Shoes on the other foot

IN TRAVELING between Naga and Manila nowadays, it pays to bring along a bottle of water, some crackers, a sandwich, a choco bar or anything that can tide you over both expected and unexpected delays.

Put the ongoing reblocking all throughout the 90-plus kilometers-long Quirino (now Andaya) Highway in the "expected delays" column, creating pockets of one-way traffic along the way. This repair work has become an interminable feature of that diversion road, a quicksand to our tax money, and a monument to the DPWH's tremendous capacity for consistently shoddy construction.

Our trip last night until this morning lost two hours to a stalemate between some unknown arrogant drivers who refused to give way to one another, creating a monstrous jam. Opportunistic drivers -- mostly of private cars, jeepneys and vans -- who broke the line, took the other lane and tried to race ahead only made things worse.

Woe to a passenger who unexpectedly wakes up as traffic starts to build up, fails to go back to sleep the rest of the way, and suddenly finds himself provisionless throughout the entire ordeal.

The airconditioning system, already at "low" setting, became so unforgiving I had to put my moccasin shoes on in the dark and get off the bus from time to time. At one point, I felt some stubborn dirt had built up on their soles and no amount of scraping against the bus stepboard would tear them away.

Only when dawn came that I realized I had mixed them up; literally, each shoe was on the other foot.

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The tragedy of Pasay City

ONE OF the remarkable information I got from attending today's General Assembly of the Galing Pook Foundation has something to do with Pasay City. And it is a far cry from the political turmoil that has engulfed its city government.

If you want to have an idea about the latter, try googling the latest news on "Pasay City" -- as I did here -- and you will find such names as Calixto, Panaligan, Trinidad and the other protagonists in the still unfolding political saga there.

But did you know that the city's 2002 Gawad Galing Pook award-winning Bayanihan Banking Program is the most replicated local government initiative in the country behind our School Board effort in Naga -- embraced by more than 30 city governments nationwide, and generating more than P40 million in combined savings by and for its low-income members? This was revealed by DILG Assistant Secretary and Galing Pook managing trustee Austere Panadero in his report to the body. This article from the Sun.Star Cebu paints a less technical but more effective picture of what the program does.

Now that a national government-installed leadership has assumed power and -- like its patron in Malacañang -- will not relinquish it so easily, I wonder what became of this initiative, and its traiblazing twin in 2003 called Philhealth Plus -- uncannily similar to what helped President Gloria Arroyo win in the 2004 elections, according to her bitterest critics. Clearly, what is happening in Pasay right now is a disservice to what its people and government contributed to local governance in the country.

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Hello, Mr (Nigel) Bean:)

BUSING IN from Naga for a 10am meeting in Ortigas, I decided to kill time at my brother's place in Kabihasnan. Unable to get a decent sleep, I asked him if the James Bond movie that I requested for download via BitTorrent is already available. Fortunately, it is in his portable mini hard disk.

I did not get to finish Never Say Never Again, the last Bond movie that Sean Connery starred in, with Barbara Carrera and Kim Basinger as his leading ladies. But halfway through, I saw someone familiar, playing the role of a bumbling Bahamas-based bureacrat in the British secret service named Nigel. When the camera zoomed into his face, it was, who else, but a young Rowan Atkinson, the genius behind the very popular Mr. Bean comedy series.

I had to write this down because I will bring home a copy of the movie and show it to my kids, who all have grown to love the bumbling Mr. Bean, so much so they call me their own Papa Bean. Of course, you already have an idea what it means.:)

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An issue that should unite Philippine cities

LAST NIGHT, this news item from the Inquirer website caught my attention, especially this quote:

"They are depriving us of our right to develop, which is unfair to us and our people. We also have to grow… which is possible if we become a city."

Those words came from Baybay, Leyte Mayor Jose Cari, whose town is one of the 14 that will benefit from last-minute Senate measures approving their conversion into city. The League of Cities of the Philippines vehemently opposes their conversion; its official statement can be found here.

I am not sure what the correct number is -- the Inquirer's 14 or the LCP's 12 -- but what riles the League and its 117 member cities is the fact that Congress has relaxed the income requirement for cityhood provided for under Republic Act 9009 (P100 million locally generated income as of 2000 constant prices) so that these wannabe cities will qualify.

