“A big letdown’

LETTER

BAUKO, Mountain Province – A ambona  fide  constituent  of  Bauko.  I  have  been constantly  and  regularly  doing my  civic  duty of  voting during  elections  since  time immemorial.  In  the  2010  and  2013  elections,  I  voted for  Abraham Akilit  as  mayor  of  Bauko  as  a  testament of  my  trust  and  confidence  on his  integrity, mettle  and competence.  These  attributes were due  to his  above  par  performance (according  to  info  relayed from mutual  friends) as  a  long  time  director  of  National Irrigation Authority of Mountain Province  and  Cordillera Region. He  miserably lost  the  2010  elections  to the then incumbent  Simon  Lacwasan allegedly  due to a  clean, principled campaign (again  from  mutual friends) but  was  the runaway  winner in 2013  when  he employed a topical trapo-style  of  campaign.  

On  both  occasions, his outstanding record  as   director  was  highlighted and  adduced to  his  competence  and integrity  as  a  public  worker  and leveraged as awe-inspiring   main  ingredients  to  the  razzmatazz  of  his  campaign spiels on  the twin elections.

I  took  with  a heavy heart his  sorry  loss  in 2010  as  I  staunchly believed  that  he can do a lot  to  fast track  the  socio-economic  development  of  Bauko  given  his  much-hyped    competence ,  let  alone  his  high  education  being  a doctorate  degree holder  to boot.  It  was  no less a rousing  triumph  for  him  when  he  was  overwhelmingly  elected  in 2013. 

In  the  latter,  he trounced his two  lightweight  rivals  by  outspending  them  on  his campaign sorties.  Everybody was then upbeat about his performance as  mayor  given  his  illustrious  background.

Eventually, though,  as  his  watch as  mayor  rolled on,  some of his acts degraded  his standing  as  a  leader. It provided credence  to  his being  a  bumbling  leader  diametrically  opposed  to  the  grand expectations  of Baukonians  when he assumed two  years  ago.  Here are  the  reasons  why:

He erected  a  multi-story  multi-purpose structure  right  smack  at  the  quadrangle  in  front  of  the  municipal  hall  which not only defaced  the  frontage  of  the  municipal  hall  but  destroyed the quadrangle altogether.  If  I remember  right,  the  permanent  municipal  hall  at  Abatan  was  erected  sometime  in the  late ‘60s  during the watch  of  the late  Mayor  Gregorio  Awisan. 

The late  mayor  might  be turning  and agitating in  his grave  with  the  degradation and debasement  done by  Akilit on  the   municipal quadrangle  which  is  now no more. It  is unthinkable  how  of  all places,  he decided  on locating  the  multi-purpose  hall  at the quadrangle.  It’s  as if    there  is  a  dearth  of space  within the vicinity  of  the  municipal  hall where  he  could  have  had  erected the building or  any  available space in Bauko. What’s  more irksome  was  that  nobody  among the aldermen  raised  a  howl  on  this.

His  also decided to hold  the  municipal  fiesta  at  Poblacion,  Bauko  last April,2015  rather than at  Abatan,  which is the traditional  and  the  most  convenient venue  for  its conduct.  Many  peddlers, constituents  and  visitors  from adjacent  municipalities  like  Sabangan, Tadian  and Cervantes  raucously  and  obstreperously  grumbled at  this.  They  could  not  fathom what triggered Akilit  to transfer  the  venue of  the fiesta   to Poblacion  considering  the  limited  space  and  inconvenience of  it  as  venue. 

To  think  that  Abatan  is much more  convenient, excellent, spacious,  more customer-friendly  and  suitable  as  a  place  for  the  holding  of  the fiesta  aside from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  commercial  center  of  Bauko  being  the seat  of  local government  and the location  of  the  Luis  Hora  Regional  Hospital.

It  doesn’t  take a  rocket scientist to consider that having  the fiesta  at  Poblacion only benefited the  people  of  Poblacion and deprived most people  of Bauko  and nearby municipalities  from enjoying  it as they  have been wonted  to  in previous  years. 

Infact,  due  to  inconvenience  of the  venue,  the municipal  fiesta  of  2015  was                                                                                                                  the dreariest, most unproductive  and  the  worst  municipal  fiesta ever  held in  the history of  Bauko.  It’s  worth observing, though, that he  did  not  have  the fiesta  held  at  Bila,  his  home barangay,  which he might  have initially considered if  am not mistaken. 

What  perplexed  me  on this  is that  the barangay officials  did not  contravene  the  venue  when  it  was  enunciated  to  them.  This made them  accessories  to  that decision. 

There may be other degrading acts perpetrated  by  Abraham Akilit  but the above were  the  major ones. 

Joey Bomatnong

Concerned citizen of Bauko