Iloilo City Employees to Receive Study Grants

Last Saturday, I got a call from Dennis Gonzalez saying that he was in Iloilo to interview several prospective candidates for their masteral program at the Ateneo School of Government. Dennis, by the way, is the younger brother of Iloilo City Congressman Raul Gonzalez, Jr. and is the current Academic Program Manager of the Ateneo School of Government in Rockwell, Makati. He said that he will be interviewing a group of City Hall officials who have signified interest in taking the masteral course, which included Councilors Parcon and Drilon-Garcia. He added that his brother and Mayor Treñas promised to pool their resources to fund the studies of 25 scholars.

The 25 lucky individuals to be chosen will be taking up the tricky “Masters in Public Management” program of the Ateneo School of Government. According to Gonzalez, the said two-year course is specially designed for people occupying management positions in government. And the best part is, the Iloilo students will not have to go to Ateneo-Rockwell because Ateneo-Rockwell will go to them. Gonzalez said that professors from the Ateneo will be flying in from Manila every Saturday to conduct whole-day lectures in Iloilo City. According to Dennis, this unique distance education curriculum is part of the Ateneo School of Government’s outreach program to improve the people’s access to high-quality education especially of those in the provinces.

This coming Saturday (August 12), a Memorandum of Agreement will be signed by the Iloilo City government and the Ateneo School of Government to conduct this distance learning program. Expected to lead the MOA-signing rites are Dr. Antonio Laviña, the new Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, Congressman Gonzalez, Mayor Treñas and other city officials.

By equipping our city managers with advanced education and the right leadership skills training, it is hoped that the quality of public service in Iloilo will improve. In the end, it is the general public who will benefit.

In the past, Iloilo City officials relied mainly on their homespun wisdom and innate talents to solve our city’s problems. But the rapid urbanization of Iloilo City has brought about problems never before encountered by previous administrations like flooding, traffic, urban blight and overpopulation. While common sense and native intelligence may have worked in solving simple problems in the past, the complex problems Iloilo City is currently encountering require complex solutions. There is, therefore, a need to equip our leaders with the right knowledge and advanced management skills if they are to solve our city’s problems. We also have to professionalize our people in City Hall if we want to see competent governance and improved public service for our people.

We must bear in mind that other Philippine cities are also upgrading their peoples’ skills and professionalizing their organizations. Presently, all cities in the country are in fierce competition for visitors and investors to their respective areas. Our City Hall officials must therefore also have to upgrade their skills and professionalize their organization in order to be competitive with other Philippine urban centers if we want to attract tourists and investors. In order to maintain Iloilo City’s preeminent position as one of the best places in the country to live in, we have to invest our financial resources in the people running our city. As the foremost city in Western Visayas, it would be a huge waste if we are going to let things slide and allow other Philippine cities overtake us in terms of growth and development.

In a sense, the people of Iloilo City are lucky because they have leaders who believe in education. Education is a most potent tool in realizing growth and improving people’s lives. We should thank Mayor Treñas and Congressman Gonzalez for believing in the project and allowing our city employees the opportunity to earn a masteral degree. Without their support, many of those who are planning to take up graduate studies would not be able to do so due to financial constraints. For their part, the beneficiaries of these study grants should realize that it is the taxpayers who will be paying for their tuition. They should therefore pay back the people thru their honest and efficient public service. The people of Iloilo City deserve no less.

The Ten Most Powerful Persons in Western Visayas

I have drawn up a list of the ten most influential Ilonggos today. But before I continue, let me first explain the criteria I used for my list. I based my conclusions mainly on the following criteria: first is the person’s ability to influence government policy which includes his/her ability to source government projects, promote advocacies, etc. Second is popularity, which could either mean their ability to inspire awe, their public awareness level, their ability to inspire people and influence public opinion, or for politicians, their ability to consistently win elections. Last but not the least is the individual’s leadership qualities i.e. good governance, competence and intelligence, power to move crowds, etc. So here it is: THE TEN MOST POWERFUL ILONGGOS TODAY.

1. Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas. By topping the 2004 senatorial race, Mar is now seen as a serious contender for the Presidency (if it still exists in 2010). As the “Great Ilonggo Hope,” local politicians, whether in the opposition or administration, all want to be in his good graces. His decision to align himself with the opposition Drilon wing of the Liberal Party has not really diminished Mar's stature in the eyes of Ilonggos. By showing that he had a "backbone," it may have even helped his political career and might have redeemed him in the eyes of non-believers.

Mar is one of the few political personages in Western Visayas who can truly claim familial ties in both Panay and Negros Occidental, his father being Senator Gerry Roxas from Capiz and his mother Judy Araneta from Bago, Negros Occidental. As the author of the bio-ethanol bill, Negros sugar planters look up to him to sheperd its passage in the Senate to grant the ailing local sugar industry a new lease in life. People see in Roxas the right blend of idealism and political pragmatism, (old) wealth and political pedigree, intelligence and mass appeal. The only question is – are Filipinos ready to elect a bachelor for president?

2. Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo. Archbishop Lagdameo is one of the most important princes of the Philippine Catholic Church today. Elected by his peers to head the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) last November 2005, he has since become a “quotable” media personality and his statements are regularly covered by national media outlets. Outspoken and sometimes controversial, Archbishop Lagdameo has led efforts to oppose the passage of the Population Management bill in Congress. He was also successful in opposing the establishment of coal-fired power plants and mining concessions in Iloilo province. As president of the very influential CBCP, he is always being courted by both administration and opposition politicians alike.

3. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez. With Senators Roxas and Franklin Drilon no longer part of the administration coalition in the region, Secretary Gonzalez has been designated the political overlord of Panay by Malacañang. Aside from fending off coup plotters and acting as the President’s “lightning rod,” Secretary Gonzalez is also in-charge of settling minor political disputes among political allies, taking care of their needs and providing over-all party leadership in the region. Although he is much-maligned in national and local media, Secretary Gonzalez has never lost an election in Iloilo City, where he served three terms as Congressman. His apologists say that if only Erap had him instead of Serafin Cuevas as Justice Secretary, he would not have been ousted as President.

4. Congressman Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo. As the presidential brother-in-law, many perceive Iggy (rightly or wrongly) as very close to the powers-that-be. Ilonggo politicians all want to be in his good graces in the hope of bagging big infrastructure projects in their areas or having their pending requests “facilitated.” Investigated by the Senate for his participation in the “Jose Pidal” controversy years back, Congressman Iggy Arroyo is now the darling of Ilonggo politicians. Even now, pundits predict that he will easily get reelected since no one in his district has come forward to challenge him in the coming polls.

5. Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas. I included Mayor Treñas in my list of Ten Most Influential Persons not only because he is the mayor of the region’s premier city but because he is currently the President of the City Mayors’ League. As chief of the city mayors, Treñas's voice is listened to by decision makers. As a former pupil of President Arroyo at the Ateneo de Manila University, Mayor Treñas is perceived to be very close and is said to have a direct line to Malacañang. Recently, he was among the few LGU officials mentioned by GMA in her SONA speech. His grip on the mayorship of Iloilo City is very strong and pundits predict that he will easily win over former Mayor Mansueto “Mansing” Malabor in the coming elections. Dynamic, intelligent and results-oriented, Mayor Treñas is truly an up-and-coming Ilonggo politician. Incidentally, his father was once a senator of the Republic. Who knows, maybe lightning can strike twice.

6. Josette Biyo. Ma’am Biyo became an instant media celebrity when she bagged the prestigious “Intel Excellence in Teaching Award” in 2002, besting 4,000 other science teachers worldwide. She is the first Asian to win the said award. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offered her a lucrative teaching job but she declined, saying that she preferred to go back to Iloilo to continue teaching the poor kids there. The MIT people were so impressed that they named a small planet after her (Planet Biyo which is nine kilometers in diameter and is located at the belt between Mars and Jupiter). Her book “A Trip to Planet Biyo” has become a modest bestseller and Ma’am Josette has also become a much sought-after inspirational speaker in both local and international gatherings. As the newly-appointed Principal of the Iloilo Science High School, Josette Biyo continues to inspire people to hope. I suspect that she is one of the reasons why many middle-class Ilonggos still opt to stay in the country.

7. Businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco. Although he is a transplanted Ilonggo, Danding Cojuangco has become a very influential player in Negros Occidential politics. Originally from Tarlac, Cojuangco married into the landed Oppen family of Southern Negros. Pity the local politician who incurs his ire for come election time, Cojuangco’s bottomless financial resources will come into play to ensure his/her electoral defeat. Danding’s folksy “cowboy” ways and easy humor have endeared him to his farm workers, helped no doubt by his being “galante” (a very Ilonggo trait). As chair of San Miguel Corporation, Mr. Cojuangco is seen as an important player in business circles. His son, Congressman Charlie Cojuangco (who is one his third and last term), is rumored to be being groomed by Danding to run for Mayor either in Bago City or Pontevedra town. But like his father (who seems to be enjoying farming nowadays more than politics), the younger Cojuangco also seems to be disinterested in politics as his dismal attendance record in Congress show.

8. Senator Franklin “Frank” Drilon. If this entry was written two years ago, I would have ranked Senator Drilon among the Top Five Most Powerrful list. But it seems that current events are happening not in Drilon's favor nowadays. Formerly the regional head of the Lakas-LP administration coalition in Western Visayas, Senator Drilon lost his preeminent stature for leading the “Hyatt 10” mass-resignation last year. His "withdrawal of support" seemed all the more devious because only a week before, he appeared on television telling President Arroyo to transfer Malacañang to Iloilo if “Imperial Manila” does not want her. Aside from losing his post as the region's administration party leader, Drilon also lost the Senate Presidency to Villar recently. His leadership of the Liberal Party is also being challenged by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and the party is now currently split into two groups.

Now on his last term as senator, Drilon seems to have nowhere else to go. His prospects of bagging a Cabinet post is practically nil as of the moment (but who knows, stranger things have happened in Philippine politics). Iloilo’s gossip mills are currently abuzz with rumors that Drilon will be running for the lone district of Iloilo City or the second district of Iloilo province. But according to local news reports, he has not transferred his voter’s registration from Manila to Iloilo. Because of the one-year residency rule for local candidates, he is therefore ineligible to run in Iloilo. Drilon after all might be planning to retire from politics or go back to private law practice.

9. Energy Secretary Perpetuo “Popo” Lotilla. Hailing from the town of Sibolom, Antique, Secretary Lotilla started off as a UP Law professor and a legislative consultant in the Senate. Soft-spoken and self-effacing, it is easy to underestimate Secretary Lotilla. Due to the energy crisis currently being experienced in Panay, Ilonggos are pinning their hopes on their kasimanwa to solve the periodic brown-outs plaguing their area. The inadequate power supply is one of the most serious problems hampering the economic growth of Panay today. Even now, call centers and other BPO locators are already ruing having established operations in Iloilo City because of the brown-outs.

10. Department of Tourism Regional Director Edwin Trompeta. I have included Director Trompeta in this list in anticipation of the important role he will be playing in the region in light of President Arroyo’s SONA pronouncement earmarking Central Philippines as the premier tourist destination of the country. A competent career official, it was during his watch at the DOT-Region 6 that Boracay became a leading tourist destination and a top dollar-earner in the country. Presently, I figure that elected officials and local media people are all trying to get hold of this guy. I would if I was a mayor.

Raul Roco: In Memoriam - Tales from the 2004 Presidential Campaign Trail

Today is the first death anniversary of Raul S. Roco. A mass is scheduled tonight at the Dela Strada Parish Church, Katipunan, Quezon City to mark his death anniversary. I did not even realize that it has already been a year since his demise until I received an email from Mrs. Roco inviting me to join the commemorative mass. It seems that it was only yesterday that we were all shocked to hear the news of his passing. As my first boss, RSR (as we his staffers called him which stands for his initials) was not only my employer but my political mentor and, ever since my father died, a surrogate father as well. His death has had a profound effect on me.

