Rellon’s advocacy is an uphill struggle, but doable
By eddie
rojo
All it takes is political will and sincerity in service and
the rest of your constituents will be there to rally behind. That’s how we
sized up of the gargantuan tasks the incoming Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon ought
to tackle.
Street talks now say that days before he could even touch
the mayoral seat Rellon is already facing issues left and right, mostly from
petty crimes, which “magically” sprouted like road blocks on his way to good governance.
Clearly though, those daily headlines of community papers, kawat diri, lungkab didto, are technically not for Rellon to act on
since the mayor-elect will still have to pack his things up from the vice
mayor’s office on July one. Until then, with all those painful decibels coming
from borabora and abusive motorists,
they’re still Mayor Rey UY’s call. So frankly speaking, these are non-issue in
as far as the governance style of Allan Rellon is concern.
What should come as Rellon’s baptism of fire is the handling
of warm bodies that swarmed his office and the privacy of his residence daily.
These are people who desperately look for jobs, solicitors, the “sipsips and intrigueros”, media people
asking for greetings as ads, not to mention the over-protective cordon
sanitaire and their own personal aids. Understandably, most of these people are
nervous for their family’s next meal and they see in the image of Rellon an
opening for better days ahead.
That’s for the left side of Rellon. On the right side are
those with business interests in city hall and the local investors in Tagum.
Some are people who felt it’s now right time to join local politics, start to
brush elbows this early with the incoming city mayor and councilors. And there
are those political patrons with overshot expectations from their protégé. From
the looks of it, one may see a scenario very common in the political setting of
this country. That’s too unpleasant for a reminder. And we may rightly fear for
a governance style that perennially haunts us every after election, the
politics of patronage.
On the brighter side however, we draw some comfort from our
personal knowledge of how a P2 million-peso offering of an old political mullah
in Tagum for the campaign purse of Rellon last elections was refused -- now, it
can be told. A lawyer friend of mine also confided to us that his businessman
client was disappointed when Rellon said NO to his supposed P1M contribution
for the poll campaign of the latter. Rellon had us stunned!
I had almost an hour talk with Allan over the phone on this
matter. Though this writer was privy to the P2-million attempt contribution
which was refused by Rellon I still need to hear from him the true reason why
he turned his back from it. After all, P2M is P2M. And to a struggling
candidate for city mayor such amount could have been used to further lubricate
his campaign machinery. Or, deposit it straight to his bank account for future,
personal use in case the poll result would favor his rival.
Allan’s underlying rationale is admirable, at least from a
standpoint of a poor candidate. He knew he was going to win the elections, with
or without that financial donation. He was so focused that he looked ahead to
the moments where significant decisions are to be made concerning Tagum.
According to Allan, he wants to see himself beholden to no one except to his
constituency. He of course admitted that there indeed some donations which he
accepted as a matter of choice. But he made it certain that such are devoid of
personal interests. No strings attached. I presumed then that most of them are
from friends and relatives abroad who see a deserving recipient in the person
of Allan.
It would be too early to tell. But Allan appears to be
heading in the right direction that those so called people-in-the-know in Tagum
are happy watching him. Many of them are willing to rally behind his good
intentions to make them materialized. In one juncture during our talks, Allan
emphasized that his administration will give more focus to the plight of the
poorest of the poor in Tagum. His conviction for a more peaceful and secured
community is also among his priorities. Emerging from the academe, it seems Rellon’s
yardsticks for progress are not those tall buildings and noisy night bars. He
is bent in bringing prosperity to every household in terms of food security, more
jobs and education. We can only hope to see him succeed in his advocacy.
For now residents in Tagum can surmise that Allan has inspired
a lot of political spectators, especially the youth. He has already resisted
tempting offers that greedy people would only be too quick to accept, no matter
what. That was a good start. And I refuse to entertain a famous line of thought
among world class scoundrel which says “the only time a person denies a good sum
of money is that when he wants more”.
Well, Allan has assured us that he’ll take the lead towards
ideal governance. Up ahead in his term are so many battles to face which
include among others the issues on taxes, the unfinished new -- or old if you
wish -- city hall, poverty, crime etc. Sensing from his statements, Allan is
confident He can deal with all this fairly in due time. These are all doable,
anyway.
For now, I must say that I shall pass my judgment later. (for comments and suggestions follow me @http://interviewnewsandopinon.blogspot.com)
