Due course to due process

I have always looked at Duke Frasco as representative of the new breed of politicians --young, idealistic, reform-minded, and most important of all, decent. I find it regrettable therefore, if he was quoted right by this paper, that he would use harsh language in a situation that calls for level-headedness, especially given what he has achieved.

To those who do not know it yet, Frasco did what to many was unimaginable --break the 70-year-old stranglehold of the Durano Family on the fifth congressional district. He beat incumbent Red Durano by more than 35,000 votes. Most people would have celebrated such a victory being thankful to God. No one else could have made it possible.

Now, the Duranos would of course be incredulous. And that is precisely why they have filed a petition with the House of Representatives for a manual recount of the votes, with a number of things being alleged, among them fraud and voting machine malfunctions.

Frasco must not forget that making allegations is the right of everyone under a system to which he himself subscribed and submitted to. That the regular process to resolve questions was resorted to the Duranos should have been welcomed by Frasco, instead of resorting to language best left to the campaign but no longer to issue from the mouth of victors.

Reacting to the petition, The FREEMAN quoted Frasco as using words like "dictatorial" and "tyrannical" to describe the Duranos. I submit that there was a time when the mere mention of the name Durano instilled fear in many people. But I have been a journalist for nearly 40 years and I know this is no longer the case.

The shift to a new brand of politics started in the mid-1980s with a new generation of Duranos getting elected into office starting with Nito Durano who was vice governor to Eddie Gullas. Nito is the father of Red and Ace, who both served in Congress after him.

It might be worthwhile to note that had this new generation of Duranos been as dictatorial and tyrannical as Frasco describes them, Ace would never have been appointed secretary of tourism. Anybody would probably agree that an official charged with attracting tourists would hardly be a job for a tyrant and a dictator.

Of course, Frasco may have been miffed by the protest. But as a politician he should know by now that protests are par for the course. As he claims his win to be the product of a desire for change, then he himself must be part of that change. He can take comfort in the fact that in a non-dictatorial, non-tyrannical system, the burden of proof is not his. So why get upset.