| Part-time mayors . . . They have real day jobs (e.g. plumbers by day . . .) |
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| TORONTO - In the course of work through the years, sometimes I deal directly or indirectly with local governments and local officials that I learned in small towns (e.g. population, 3,000, give or take a head or 2) they have part-time mayors and a staff or 2. In other words, these part-time mayors have real day jobs (e.g. plumbers by day and mayors after regular hours). Well, I thought these part-time mayors phenomena are interesting but can they be applied to Batanes? Probably not because Batanes and its municipalities are a unique situation. I like to think I'm wrong, but I believe it just could not apply to Batanes. So what now after decades in the bureaucracy and learning about some part-time mayors? Well, let the gin start flowing, or let it keep flowing!! Like it or not, gin is very much a part of our hardy culture, and very much a necessary tool in getting things done, both political and non-political. __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Also, I'm considering (not sure yet) running for the mayoralty of Uyugan, Batanes, but not as part-time mayor, although the option is there if it's for the good of the municipality. Nevertheless, with the jumping the gun in Uyugan, not sure if any left for me. I'll have to go home and see. Long-distance just won't work. I'd rather that I would only do my civic-duty (our responsibility to one another outside of politics), but then why not do more for the people through the political process. Why not help the people with their own taxpayer's money with focus on results and less on talk or noise. [We're all taxpayers! We may not pay income tax and we may not pay property tax, but the fact that we're consumers makes all of us taxpayers. Even without direct consumption tax, what we buy and consume has been taxed many times over from production to consumption.] __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ For too long we've been talking and talking but after all the years of talking not much to show for it. If it's a "go" for me, then I'm going Independent (with municipal line-up, if possible) knowing fully well that the odds are against me, but more than a test of whether an Independent can make it against established parties, I want to see the chances at helping in my own small way the people in the muncipality. One must win in order to help through the political process, and since I don't have the resources, all I got are some realistic and achievable programs (within the limited resources of the municipality) that I believe can help the people. I know a big chunk of the municipal budget goes to mandatory spending (salaries and wages including other operating expenses), but my hope is that there still some left for discretionary spending for programs geared to the community. If not much left, then I'll be very disappointed. Actually, the people should know for the budget is a public document. They must know where their money was spent. I also have a list of some big ticket items that need assistance from the province and the congress, but since I don't have a governor and a congressman, they've been included in the long-term plan (10 to 25 years). Hornal? My concern is whether the people pay much attention to these programs. Will their attention be on medium or long-term programs with no immediate benefits, or they would rather opt for the immediate satisfaction or need of temporary employmenr or hornal? If it's the former, then I may have a chance, but if it's the latter, then there's no chance in hell that I'll make it. Nevertheless, I understand if the people opt for hornal because of the high unemployment. Hornal I cannot provide them and surely I'll lose, but let there be no misktake that I have the highest regard for the machihornal. Nothing happening in nation-building without the machihornal. Smile I know politics in Batanes is not only on issues but also on family and friendship. There are instances when the issues are of less importance compared to the importance of politicians who can - to family and friends - wave their hands the most and those who can smile the widest, grinning from ear to ear. Nothing wrong about that but of equal importance are the issues and the programs that address them. There was even that story long ago of a politician who even waved to a calf breaking through a hedgerow along the road. Only in Batanes, you say? The more the merrier! For the record, anybody is welcomed to run for public office, in fact as I've always maintained, the more the merrier, and the more, the more people have a good selection. Very soon the battle lines will be drawn, but who the victors are, they're beyond the control of the contestants, or shall I say, the wannabees. It's the people who have the final decision - the final arbiters - and may they decide with wisdom and intellect. I have every reason to believe they will. Victorious or vanquished, win or lose, if I run, I can then say before God and humankind that I did try at seeking the chances of helping in my own small way the people in the municipality. - Vbyssey, April 2009 _________________________________________________ Victor B. Caballero 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. _________________________________________________ Note: This is my swan song in the bureaucracy, but to quote Churchill: Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It is perhaps the end of the beginning. |
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