At least, the mayor was candid enough: "Cari admitted that his town's annual income would not be sufficient to meet the requirement for cityhood as mandated under Republic Act 7610 or the Local Government Code of 1991."

To me, this effort to lower the bar in favor of capital towns of provinces that do not have cities is grossly unfair. First and foremost, it is unfair to cities that abided by the law, met the legal requirement for cityhood, and proved themselves ready for the responsibilities it entails, as evidenced by the local income requirement. In this respect, Cari clearly got it wrong, putting his cart before its carabao.

Secondly, it is unfair to capital towns of provinces that already have cities. My hometown, Pili, is one of these. Going by Cari's argument, doesn't Pili also have an equal right to growth and development like Baybay and the other wannabes?

Thirdly, it betrays a very narrow and traditional conception of development anchored on getting a bigger slice of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), symptomatic of what the ADB warned in one of its key reform challenges for the Philippines. Inquirer columnist Juan Mercado covered this aspect more extensively here; this Manila Times news item touches on the same theme.

This development highlights the sordid practice by Congress to violate its own laws when politically convenient. I hope the League will cross party lines and do as it promised here against the senators responsible -- Angara, Recto and Arroyo -- for these measures, and send the message that it means business.

This issue is way past rational discussion of merits and the search for an acceptable middle ground, a debate to which Naga contributed its share. The battle shifts to our courts, to challenge the legality of what Congress just did, and to the senatorial race, to hold accountable those responsible for this act.

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Harvey's seven drivers of despair

GOT THIS story via our Planet Naga blog aggregator. Not only is the feeling familiar but more so the letter writer who I personally know. Harvey Keh is our treasurer at Synergeia Foundation.

To recap, here are Harvey's seven drivers of despair:

1. If former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano of "Hello Garci" infamy wins in his announced bid to become congressman of Bukidnon province
2. If "Dancing Queen" Tessie Aquino-Oreta reclaims her Senate seat
3. If actor and comedian Richard Gomez is elected senator
4. If former senator Gregorio Honasan wins a Senate seat
5. If Manny Pacquiao becomes congressman of General Santos City
6. If Sen. Lito Lapid is elected mayor of Makati City, and
7. If Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, who has long been linked to illegal gambling, is elected.

Recent developments though might convince Harvey to stay. Manny Pacquiao, for one, is reported to have prioritized boxing over his political ambitions. It appears he does not yet have the thick croc hide that will suit him in the Lower House. Moreover, Harvey was also flooded with letters from all over, prompting him to write another email explaining the reasons for staying put here.

Either way, Harvey is still luckier than many of us because he can actually choose to leave; most don't even have that choice. But we can always heed his youthful, practical wisdom: "Let us choose leaders who have a good track record for service and who are genuinely committed toward serving our country."

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A disclaimer

RELATED to the previous post, I also derive satisfaction from the fact that I may probably be the only city government department head in the Philippines today who blogs, notwithstanding the fact that I was a blogger first before assuming Naga's planning portfolio.

Nonetheless, this can create some complications. Conflicts can arise between the my new planning persona and my personal beliefs and pursuits as an individual, as a father and family man, as member of our village, as a resident of our city, as citizen of our country, and as a member of my faith.

But then again, these complexities make life beautiful and interesting. To deny that they exist is to deny life itself.

In my 200th post, allow me therefore to make this disclaimer: This is my personal blog, and everything it contains are my own thoughts and opinion, for which I am fully responsible. As such it does not represent the official position of the City Government of Naga and its city planning and development unit.

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Coming full circle

TODAY, I am taking over the reins of the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) in Naga in an acting capacity. Architect Juan "Chito" O. Villegas, Jr. retired from the service yesterday after 26 years of committed and distinguished service as city planning and development coordinator.

It is a journey that has come full circle. In 1991, I joined the Naga CPDO under Chito's leadership, where I had to opportunity of working closely with the late Elmer Gallardo, his deputy. I stayed on until 1996, during which time I met other alumni like Orlando Batifora, Elmer Albo, Rafaelito Zamora, Fernando Cuadro, Alex Abiada, Gloria Albeus, Ruby Antonio, Primitivo Amaro and Juanito Lacrua. All of them have either passed away, retired or have moved on to other pursuits.