I was on the campaign trail with RSR when he first complained of back pain sometime in April 2004, which doctors eventually diagnosed as a remission of his prostate cancer. He was running for President and we were in Zamboanga Sibugay province campaigning for votes there. I was the staff in-charge of preparing for the entire Zamboanga Peninsula-Negros Island Sortie. Even when we were just planning the trip, things were already not good. We were having problems sourcing a helicopter for our candidates' island-hopping sortie, supposedly because Petron (which holds a monopoly on aviation fuel in the country) would not sell us aviation fuel. We suspected that this was part of Malacañang's "dirty tricks" designed to handicap our campaign. Nonetheless, Campaign HQ bosses decided to push thru with the Zamboanga-Negros leg BY LAND! Those familiar with Philippine geography would know that travelling the Zamboanga provinces by land is not only dangerous (because of MILF and Abu Sayyaf rebels) but also back-breaking (because of its mountainous terrain and long stretches of bad roads). But orders were orders, and we had to make do with what was given to us.

While we were in Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay, an over-excited, middle-aged woman suddenly hugged RSR. I then saw his reaction: instead of smiling (he loved to be hugged by adoring women), RSR grimaced painfully. Later, when we were already on the road travelling to our next whistlestop, he was constantly complaining of a jarring pain in his lower back. Seeing his condition, we then decided to cancel our scheduled whistlestops and hastily motored to Pagadian City, the capital of Zamboanga del Sur province. That night, we arranged for a local masseuse to massage him at his hotel room, thinking that it was just muscle "wear-and-tear" caused by all the prolonged travelling. But the massage did not ease his pain and the following day, RSR had to fly back to Manila leaving the rest of the candidates and their staff to continue on with the campaign swing without him.

With the sortie finished, I reported back to our National Campaign HQ in Manila. The youth volunteers were all joking and kidding me for arranging a "very demanding and back-breaking" itinerary for our candidates. But about a week later, our jovial mood was shattered when RSR announced that he has prostate cancer and that he was leaving for the U.S. to have it treated. RSR made the announcement just when he was about to board the plane to Houston, Texas and absolutely no one in the campaign staff (except I think for Mrs. Roco and Atty. Lorna Kapunan) knew about it beforehand. Needless to say, we all felt bad and some of our most rabid campaigners decided to leave the HQ.

But I interpreted his leaving as a political gamble and a calculated risk: Roco was already slipping in various surveys and the only way to reverse the trend is if we can pull off some sort of miracle comeback. If we can show people that Roco is cured of his prostate cancer after his trip to the US, maybe we can still salvage our faltering campaign by stage-managing his "triumphal return." I say it was a gamble because RSR could have kept his ailment a secret and just go on campaigning. We knew that if we did not do something drastic and dramatic, we will lose the elections. For one, the major national media networks, which have been largely ignoring us, finally RSR's departure front page treatment.

Our scenario for RSR's "triumphal return" involved a grand motorcade along Metro Manila's major thouroughfares and a confetti parade along Makati's Ayala Avenue. I was assigned the task of arranging the "confetti shower" and was given only 48 hours to accomplish the task. With limited time and resources, I hastily assembled a team of youth volunteers to shred paper and to throw confetti off office buildings in Ayala. When the day of his arrival came, a huge throng of supporters in "dressed up" vehicles greeted RSR at the airport. The "Flower Power" Motorcade then slowly snaked its way to Makati to announce the "ressurection" of Raul Roco. The motorcade was so long that its head was already in Ayala Avenue while its tail was still in Roxas Boulevard-Baclaran, Parañaque. It was a glorious sight and that day, I truly believed we can still win.

I was running back and forth along Ayala Avenue frantically issuing last-minute instructions to our "Confetti Brigade" when RSR saw me in the crowd. Amid the noise of jubilant onlookers and the shower of confetti, RSR beamingly winked at me: his way of acknowledging and thanking me for a job well done. That was the last time I saw him alive.

