored by the DENR joined by hundreds of participants from all over Occidental Mindoro. 

Taxidermy

Occidental Mindoro Gov. Eduardo B. Gadiano sent an appeal to the National Museum of Natural History to perform taxidermy to preserve the remains of Kalibasib to keep the memory of the world’s most well-known tamaraw but it did not materialize for one reason or another. Instead, Gadiano commissioned a private taxidermist from Quezon City. It is expected that the preserved skull and hide or head of Kali will arrive tentatively on October 15, just in time for the celebration of the Tamaraw Month this year, said Neil Anthony Del Mundo, DENR’s Tamaraw Conservation Program coordinator. Kali's preserved head will be brought to different towns for public viewing as part of the celebration but basically still under the custody of TCP.

Also last year, Vice-Mayor Walter "Bong" Marquez of Sablayan authored a resolution supporting the preservation of Kali’s remains and further requested to be housed at Sablayan Municipal Museum, the only operational museum in Occidental Mindoro. San Jose town is also preparing its exhibition hall exclusively for Kalibasib. The DENR-TCP is likewise planning to put up a museum when they already establish its research center. 

The process of taxidermy, the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals with a lifelike effect, usually needs a year to finish. The bones of Kali will also be recovered soon and placed in a museum. The DNA mapping and other genomic procedures are now being started, according to Del Mundo.

Kali Lives

There must no “Babang Luksa” (the first death anniversary which is the end of mourning in Filipino funeral tradition) in our hearts in our struggle for the environment and the tamaraws of Mindoro. The communication, education, and public awareness (CEPA) campaign must be sustained towards their protection and conservation to keep alive the memory of Kalibasib, its foremost advocate and “poster boy” ever lived. Zubiri, who has now a family, is greatly saddened by the death of the famous animal she named.

The need to integrate the cultural and development needs of the Mangyans and address the non-sustainable use of natural resources in the area. Human activities such as poaching and habitat destruction must be stopped. Without it, Kali died in vain.

With regards to CEPA, the TCP already blasted off its “Dalaw Turo” activities in the whole island of Mindoro especially those communities near the mammals’ habitat. With NGO partners, stakeholders, other government offices, the TCP does intense public awareness campaigns especially during the celebration of Tamaraw Month.

On Kali’s first death anniversary, Del Mundo fittingly puts it, “Kali will always remain an icon. Even in death, he is still the beacon of hope for his species.”

So, live on, Kali.

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Reference: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/10/25/kalibasib-a-symbol-of-hope-inspiration/

 

 

Muloy Moments

I admire the decision of San Jose Mayor Romulo M. Festin to retire (or was it just rest?) from politics. His friend, incumbent Mayor Benjamin N. Tria of Looc, is apparently to follow suit. Though not as formal as Manny Pacquiao's retirement from boxing, they have unceremoniously announced it nevertheless.

Both have been in politics in various positions, they have nothing to prove because they already defied history and were able to experience deeds more precious than any gemstone. Mayors Ben and Muloy already leaving behind a legacy like the others who have been in power for more than three decades or so. Mayors Muloy and Ben will retire as winners. Unlike the retirement of Pacquiao that came after his loss to Cuban Yordenis Ugas, a virtually unknown opponent.

There are many contemporaries of the two gentlemen who are now inactive in politics and were not able to bounce back after a loss or series of losses. But not friends Muloy and Ben. They were able to come back and like the mythical Phoenix, returned from the ashes, so to speak.

Muloy is Occidental Mindoro’s personification of the Man of the Masses. He was elected board member from 1988 to 1998 and that is straight 10 years in office. He was voted vice-mayor of San Jose from 1998-2001 and from 2001 to 2004. He served as mayor from 2004 to 2010. He lost to Jose Villarosa in 2010 but was able to bounce back and won in 2013 and is about to complete his full three terms next year. These are the so-called “Muloy Moments” in the province’s political history that the people will surely remember. 

