SAMMY JULIAN
BEFORE Angel Alan Celino’s election in 2010, there’s never been a mayor in recent memory who did so much for Roxas City.
No one will doubt claims that the mechanical engineering graduate has presided over the city’s transition from a graying hub to a vibrant boomtown.
The three-termer councilor used his passion to serve the poor and the needy to, as mayor, steer the city into a period of impressive stability and splashy growth.
He is not just a rampaging reformer but also a skillful and diplomatic negotiator.
He has professionalized the city by hiring skilled managers and burnished its business-friendly image.
Many further attest (proving that we are not alone in our belief in his abilities) that Celino is truly a leader who excels in qualities such as leadership and vision, management abilities and integrity, and social and economic awareness.
He provides security to his people and protects the environment. He has the will and ability to foster good relations.
Through him, Roxas City moved from a traditional, spoils-based system of patronage politics to a results-based system of performance politics.
We also all know that good and honest local government is the foundation of Celino’s administration, as it strives to provide its constituents with their most basic necessities.
But what he’s reluctant to say is that he dispensed with the partisan and sometimes imperious manner of past Roxas City leaders to accomplish quite a bit.
Even with his success, few people see Celino moving beyond the mayoralty to a higher office.
Those close to him sincerely believe that this is not a job for him. It’s a calling.
“He’s mayor as long as he wants to be,” one local resident told us in jest.
Also, there was one time when Celino was asked to explain his popularity. We saw him fumbling for an answer.
“I try not to gloss over reality,” we remember him say. “If I don’t know the answer, I’ll say that.”
Three years ago, before Celino took office as local chief executive, Roxas City needed somebody a little out of the ordinary.
There is no doubt now that he was that person.
It has also been said that the best mayors in history have been great characters. Clearly, this early, Celino is quickly becoming one.
“If I make a mistake, I’ll apologize,” we again remember the Roxas City mayor as saying one time. So far, no apologies seem necessary./PN