The Land of a Thousand Fiestas

The President’s SONA pronouncement earmarking the entire Central Philippines as THE major tourism corridor of the country has generated much excitement and discussion among tourism industry players here. Nowadays, Department of Tourism Regional Director Trompeta is grinning from ear to ear and LGU officials currently are gearing their development programs towards tourism. While I think that the current mood in Western Visayas borders on “irrational exuberance” (to borrow from Alan Greenspan), one cannot really blame the people for becoming so excited. Many Ilonggos make their living out of tourist-related businesses and are truly pinning their hopes on tourism to lift them out of poverty. Already, some places here are aggressively vying for the chance of becoming the next Boracay.

For my part, I see the President's SONA as just a “repackaging” of the Medium Term Development Plan. Most of the projects President Arroyo mentioned can already be found in the long-delayed MTDP and she just sort of “re-labeled” or embellished it to suit her propaganda needs. Nonetheless, credit must be given to her for realizing increased revenue collections, reducing government spending and controlling the budget deficit. Now, she has money to spend on projects to keep her political supporters happy.

Anyway, the President’s SONA caused me to examine what the Central Philippines have to offer in terms of tourism activities and festivals. As many Filipinos may already know, the Visayas area is famous for its lavish, mardi gras-type festivals. Visayans are also known to be a fun-loving, hospitable and laid-back group of people. One can go to the South and come across at any time some fiesta, parade, celebration, carnival, cockfight.

Most of the biggest and most established festivals in Central Philippines occur in January and are supposedly held in honor of the Sto. Niño (Child Jesus). The four biggest festivals are the Ati-Atihan Festival of Kalibo, Aklan which is held every 3rd week of January, Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City scheduled on January 28-29, Masskara Festival of Bacolod City usually every October 19, and the Sinulog Festival of Cebu City every January 5-20. I have been to all but the Sinulog of Cebu and I can say that out of the three festivals in Western Visayas, I find the Ati-Atihan Festival of Kalibo the best of all mainly because it still retains its “religiousity.” The celebration in Kalibo is still centered on the Catholic Church; part of the Ati-Atihan experience is hearing the solemn mass concelebrated by the Kalibo bishop. The Catholic Church and the Sto. Niño plays a major part in the festivities. Somehow, Ati-Atihan was able to hang on somehow to its religious roots. That is why I was extremely saddened to hear that violence marred the traditionally peaceful Ati-Atihan a couple of years back (see my entry “Boy Cuadra is Guilty”).

In contrast, Bacolod’s Masskara and Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festivals have become too commercialized and purely hedonistic: it is merely merry-making for merry-making’s sake. Loud music, open-air beer gardens, fistfights and KSP national politicians have become the two festival’s standard fare. I remember about ten years ago, San Miguel Corporation sold beer during the Masskara Festival for only one peso! The catch is it should be the old one-peso coin (the bigger Bagong Lipunan kind which was still in circulation back then). Needless to say, bumaha ng beer sa Bacolod on that day. A couple of years ago, Judy Ann Santos suddenly appeared as Darna in the middle of the Dinagyang festivities, causing much consternation among Iloilo City denizens. Judy Ann did it to promote her TV series with ABS CBN at that time.

Lately, other Visayan LGUs have established their own festivals. Fast gaining adherents are the Seafood Festival of Capiz (July 15-16), Pana-ad sa Negros Festival of Festivals (April 3-9), Paraw Regatta of Guimaras-Iloilo (February 18-19), Mangghan Festival of Guimaras (May 22), Aswang Festival of Capiz (October 29-30) and the Sinadya sa Halaran of Capiz (December 3-8). Other provinces are also trying to “cash in” on the mardi gras festival trend such as Antique with its Binirayan Festival (April 27-29), Bohol its Sandugo Festival (July 16), Eastern Samar its Homonhon Landing (every March 16), Leyte its Gen. MacArthur-Leyte Gulf Landing (every October 20). Visayan cities are also vying for visitors like Dumaguete with its Kasadyaan Festival every December, Ormoc City its Terry Larrazabal Bikefest (March 30-April 2) and Calbayog City with its weird-sounding Sarakiki-Hadang Festival (September 3-7).