Well, mayors Ben and Muloy, compadre to both, are still capable, both physically and mentally to run for a public office but they preferred to call it quits and hang their proverbial political hats or at least rest them. So far as I write this. This is what I have heard on their separate pronouncements in the radio program Para sa Bayan last Monday and Tuesday hosted by Daisy Del Valle Leano and Helen Pilaro-De Guzman. I have told my friend Daisy that Muloy is such a colorful subject and truly a good biography material. Not only that, his life and experience are part and parcel of Occidental Mindoro’s political history and social stories that ought to be told to Gen Y or Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen A, including the Gen Tech, post-Millennials, iGeneration, Gen Y-Fi, and Zoomers in our midst and the so-called Pandemic Generation of the future.

Ben Tria and Muloy Festin been elected members of the Occidental Mindoro Provincial Board in 1988. Since then, their achievement as legislators and local chief executives have already left indelible marks in our political history. Mayor Muloy had been in politics for 31 years now and Mayor Ben entered a little bit later than him. Mayor Muloy even jokingly claimed that in his long years in politics, he was able to develop a sixth sense of knowing instantly what clients need before saying a word to him.

My hats off to the two gentlemen in this aspect. They both going to pass on the torch to their respective relatives. Mayor Muloy’s daughter, Michelle Festin-Rivera, an incumbent board member, is said to be vying for a mayoralty position in San Jose, and Nestor Tria, also a board member and brother of Mayor Ben, will run as mayor of Looc. Both Muloy, former vice-president of the LMP, and Ben, an accountant, are to complete their three terms as mayor of their respective municipalities this year. Bokal Nestor is about to complete his full term as a board member while Bokal Michelle dived into politics only last elections and likewise voted to the provincial legislative council.

Just recently, Mayor Muloy steered his town’s bagging of two major awards in the recently-concluded 8^th Annual Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index (CMCI). LGU San Jose gained first place in the Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure at Resilience category in the whole MIMAROPA Region and place 16^th among the 1,493 municipalities in the country. The award is bestowed by the Department of Trade and Industry or DTI. The awards conferred to this town known before as Pandurucan under the leadership of Mayor Muloy are too many to mention. But he believes that the credit is not his alone.

Mayor Muloy is firm and tough. He stood on the side of the fishermen in the infamous Gem-Ver-sinking incident in the West Philippine Sea as opposing the pro-Chinese posture of Malacañan on the issue. He said in a Rappler interview, “Ipakita natin 'yung ating muscle. May muscle din tayo kahit sa bibig. Kung wala man tayong muscle sa giyera eh sa bunganga man lang at sa tinatawag na proper court kung saan dapat dalhin 'yan.” The interview was conducted by the now controversial Rambo Talabong of said media firm which appeared in June 17, 2019. 

On the other hand, Mayor Ben has been at the forefront of implementing basic services to his town’s basic sectors specifically the fisherfolks, and continuous to be an advocate for the environment specifically the protection of marine life which gained international recognition. He had been real busy recently curbing COVID-19 cases in that island municipality. 

The tested and seasoned politicians have already proved their worth. S/he would just create a sort of mental fatigue for the voters for being a political candidate ad infinitum. In doing so, they will be breaking the circle of his or her legacy and their victorious achievements in exemplary public service. A politician is like a rubber band. Full stretch limits itself. 

Since “There is nothing permanent in politics,” mayors Ben and Muloy may also change their minds and file their CoCs for other political seats in the coming days. If, as I said, they change their minds. Nothing is permanent in politics, and as popular belief has it, politicians have ever-changing minds.

Please be reminded too that before he announced his retirement from boxing yesterday, Manny Pacquiao, after his third fight with Timothy Bradley in 2016 which he won via UD, said, "As of now, I am retired" but went on to fight that same year. So, boxers and politicians have many things in common. Nothing is definite in these two dynamic realms.

God gave us all power to know for ourselves when to quit or to stop (or rest) in anything we do. There must be a final Sabbath both in politics and boxing. Unluckily, many politicians and boxers from all over trust more their self-fulfilling prophetic power than this inner power that the Almighty installed in all of us.

Those who had been long in politics can play the role of guides and should give it up so that the young and new politicians or their second liners or successors can continue their ideals. This includes their unfinished business in public service that could be passed on to them through bits of advice and pointers. In Mayor Muloy’s case, his grand project of construction of a new public market is now reportedly already in the pipeline and the town’s baby walk to cityhood. Not to be left out is his aim of implementing best practices towards sustainable tourism which is also the main agenda of his politician daughter.

