Good boy from Palawan - JAYWALKER by Art A. Borjal

It was late December 1999 when I finally finished writing my book, Walking Through the Pathways of Life, a collection of essays culled from among 8,000 newspaper columns I had written during the past 20 years. With then Vice President and now President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as guest of honor and speaker, the book, whose foreword was written by Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J., was launched in January 2000 in simple rituals at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel.

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One of the essays I included in the book dealt with Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, in an article entitled Bad Boy from Baste. That particular essay was inspired by what I personally saw as solid and sterling accomplishments of Ed as mayor of that beautiful enchanting city in the South. And Mayor Hagedorn, ever dynamic and creative, truly deserved the praises that I heaped on him, as proven by the countless outstanding awards that Puerto Princesa had received from local and foreign institutions.

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If I am now taking this matter up, it is due to the fact that in a recent column, through a careless moment on my part, I did some injustice to Ed Hagedorn, and I must apologize for it. I got a bum steer about his political plans, and I accepted it hook, line and sinker.

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Had I double-checked or triple-checked the raw information given to me by a schoolmate from the Old Ateneo de Manila, I would not have written that piece about a "Hacienda Hagedorn" or about a looming Hagedorn dynasty in Palawan. Nakuryente ako – and I must now profusely apologize to Ed Hagedorn and his kin.

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It is not true that the Hagedorn brothers are feuding. It is not true that the wife of Ed is going to run for mayor of Puerto Princesa. And it is not true that the Hagedorns are planning to put up a "Hacienda Hagedorn" in Palawan. Only Ed is running for an elective post – the gubernatorial post – in the coming May election.

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Mayor Hagedorn’s ambition to vie for the gubernatorial post has a valid anchor. His three-term stint as Puerto Princesa mayor was truly star-studded, highlighted by notable achievements that gained for him and Puerto Princesa the attention and admiration of the entire nation. And yes, even sectors from the international community noticed and applauded the dynamic and creative leadership shown by Mayor Hagedorn in running the affairs of Puerto Princesa.

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As the next political battles begin, critics of Mayor Hagedorn are citing his alleged loyalty to then President Joseph Estrada as a major issue against his electoral bid. Remember those video and camera photos of Ed standing by the side of Erap during the latter’s darkest hours? Even at the moment of Erap’s and his family’s departure from the Palace grounds, Ed was there to say a final goodbye.

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But in fairness to Ed, he was never really close to, or never a buddy of, Erap. In fact, he was not an Erap barkada. If Ed was there, at the dying days of the Erap regime, it was because he sincerely believed that a constitutional due process – the Impeachment Trial – be followed as basis for Erap’s ouster. In his heart of hearts, Ed Hagedorn thought that the Impeachment Trial was the best way to resolve the issues raised against Erap. And mind you, Ed never absolved Erap of the crimes being attributed against him. "Let due process decide!" was Ed Hagedorn’s battlecry.

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Reality, though, had to eventually come in. When Erap left Malacañang, Ed knew that the ballgame was over. He knew that People Power had prevailed. Thus, on January 25, five days after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took her oath as President of the Philippines, the League of City Mayors, whose secretary-general is Ed, issued a unanimous resolution affirming and supporting the presidency of GMA. If Mayor Hagedorn were a dyed-in-the-wool loyalist of Erap, would he have initiated the League’s resolution of support for GMA?

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Looking back now, unlike Erap lackeys who unleashed verbal and savage attacks against then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other opposition leaders, Ed Hagedorn remained a decent gentleman. In television interviews where he defended his position on due process, Ed never threw any negative potshot against any opposition figure. He stuck on the issue of due process through the Impeachment Trial, and he never deviated from this issue.

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Actually. Mayor Hagedorn ran unopposed in the 1998 elections as a candidate of Lakas-NUCD. And even after the LAMP coalition emerged as the winner in the 1998 national balloting, with Erap elected as president, Mayor Hagedorn did not abandon Lakas. A "political butterfly" he has never been, unlike other pretenders in Palawan politics who have flitted from one political party to another. Acting Governor Joel Reyes, for instance, who had won as a Lakas, tried to ingratiate himself to Guia Gomez, whom he described as his "second mother."

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In the coming political battle in Palawan, Ed Hagedorn not only has his solid achievements as Puerto Princesa mayor to prop up his candidacy, he also has the support of 16 to the 23 town mayors of Palawan. And of course, Puerto Princesa’s 90,000 voters are expected to give Ed Hagedorn a resounding vote as he offers himself as the man who can bring the province of Palawan into the pinnacle of success.

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One of the more active members of civil society, whose advocacies include not only fighting for truth and justice but also lending a helping hand to the less fortunate in life, is Elvie Punzalan-Estavillo. She is there, here, everywhere – doing her bit for our country.

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Recently, Elvie sent another donation to the Good Samaritan Foundation in the amount of P10,000 (BPI0046591), the nth time she does it. In her note accompanying her generous donation, Elvie gave me an inspiring pat in the back, citing that my column has been "a remarkable and effective instrument in enlightening our people on the raging and sizzling issues" affecting our nation. Thanks, Elvie, and God bless!

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My e-mail address: <[email protected]>