[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’ JUST ANOTHER DAY ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
Friday, November 3, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=’18’ font_color=” color=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
THIS COLUMN was written and published about six months ago but recent turn of events prompted a reprise so we’re revisiting it with relevant updates.
On Oct. 27 the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal from service of Fugitive No. 1 aka Former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog due to questionable wealth.
Mabilog was found guilty of serious dishonesty “relative to his unlawful acquisition of wealth.”
Along with that the Department of the Interior and Local Government or DILG was directed to implement the dismissal order and to appoint Vice Mayor Jose Espinosa III as the new mayor and the No. 1 councilor Jeffrey Ganzon as vice mayor.
All these happened on Monday, Oct. 30, and “I Am Iloilo City” woke up with a new mayor and vice mayor.
Here’s the original column published on April 10, 2017:
Timawa redux
The political landscape in “I Am Iloilo” is about to have a drastic change and may I add hopefully for the better. The natives of the “Most Liveable City” will finally have an alternative that is viable and winnable come the next local elections in 2018. For the last nine years or three local elections to be exact the natives of “I Am Iloilo” were forced fed Jed Mabilog and company as there was no alternative good enough to challenge him for the mayor of “I Am Iloilo.”
Let’s look at the last two notable opponents of Former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog who is the current mayor and on his last term:
The most current one, meaning the 2016 local elections, we have Dr. “Gold” Gonzalez challenging the Former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog for the mayor of “I Am Iloilo.” Of course she lost miserably.
“Gold” Gonzalez, a medical doctor by profession, has a lot of attributes going for her; she’s the daughter of the late Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzalez Sr. who was also a congressman of Iloilo City and the sister of Raul Gonzalez Jr. who succeeded his father as congressman of “I Am Iloilo.” So you can see she has the political pedigree.
Obviously she’s not poor, filthy rich to say the least. And she inherited her father’s political organization in “I Am Iloilo” or what’s left of it after Senator Drilon, Congressman Treñas and of course Former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog raided its ranks.
And yet she lost miserably to Jed Mabilog. As to why, most natives consider her an amateur one who is still wet behind the ears in political savvy and experience. And probably the main reason she lost is that the natives don’t think she’s serious enough and from what appears at the last elections, “Gold” Gonzales was not willing to slug it out with Jed Mabilog. .
Before her we have Rommel Ynion, a self-made businessman who fancies himself a political reformer. He also lost miserably to Jed Mabilog; in fact he lost more than just being the mayor of “I Am Iloilo.” He lost a lot of his financial assets as Senator Drilon brought down the full force of Noynoy Aquino’s government on him and had the Bureau of Internal Revenue freeze his assets allegedly on tax evasion.
Of course that’s not the only reason he lost to Jed Mabilog. For starters, he had no political pedigree; most natives considered him an upstart. He had no name recall. Let’s face it, and no offense to the dude, Iloilo City is old world and traditional. Scratch a native and you will find someone steep in Spanish colonial feudal values and the name Ynion has none of that. I supposed this was proven when Rommel Ynion again lost miserably when he ran for councilor during the last local elections.
All is not lost for the natives wanting a better alternative than Jed Mabilog, Jerry Treñas and Joe Espinosa III as something happened that will definitely alter the political landscape. You can say “change is coming.”
Councilor Jeffrey Ganzon is the son of the late senator Rodolfo “Roding” Ganzon who also served as mayor of “I Am Iloilo.” Senator Ganzon fought Marcos and martial law; in fact he was the longest incarcerated political prisoner during the martial law years.
Senator Ganzon was the “original Timawa” as he founded the Timawa political party. For the uninitiated, Timawa is an old Malay term which means “free man” and as senator and mayor, “Roding” Ganzon fought for and served the “free man.”
In terms of political pedigree Jeffrey Ganzon has it par excellence. He is an educated man; we were classmates and alumni of the College of Arts and Science, University of San Agustin. He has served as councilor already. In fact he could have been vice mayor instead of Joe Espinosa III who incidentally was also our classmate, if not for this irritating little thing that Jeffrey has no money.
The full support and confidence of President Rodrigo Duterte is more than enough to offset this money or the lack of it weakness of Jeffrey Ganzon, the epitome of Timawa redux.
***
Fast forward to now, without much ado Jeffrey Ganzon woke up as the vice mayor of “I Am Iloilo City.”
And Marivic Mabilog is probably not happy with the turn of events and Jeffrey’s appointment as vice mayor was definitely a bitter pill to swallow. So there! (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
