Congratulations all.. but

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

The elections are over. The next best thing to do is extend our congratulations to the winners, the losers and the supporters of all the central protagonists in one of the country’s more peaceful and faster voting events.
    Congratulations also to the members of each candidate’s respective families, their relatives, clan and others who went through sleepless nights, unforeseen worries and fears. I have to say this because I knew of a candidate who did not have a family around to absorb the worries and fears that accompany election activities.
    My hats off to reelected congressman Mark Go in Baguio, and so with mayor “BBM” Benjie B. Magalong and vice mayor Tino Olowan who both received fresh mandates to run a city with so many things to rearrange or fix.
    Many happy returns to Ibaloy Baguio councilors Poppo Cosalan, Peter Fianza and Jose “Jomol” Molintas, and not to forget of course reelected councilor Art Alladiw who looks more Ibaloy than his seatmates in City Hall because he gets drunk like one.   
    In Benguet, my best wishes to vice governor-elect Ericson “Tagel” Felipe for showing the best performance that enabled him to gather 101,276 votes against the 68,681 votes of incumbent vice governor Johnny Waguis and board member Jim Botiwey’s 23,197 votes in the partial unofficial results of the May 9 elections.
    The latter two are incumbent provincial officials and friends of mine who were challenged by insan Tagel. I doff my hat to both of them for their professionalism in the performance of their election campaigns.
    Cheers to lawyers Coy Nazarro, Robert Canuto and Ruben Paoad, and my cousin Sander Fianza who will continue to warm their seats in the provincial board along with the other board members.
    Congratulations too to Johnny Galutan, Dr. Cosme Galasgas Jr. and Arnulfo Milo, the “GaGaMi BBMs” team (Galutan-Galasgas-Milo bagong board members) who finished 45 days of being board members.
    My cousin, agriculture expert and college professor Silver Aben, lawyer for farmers Richard Kilaan, Engineers Reny Tabdi and Alex Castaneda, councilor Art Shontogan, IP representative Sario Copas and last but not least Joel Cervantes all deserve special mention.
    All of the above should be the ones to compose the legislative body at the Benguet Capitol. Surely, with these men as lawmakers, the necessary measures will be crafted properly. Yes, there are members of the body who do not know their role.
    My hats off to new mayors Jun Bantales of Kabayan, Fred Dacumos of Sablan, Franklin Smith of Atok, Bernard Waclin of Itogon and Dario Banario of Mankayan who disappointed the incumbent mayors in the democratic process. They should hit the ground running and dodge attempts by higher elected officials to make them “yes men”.
    I raise my glass to mayors Romeo K. Salda of La Trinidad, Bongbong Wales, Armando Lauro of Tublay and Manny Fermin of Kapangan who will serve their third terms for their constituents, and to reelected mayors Cesar Molitas of Kibungan, Clarita Sal-ongan of Tuba, Bill Raymundo of Bakun, Ruben Tindaan of Buguias.
    Congratulations to second term governor Melchor Diclas who scooped 112,345 votes to beat third term board member Robert Namoro’s 64,187 votes and lawyer Jerry Marave who got 15,352 votes. Jerome Wakat got 2,274 votes while Alexander Tadina gathered 828 “very sincere” votes.
    For congressman, I congratulate Itogon Mayor Victor Palangdan who gathered 71,200 genuine votes. I voted for him because he was the most qualified among his rivals, although he lacked the numbers to get over ACT-CIS partylist Rep. Eric Go Yap’s 123,801 votes. Lawyer Sammy Paran garnered 4,457 while 2,162 kind souls voted for Thorsson Keith.
    But I offer Cong. Yap my compliments and respect the democratic process even if the numbers were improbable. I am not the only one who was surprised about how and where he got them. It was like picking up fruits that fell from a tree.
    Besides, I never saw any political leaflets of the man from the south. I was really interested to find out who his parents were, his wife and children, his clan and tribal affiliations just like all the other Igorot candidates in Benguet.
    A politician should introduce his family and affiliations to the public because these are factors that will prevent him from committing shameful irregularities as an elected official.
    While the last electoral exercises were fast and peaceful, there was news about vote-buying everywhere, including parts of Benguet. Who else would do such anomalies other than the new arrivals and unknown who have money to give away?   
    Hence, voters must be wary of politicians who act in unusual ways, appearing to be saints in slippers and tattered maong pants but distributing so much cash during the campaigns. Such acts of extra spending should also raise suspicions as to where the money came from.
    People should be suspicious when a politician unexpectedly becomes kind-hearted and suddenly distributes “ayuda” or “tupad” which are activities in preparation for his candidacy. By receiving dole-outs, we lost our dignity.
    Politicians who are quite clean do not have to spend more than what is necessary to win voters to his side, knowing too that overspending is punishable by law. True, a politician who spends more in his campaign is most likely to steal to regain what he spent.
    Maybe the voters committed a mistake in electing some candidates but then again we have to respect the processes in a democracy. What we can do now is to be vigilant and be prepared because we do not know what we are facing in the days to come.
    Programs and projects should benefit the general public, not “rock-netting”. Projects should be consistent with the priorities listed in the annual investment plan of the barangays, so that people will cooperate.
    Let us hope that there will be no massive corruption. In the words of Atty. Robert Basco, he fears that there might be “monopoly and display of power, total political takeover and god-playing”.