SOME PEOPLE are asking, why Inday Perla Zulueta? Should we be asking instead, why not? Perhaps we should say it must be Inday Perla Zulueta.
The campaign period for the 2019 local elections officially starts this Friday, March 29. Of course we know the candidates have started campaigning long before that date; just go around “I Am Iloilo City” and all you see are campaign posters, tarpaulins etc., not to mention the house-to-house campaigns and public gatherings of these candidates.
And obviously the Commission on Elections or Comelec is helpless against these premature political campaigns which just confirm the utter uselessness and waste of people’s money in that government agency.
I wanted to be proper and wait for the official start of the campaign period for local candidates before actually talking about the merits, experience and qualifications – or the lack of these – of some candidates. But it seems the campaign period started last year for most candidates, with the Comelec either utterly stupid and useless or just your plain ordinary fence-sitters.
The Comelec is most probably all of the above and more.
And we segue to the fight for the position of the lone representative or congressman/woman of “I Am Iloilo City” and it does look interesting.
At the start of the official campaign period for local candidates, including congressman/woman, there are three most prominent persons applying for the position of congressman/woman of “I Am Iloilo City.”
The job is to represent the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” to the House of Representaives or Congress. A legislator is basically someone who will make laws for the benefit of his/her constituents.
As members of the legislature, or law-making, branch of government, legislators work on making changes to existing laws or passing new legislation based on their constituents’ needs. … Additional legislator duties include: creating policies, budgets and programs. Participating in debates on proposed legislation.
Simply put, the job is to craft laws, not waiting sheds, basketball courts, housing projects or condominium units, more so not a song and dance or “pia-cute” one.
To be the representative of the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” one has to be experienced in the business of legislation or making laws, the more experience the better for the natives.
And speaking of experience, in that field among the three most prominent job applicants for the position of congressman/woman of “I Am Iloilo City”, without a doubt Inday Perla Zulueta has the most experience, even combining the experience of the other two job applicants.
Let’s take a look at her experience and expertise why I say why not, or why it should be Inday Perla Zulueta.
Of the three most prominent applicants to be the congressman/woman of “I Am Iloilo City” she is the most senior (and I mean that literally) and has the most experience in public service, particularly in the field of (take note as this is the important) legislation or crafting laws and being part of a legislative body.
And this is what I’m talking about:
* Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Province of Iloilo (1988-1992)
* Minority Floor Leader and Member of all Standing Committees
* Sangguniang Panlungsod (1995-2001, 2004 – 2013)
That, folks, is a total of almost two decades experience as a legislator, 19 years to be exact. Combining the experience of the other two applicants, I simply doubt if they can top that.
All that experience plus a no-nonsense attitude for doing what is right for her constituents earned her the moniker “Iron Lady” and compared to her Margret Thatcher is probably a wimp; all she did was start the Falkland War from her safe and comfortable office on 10 Downing Street.
Inday Perla Zulueta crossed swords literally up close and personal with governors, mayors and colleagues in the provincial board and city council all in doing what is right for Iloilo province and city. In my book that is the true “Iron Lady.” Now her daughter who took after her advocacy for public service, current “I Am Iloilo City” councilor Daylee Zulueta (we’ll talk about her in another column) affectionately calls her the “Queen Mother.”
Has she mellowed down after all these years? I sincerely hope not. We still need her feisty no-nonsense demeanour fighting for the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” in the next Congress.
Just between us though, if you get to know Inday Perla Zulueta she is probably the most loyal and sincere friend one can have and will always be there for you, and I am speaking from experience.
Oh and did I mention that she can also add the initials Ph.D. after her name as she happens to be a Doctor of Education?
I’m pretty sure you’re going to say that I am biased. Of course I am. But then again, who is not? (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