While I was away, new blood reinvigorated the office, like Norman Posugac (who is reporting on Monday, fresh from a one-year schooling in Germany), Mon Baturiano (who transferred to the mayor's office), Tali Pabines, Angel Gonzales, Chit Reodique, Arnold Apuada, Edwin Aspra and Helen Lacrua (who replaced her husband Nitoy); they joined such reliables as Cecile Daplin, Rose Ciudadano, Job Oliva, Jimmy Servino and Tess Villadares.

The office faces a lot of challenges, primarily in improving its capability to perform its mandated planning functions that will enable us to update Naga's land use and development plans. But I am confident we will rise up to this challenge and become the best local planning and development unit in the country.

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Fractured, or really damaged?

MY MORNING last Saturday ended in a big letdown, and it made me reflect as to whether what has been happening is the rule rather than the exception. And it brought back to mind this controversial article by James Fallows.

We were awakened that morning by the usual dance music accompanying the Saturday Group aerobics session, but there was something else distinctive above the din: it was the loud voice of our newly elected homeowners association president hurling invectives against two individuals behind the weekly event. Later, I gathered he was drunk, which explains his aberrant behavior that morning; most of the time, he is a soft-spoken jolly fellow.

The object of his bile were the two winning directors from the opposing party in the homeowners association election early this month; after the elections, they circulated a letter denouncing the Comelec for alleged favoritism (among others), and declared they will not assume their seat in the nine-man board; and that actually came to be as both snubbed the oath-taking of the newly elected officers just the other Saturday. That they pushed through with their weekly aerobics event without clearing it with -- and I think, a move meant to spite -- the newly installed board was apparently the last straw.

Now, Grandview is a relatively small community of around 250 families, and I expected a little bit more than ordinary. Compared to the neighboring Green Valley community of urban poor households resettled by the city government, we are by and large relatively better off, economically and educationally. In our midst, you can find public school teachers and other government employees, several lawyers, a newly appointed judge and many entrepreneurs. A handful can afford to send their children to private schools like the Ateneo and USI. In all streets, you will find cars both old and new parked along one side.

In spite of this, that recent village election mirrored one of the worst attitudes ascribed to Filipino politicians: it is said nobody loses in Philippine elections because there is always a winner on the one hand, and his opponent who claims he was cheated on the other.

After the ruckus died down, one of the parties involved approached me and tried to explain himself. Agreeing that their relationships have been fractured, I suggested holding an assembly -- a sort of a bull session -- that will seek to thresh out the thorny issues among them and hopefully restore normalcy. But I also chided him for taking that stance that effectively rejected the community's decision to put them in the Board as fiscalizers of the winning majority.

Or is my hope misplaced because what we have here, as Fallows said, is not just fractured relations but a damaged culture whose "public life does become the war of every man against every man"?

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A planning school at the Ateneo?

I AM taking a big risk with this post, as someone who is not officially connected with the Ateneo de Naga University. But I just can't contain my excitement over the latest developments in regard to the Naga City Planning Studio course that will be held at the Ateneo this coming May, involving international students from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada.

More or less 20 of them will be coming over, as two more Mexican ladies are on stand by should somebody in the original list decide to drop out, Prof. Leonora Angeles of the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) emailed me recently. This is way above the minimum of five that she had in mind when Vice Mayor Gabby Bordado and I spoke in her class last November.

Dr. Malu Barcillano, director of the Ateneo Center for Local Governance, has already secured approval from university president Fr. Joel Tabora to host the learning sessions for the course. Her draft program exceeded Nora's expectations; while most hands-on activities will take place at City Hall, it will feature other Ateneo case studies on participative governance all over Bicol. Our departments stand to benefit from the wealth of local and international experiences and knowledge will be shared with local staff.

What excited me is this part of a previous email:

"I foresee the possibility of conducting research and doing pro bono guest lectures as well at the Ateneo to show my gratitude for their help. I would like to see this course as a catalyst perhaps for Ateneo to have its own Planning School as well."

Whether Naga, through the Ateneo, will have its own planning school one day is not for me to say. But I hope Fr. Tabora will more or less agree with the late Robert F. Kennedy who said: "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"

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