CEBU, Philippines - Talisay City's 4th Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) yesterday opened with a bang but was a disappointment for one of the administration members who did not get a single committee chairmanship.
City Councilor Val Ylanan, who was elected third councilor under the administration party, expressed his distress over the fact that while each of his party-mates has two committees each, he was not given even one of the 20 standing committees.
"It's very disappointing. Maglisud ko og function ani, pero mao man na ilang gusto, so wala na tay mahimo," said Ylanan in an interview shortly after yesterday's five-minute session, which was convened for the sole purpose of approving the new house rules.
The neophyte councilor is the only member of his party who did not get a single committee chairmanship. The rest of the seven councilors, including new councilors Choy Aznar and Semy Cabuenas, have two each, the same with Vice Mayor Alan Bucao, who now chairs the council committees on Tourism and Peace and Order.
And as expected, opposition councilors Danny Caballero and Romeo Villarante, both neophytes, did not get any, too.
For his part, Villarante, who is a practicing lawyer, said having a committee would have enabled them to sponsor resolutions and ordinances, which is the legislators' main job.
Ylanan however said he already saw it coming, since his party has not included him in its meetings after the May 10 elections.
The councilor became an outcast in the group reportedly because there are those in his own party who still resent the fact that he, despite being a newbie, made it to the third spot in the last elections, beating most of his colleagues including three veterans.
Last Saturday, the administration party, with Ylanan still not included, made a caucus wherein they divided among themselves the 20 committees. Ylanan was given the vice chairmanship position, just like the two opposition councilors, for committees on Parks and Playgrounds, Agriculture and the Environment.
Ylanan, who is a junk shop trader and a former first councilman of barangay Linao before he was elected to the post, still does not believe that he could function well with just being a mere vice chairman.
He however assured that he would find ways to serve the public "the best possible way I can, because they expect that of me."
Political analysts said that what happened to Caballero, Villarante, and Ylanan has however contradicted to the appeal of first district Rep Eduardo R. Gullas, who in his keynote speech given during the inaugural session, asked the members of the council to "unite" to better serve Talisay.
The congressman also asked the administration party to "not run rough shod" with the minority, and instead listen to them if they see a need to amend an ordinance, for example.
Presiding officer Bucao echoed the call of the congressman.
In his speech, he asked that they be given a chance to be the "catalyst of change" in Talisay, and that they can only become such if "we work as one," in reference not only to the entire council but also to the rest of the city residents.
His statements however run counter to what had happened to the three councilors. Bucao had also given an assurance earlier that he would not let anyone in the council experience what he had experienced during his time as opposition councilor, wherein he did not only get a single committee, he was also an outcast in the council.
Bucao served as opposition councilor for five years; it was cut short when Vice Mayor Lani Abarquez took a leave of absence last year, and eventually resigned last December, and being a first councilor he assumed the vacated post.
In the last elections, he was absorbed by the administration party where he became its vice mayoralty candidate.
Despite being an outcast and even with the invitation from Villarante that he would make them their minority leader if he decides to join them, Ylanan still does not want to severe his ties with his party, which has also deprived him of his other privileges like a 20-worker quota, among others.
An administration can endorse at least 20 workers to the city hall under his name.
"It may appear that they want me out, but I still belong to the administration party no matter what," he said.
Meanwhile, Villarante questioned the council for giving the council committee on Laws to Aznar, a barrister. He said that although he does not question Aznar's capacity to handle it, with his experience and being a lawyer himself, the committee would have been in better hands with him.
Villarante was made Aznar's deputy.
But despite that the opposition councilor however said that he and Caballero would still file measures they think feasible to the city, even if the credit would not go to them. - THE FREEMAN