But of course, they must not make string-puppets out of their protégées. Voters have to weigh this reality out.

As “There is nothing permanent in politics,” overstaying in this business deserves a second, more critical look.

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 (Photo: PR Team of San Jose LGU)

 

 

The Dereliction of Local Media Propagandists and their Political Patrons

It’s election season once again so the local political propagandists are very much alive over the radio, social media groups, and pages hurling accusations of everything at each other's bosses. Or among the media practitioners themselves.

It is also when radio programs sponsored or paid by politicians mushroom all over the local radio stations in the province.

I assume that the only ones who are intensely and "intelligently" following such radio programs and stations are composed of partisan "hardliners," few "politically- interested," or their close-in supporters. But the rest are and thousands who want "cheap entertainment", a comic relief amid left and right problems in our middle. This situation makes us limp in hardships as people sprint towards our shared dream of political maturity. Is there hope to this current local media situation from this unfortunate social reality?

How could our local politicians in their respective ways, rightly empower the people through the radio and social media if their paid broadcasters or social media propagandists/influencers fail to convey public information and communication that would present the general interest of the masses and the general public? If they could only offer the same old issues and concerns and communication approaches, techniques, and methods? If they allow them to retort to ad hominem and other fallacies or witless questions or comments?

Propagandists and commentators of such kind become senseless as far as educating the public is concerned. They become extraneous due to a poor selection of stories and items to be presented on air or social media. Most of the topics that they like to discuss can right away be predicted in each episode: from irritating praises for their (political) patron /patroness to personal attacks against their rival to their fellow broadcasters.

The pressing concerns and burning issues that the general public or most people wanted to know or ought to be informed of are not adequately elaborated and discussed. The data-based economic situation of the province, for instance, our innovative response to the pandemic, in-depth analysis on our marginalized sector, to name just a few. Ours is propaganda and communication based on personal attack or utter mudslinging tolerated by their respective politician patrons.

Not to mention other political stunts that these self-acclaimed media people chronically use. They employed propagandists while what the public needs are communicators. But before we go further, let us first distinguish "communication" from "propaganda." Communications aims to empower the audience by giving them information that they can weigh and be acted on at once. On the other hand, propaganda seeks to influence, often subvert, the thinking of that audience.

In short, "communication" here deals with the two-way process of sending messages and getting feedbacks, while "propaganda" is persuasive talking (or writing or social media posting). Conversely, politicians usually communicate in press conferences and interviews, while propaganda is what they talked about on stage during political rallies and other campaign sorties.

Thus, it is annoying, if not disastrous, to put the communicator and the propagandist (who is also an aspiring politician or has his or her political agenda) running a radio talk show like what we hear in most programs (and stations) nowadays. More so, if the hosts are in a dilemma whether if s/he going to be a communicator or a propagandist. If the patron politicians do not give a heck about this essential and objective aspect of the trade, they are putting the risk of being branded as “trapo”.

In short, the patron-politician needs to separate these two tasks and delineate these two functions. In not doing so, we are forever doomed to political immaturity manifested by our either fanaticism or unusual turncoat-ism. As unusual as a venom transferring from one aging cobra to another.

This situation manifests especially if the anchors or hosts have two different or opposing intellectual standpoints on issues other than their partisan political views, due to their different experiences before they jumped into the job, much more great differences in beliefs and ideology. Anyway, education is a lifelong process.

But it would be good if they adjusted themselves to such reality in a gradual manner, but it's not an assurance that their listeners who are privy to their backgrounds would easily understand that. The people will just be confused between "developmental" and plain image-boosting, the kind that utilizes persuasion towards a desired political gain. Especially if they have political ambitions (or in reality their ambition to make money out of their candidacy!).

The communicator and the propagandist work hand-in-hand towards a common goal. Their loyalty to their patron-principal is ideally second only to their commitment to God and country, truth, and citizenry. Though these things cannot feed them or can't be eaten.

My second observation deals with their means of presentation. Both political camps are confined only to political talk shows or public affairs programs without considering that most listeners are already tired of talks about politics (or hearing politicians talking).

