For almost half of my life, I only know your family name as
the mayor of my birthplace.
Under
your watch, I have seen this city rise from a place that is not even included
in TV patrol’s weather bulletin to a thriving hub that has attracted big brands
and big corporations. Under your watch, I have seen Divisoria rise from its
sleepy obscure status to a center of local commerce. And under your watch we’ve
seen a slowly defining skyline with flyovers albeit weirdly colored sprout in
and around the city. Yes, it is true. I felt economic growth under your watch
but as any economics student understands, economic growth can only last when
the systems and structures that support it grows with it or else things will
collapse under its own weight. Crime will soar, incomes will stagnate health will deteriorate . And this
is exactly why I embraced the need for your brand and style to go.
We are
transitioning as a city from highly urbanized to a metropolitan area, that is
the center of gravity in the region. And this transformation calls a new kind
of political leadership . One that does not merely transact the affairs of the
city or worse, run it like a business or source of livelihood, but transforms
the public institutions within it. This is important and that is also why this victory
is historic and critical as well. Historic in a sense that it shattered the
seeming invincibility of the Emano brand . Critical in a sense that majority of
the solons of city hall still have their hands tied with the old style.
And this
in itself poses a rare and great opportunity. The campaign for the candidacy of
Moreno has been composed not only of Liberal Party political operatives and
allied coalitions but it includes in its ranks a spectrum of local NGOs and
Civil Society Groups whose rootedness in community concerns capacitates it to
engage fruitfully with the political leadership . A Mayor who won by these
broad support and trust opens the door for these sectors to directly engage the
political leadership. And this is a chance we never had before in recent memory.
Let
us make full use of it. Let us make Hapsay a real thing. And this requires us to
organize ourselves in the ground and strategically engage with the new leadership under the agenda put forward
during the campaign. History has taught us that reform oriented leaders fail or
get eaten up by the rotten deals of the system when there is no reform oriented
constituency to support and engage them. And let us not forget the youth. They play
a very vital role in organizing and developing this reform oriented constituency.
It is their sheer energy, population, tech
savvy, fresh ideas and burning idealism that would make this project more
cohesive and long term. And glad to know that these are the ones who rallied
behind the campaign.
So let
us not commit those mistakes in this exciting point in our national story. Cities
play a vital role in our national economic development. And for these cities to
work, its local public institutions have to be put into proper order. Institutions
such as the local school boards, the RTA, the local social service, the health
centers, the development councils, the budget and the like must be diagnosed or
better yet, dissected so that all can see where the cancer lies. These local
institutions are the closest to the people and its state of health are immediately
felt and its efficiency or lack thereof spells the big difference in poverty
alleviation, city development and risk reduction. We learned that before the hard and deadly way.
All politics
is local as they say. This can never be more true now. The politics of Tuwid
na Daan is a national call that sees its face in the locality. It is the
LGUs, the more basic unit of government that drives this forward. And most
importantly, it is the audacity and commitment of the citizens of these LGUs which
will ultimately spell a better city, a better province, a better Philippines.
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