Of game changers or chips off the old block?

Neophyte politicians, Rep. Leni Robredo and Aileen Radaza of Lapu-Lapu City (I thought that Sen. Nancy Binay was also taking this course?) are getting a crash course on what is called "highly specialized Legislative coaching programs" at the Development Academy of the Philippines -Graduate  School of Public and Development Management (DAP-GSPDM) at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government. I just hope that they would learn something out of that course and realize that politicians (which they can now be called officially) are part of the problem of this country and part of the solution.

Perhaps for Rep. Leni Robredo, she can be considered as an independent thinker after all she must have learned her politics in helping the common man from her husband, the late DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo who was also Mayor of Naga, who made a huge impact to his constituents. But for Rep. Aileen Radaza, she is still a mystery to most of us. I have no doubt that she has been taught the ropes by her father, Rep. Arturo, and mother, Mayor Paz, who have ruled Lapu-Lapu City for more than a decade.

At this point, we are hopeful that these neophyte congresswomen would truly learn something from this crash course. One of them is the use or as I always say, the misuse of the pork barrel, which many western nations do not use, and the reason why they are progressive. But can we rely on these ladies to start the ball rolling for the removal of the pork barrel? Pardon me if I'm a doubting Thomas here. These girls may be neophytes in Congress but certainly they were not born yesterday.

Another item that these women must learn about governance in this country, since they do not come from Manila, is about the sheer inefficiency of the central government, which we fondly call "Imperial Manila." Since they are having this crash course, I certainly hope that they will make a pitch to federalize the Philippines because it would certainly solve a host of nagging problems in this country.

But then too many Filipinos do not realize that Philippine democracy, which came from our being an American Commonwealth, from our Spanish colonizers, was hijacked by an ethnic group of Filipinos called Tagalogs. Instead of teaching us Spanish during our high school days, they forced us to learn the Tagalog language, to the detriment of Cebuanos who are not taught their own native tongue.

This is why I appreciate very much the K-12 educational system which was concocted and proposed during the time of then Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and just a few months ago was signed by Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino, III because the program promotes the teaching of the native language of the region where the students belong. Hopefully, this marks the beginning of a Federal Philippines. This is why we too hope that these neophyte congresswomen would truly learn from their crash course and introduce reforms that our nation direly needs. So will these congresswomen be game changers or merely chips off the old block?

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I passed by Colon Street last Wednesday and noticed that the Department of Engineering & Public Works (DEPW) was feverishly cleaning up the drainage in the area, which was already clogged from the last rains. This tells us that all our drainage pipes need to be maintained and cleaned as often since they get clogged easily.

I also read a report in the inside pages of The Freeman last Wednesday that truckloads of garbage were retrieved from drainage systems in Mandaue City. The report stated, "The inefficiency of the drainage system was attributed to the lack of actual coordination between the City government and DPWH." I think we should get into the bottom of this statement because it means that if there is flooding in Mandaue City, it can be traced to the inefficiency of the Mandaue City government and the DPWH, which we have always known to be inefficient. So this information is nothing new to many of us.

Apparently the same thing is happening in Manila which has been experiencing flooding this week and as Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman (MMDA) Francis Tolentino and DPWH Chief Rogelio Singson revealed on ANC TV, they blamed local politicians who blocked the plan to remove squatter shanties along the riverbanks or esteros. But they are not waiting for the Barangay Elections to remove these shanties. We know that politics too has played its part in keeping squatters along the riverbanks. But our politicians should be warned that their constituents come first. So let's hope that Mandaue City will continue to declog the riverbanks.

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