All of their paid or sponsored programs only employ such overused broadcast type and format. I must agree that there's nothing wrong with the talk show, but why not toy with the idea of trying new approaches? In our modern world, stereotyping and complacency are considered mortal sins. To many, talk shows, no matter how light when presented to everyday people, are overly intellectual or political, thus annoying, boring, and disinteresting.

Another way of making the talk shows more interesting is to bring them to public places where the setting is similar to a press conference and hold it with a live audience or through teleconferencing where they could participate live. By so doing, we already have a captive audience of our own. We must also conduct research or survey on what topics are closest to people's hearts and minds regarding immediacy and relevance. Do not just impose issues or be covertly selective. We get our topics from the non-aligned listeners and not just from our avid supporters or party members.

We may call it also from events unfolding right at our very eyes. Presenting a sincere and balanced news selection is what the people ask, even from a politically partisan broadcast practitioner. Every broadcaster of whatever political line is duty-bound to present factual reports as informative and formative as possible.

If the just reinvigorated or reincarnated media war or war between local broadcasters is inevitable, might as well humanize it. Allow me to conclude by saying that we can humanize this media war by way of these simple steps (that I guarantee you are very familiar with).

First, putting into ethical action standards already in the KBP Code of Ethics must be strictly imposed by its member stations. Secondly, by learning not only from our patrons-principal but even perhaps from their (and our) mortal enemies and remembering that in this world, much with politics, nothing is permanent, and no one is indispensable.

 A good communicator or propagandist needs brain than voice, unequaled wit than brute arrogance, credibility than ability. Without those traits, we can easily fall prey to the narcissism of our patron-principal. We would be like cabbage that what we saw on the outside is what we also see on the inside or in its totality.

A principled communicator or propagandist need not bootlick their patron-principal redundantly and wantonly in the entire duration of his program or comments in a discussion thread. Without noticing it, we, in the process, are giving away our own identity, principles, and whole self. On the other hand, our being propagandists or communicators is not a license on going overboard.

We should constantly be reminded of our limitations and to remember that ours is a distinct realm and be aware that our work is a little apart from our principal's governance and administrative functions. As free and unique individuals, we all have the right to show a little discomfort whenever our patron-principal does something detrimental to the dignity of others by, say, being folksy whatever remarks or gesture of objectivity and levelheadedness, if not moral uprightness. This is to make them feel that we have principles of our own, and it's up to us how to make our patrons-principal understand us.

We may be paid propagandists and communicators, but we must remain human beings and not worthless puppets. With regards to our enemy, ignoring them more often is still our best option. Shoot the message and completely ignore the messenger. Beyond this is stooping down to their level and, if I may add, is allowing ourselves to be treated as mere puppets.

In addition, rude remarks and bullying in whatever form is intolerable regardless of where it came from and whoever uttered those. As I am mentioning time and again, arrogance usually defeats the purpose of awareness-raising propaganda and genuine communication. Arrogance contributes nothing in this particular learning process, in the holistic development of man, and in keeping his dignity intact, no matter how flea-like that man is.

Somehow, it would jeopardize all the good things we are doing and bound to do, especially if our bullying and arrogance became habitual. That even the Revised Penal Code and Jesus' teachings will find inutile.  

Even the bravest knight cannot morally defend an arrogant king (or queen) unless the former conspires with the latter for mutual gain or in exchange for privileges or favor. In this sense, the communicator and/or the propagandist became slaves to their earthly lord (i.e., politician boss) and Opportunism and its evils.

As communicators or propagandists, we are tasked to say what we like so long as we are forbearing. So, again, avoid anything that would be vulgar, and try to remain essentially sincere to all our audience or listeners and fellow media practitioners, whether they come from our side or elsewhere.

Doing political propaganda is not a free-for-all thing. Not all things are allowable in doing political propaganda because showing your fairness and kindness toward your “rivals”, fleshing out decency and rationality are also political propaganda themselves. This would boil down to the advantage of our principal, the ones we are currently supporting.

The local media industry is at its best when it adores no “sacred cows”, it bows to no “superior humans”, it is blind to the “glitter of gold” and deaf to the “sound of silver”, to paraphrase the late Bishop Oscar V. Cruz, my primary source of social communication beliefs.

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(Photo: Philip Saligumba)