Letter to the Editor — Political issues on Barili

An article on this paper that appeared in its February 2, 2007 issue was e-mailed to me by a friend today. It talked a mouthful on Barili political positioning for the May 14 elections by one Mr. Pedro Manigos as source. I had never known Mr. Manigos well enough, except that one time in the past he was a municipal councilor, an owner of furniture shops in Cebu City and tried in vain to establish a mountain resort in his barangay in Paril, Barili.

In my 51 years in the town I never even have seen him in person. Now he's talking politics and obviously trying to make his presence felt in the coming electoral exercise. We, Barilinians are very cautious of persons who make themselves available only during election times and never really made the effort to share the agonies and triumphs of the townspeople through time. Yet, Mr. Manigos and the likes of former mayor Antonio Paras are acceptable electoral options to this leadership-starved municipality.

Definitely the town needs competent and administratively skillful candidates to manage it for the long-sought development. While same qualities are sine qua non, lest we forget, these are not the only qualifications people are looking for. Barely two percent of the population belong to the high income group, the rest belong to the middle and low income throng of poor souls who needed moral support, commiseration, and a sense acceptance and belongingness and who look at their leaders as constant sources of support and encouragement in good times and in bad. And above all, we as voters, needed men and women with known moral uprightness and respectability.

True enough, Mr. Manigos is right. The present administration is the worst thing that ever happened to the town. Incumbent mayor Antonio Nemeño, who inherited the office through succession made the flawed assumption that he needed the mandate of the people to really do something good for the town, that is why, by hook or by crook, he wants to be elected on May 14. Tsk, tsk, tsk . . . poor Barili.

The mayor lost his moral consent by default. But he is a wily politician. With the Capitol in his armory and the blessing of former Senator John Osmeña, the best of both worlds, nothing can go wrong for the mayor. So, what's left for the good doctor, Vice Mayor Teresito Mariñas? Barilinians are crossing their fingers in anxious abandon. With no known financial backing from big politicians, winning this election is like anybody's dream. In the end, it is always the people who will judge. And whatever determines such judgment is part science and part miracle.

Ethelbert Molina
Barili, Cebu
emolinakq@yahoo.com