TORONTO – Off to the races/gone racing, not quite literally, but here we are about to negotiate the twists and bends of a winding road, not unlike the roads of Batanes.
Far from home at the time, it was easy to envision the noble mission to serve and yet fully aware of the sacrifices involved, but now closer to home, I see the daunting challenges ahead. I guess I’ve been away for too long that I forgot how it was, especially in the Philippine bureaucracy.
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I now hear stories of people whose papers cannot move through the process for years because of red tape or obstructive bureaucracy. Well, this was sobering news if not outright discouraging after spending more than three decades in a foreign bureaucracy where the paper walks by itself instead of the person. This phenomenon is as different as night and day.
The world has changed, and back home I didn't exactly see home as I knew it but a strange place in many ways. It's an imperfect world and nobody's perfect, and we’ve evolved just like the rest of the world. While the less reliables and the less trustworthies were with us then and will always be with us, I see the preponderance (with all due respect to the many reliables and trustworthies) of them now compared to the Batanes of long ago.
With all due respect, many among us don't honour our words anymore. Many of us don't live up to our words (without justifiable reasons) and yet without even an iota of embarrassment. What a terrible shame! The culture has changed just like anywhere else.
Growing up in the hills and fields of Batanes with cows as the best of company, I never really wanted much in life, except try to help folks poorer than myself that I won’t mind sharing what little I have.
[On running, I guess I learned one of Mandela’s lessons of leadership: Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front. His other lessons, well, take it or leave it, but I can take one or two more.]
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So I came home in July to see if people are welcoming to the idea of serving them, and also to know the people especially the young who were not even born when I left.
Mission accomplished?
I returned again in November to satisfy some bureaucratic requirements which is standard procedure in any government. [Did you know that the origin of government was by the thieves and for the thieves? Yes, in the earlier period of human evolution, thieves and robbers pillaged and ransacked villages, and to protect themselves and their loot from the village people, the same thieves and robbers created what can then be called government. Surely, government has evolved, but the basic attributes are still very much ever so present.]
I did satisfy the requirements and can now say before God and humankind that I did try to see if I could make a difference in the people's lives which to me is “mission accomplished” in itself, for beyond that is the greater challenge of winning which is no longer within my power but that of the people, and still beyond that the greatest challenge of all in delivering the goods (re my concern for standard procedure or obstructive bureaucracy).
After a month in Batanes, I left again and arrived in Toronto a winter’s day in a deep and dark December.
Now, a month away and still more than a couple of months to the official run, the words from loyal supporters that I should be back soon which I appreciate very much. I’m grateful to them for their concern and loyalty.
But my strategic reasoning is simple: If people believe in me, they’ll surely support me no matter what, and if they don’t believe in me, they’ll surely reject me no matter what.
Present or not, absent or not, in the Municipality of Uyugan, loyal supporters will always be there and will always have a thousand and more reasons to support me; on the other hand, non-loyal supporters and non-supporters will equally have as many a thousand and more reasons not to support me. It’s that simple and it ain’t rocket science.
Any regrets in this off to the races? None whatsoever in trying to serve; the only regret is that the core loyal support (Uncle Tom Cabugao and Auntie Dooding Nanud, Marita and the Mata family) of the old man in Uyugan Centro is not there for me, but this is another time, and because of circumstances, I associated with some people I hardly knew and who hardly knew me in return. Overall, not that bad, for many of his loyal support (among them Mooching and Dodong Cabugao) are still there and very much appreciated.
The list he gave me in the 1986 run was not long, but that’s all I need. Many are no longer with us, but their descendants (among them the Arcas and Cobicos) are there.
Didn’t I always say that I value loyalty more than victory? Surely, I like to win but not by any means and not at all costs for there are parameters along the way.
Paradise with a pungent smell?
Finally, do I have to write about the stinking smell of backyard piggery? No, not in or about our paradise, but the acrid pungent in the air didn’t escape me even as I walked back from town to the airport on my last day in Batanes (We cannot smell it in a car or aboard a vehicle).
Actually, I envision a “Hog City” at the outskirts of town, but subject to feasibility study and for the long-term. It’s long haul ahead, 5 to 10 years, maparin ta 25 years pa (patay na si kabayo? No, not a chance, for future generations of Ivatans shall carry on). What’s important is that we must start now or isitnan ta na sichanguriao an maparin, or soon our place in the sun it ain’t paradise no more but /or paradise with a pungent smell.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the homestretch leading to the finish . . . by a nose! – Vbyssey, January 2010
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Victor B. Caballero, now Part-time Farmer (Farm Specialist?) in Uyugan, Batanes, was Budget Analyst in the Budget Commission (now the Department of Budget and Management) in Manila and Demographic Specialist and Economist in the Ministry of Finance in Toronto. |
