Our people have already spoken, in so crystal clear a vote that makes it now we’ve had enough, up till here, and are too willing to invest our new-found faith and belief if those now mandated to serve. Decades of drifting along, coasting along, just wouldn’t do it anymore, any more than we’re willing to take.
The first chance we had, we took it on May 13th, investing our future and the future that our children will inherit from us, in the hands of a Mayor reluctant at first to even think about it, doubtful at first that we have had it up here in quiet, smoldering patience. Little did the newbie know that the clamor for change has long been defeaning, for policies at national and local level to be in sync, once and for all, for political will to finally be wielded at the very core of our values as carers of the environment. Little did the upstart — yes, that’s what they called him, more in derision than of tolerance — know that the clarion call had always been for leaders who are authentic, willing to listens and openly respects everyone, least of all Mr. Everyman who has been taken for a ride all this time.
Entrusting their faith in him, he is now called upon to work his entire being just to approximate their aspirations for not much of a life but better than all he had experienced since being a struggling kid to now being a still struggling grandpa. What had been said again, on the frenzy of a campaign that was long on promises for a better life, for a better future, for a better community this time around? Indeed, there’s a lot that has been avowed, from the dwindling environment including the fallen trees, all the way to the crippling traffic, to the trash that has been thrashed all these years just so they get out, farther out, from their pretty noses, to the air we breathe (at our risk) and the water we take (just every now and then).
To be sure, there is confidence all around, enough to buoy up the Chosen One, he who stunned and broke apart the political climes, to do infuse our life with the breath of fresh air no less demanded by the times. Yet, even before he gets to roll up the worksleeve, people from all walks of life have already made their their ubiquitous presence, kibitzing every step of the way, pontificating from wherever their experience with the city’s needs have led them all this time, telling him to do this, to do that. Goodness gracious, we haven’t even given him the time and space to breathe, much more the room to sidle left or right, up or down the spectrum of issues now upon him.
Incredible that the list of those willing to work with him has grown a kilometer long, as if credentials long enshrined in government vetting and hiring process can just be swept aside. Even more distressing is that for every Juan and Juana anointed to be there, a hundred Pedro and Petra are heavy with heart to accept so wrenching a fate. No Sirs and Madames, it’s just how government works. Surely, the willing to serve can find another route, outside of the confining, restricting walls built on place.
C’mon guys, let’s just get him hitting the ground running, prepping up for the day he’d swear on the Bible that he’d do just that, laying the groundwork to put in place the systems needed, reconciling local and national efforts that have to be in sync, even wielding all the hammering force required just to put some sanity to it all.
The message we’re getting is clear: he has a lot of mess to unmess. So let’s not mess further around, and trust that he’d do just that, our faith sturdy and strong, our belief even shining through from the trust we accord him. and tongs to the problems hounding our city.
As intoned and pleaded for as soon as the final result came out evening of Election Day, let us simply closed ranks behind the greater goal of effecting the changes that our people have wanted. Let the animosities of the campaign remain as mere words exchanged between friends who were simply contenders sharing the same noble goal. Let the misdeeds of the recent past, from the illegal bandying around of his name to charging the food ordered to his account, be put to a final stop. What you wouldn’t want to happen to you, you wouldn’t want to happen to anybody else.
Sure, animosities may have developed behind each other’s back. Yes, harsh, pain inducing words may have been uttered in rising decibels. But, deep in everyone’s heart, we know that these are just part of rhetoric — as my Father would say, dekorasyon ti ngiwat — done moments of thoughtless indiscretion. The rivalry is done, let the healing begin, let a reconciliation with the here and now jump-start what augurs to be a New Day for Baguio.
Enough said. Time to work it all up, hitting the ground running for the breath of fresh air.
