Sunday, May 10, 2009

LIP SERVICE DOES NO GOOD TO ILIGAN

I've been in the public service for the last 17 years when I started as an SK Chairman, Barangay Kagawad and on my second term as Punong Barangay of Kiwalan, Iligan City. For more than a decade in the local governance, I've been an actual witness to this beautiful City's politics. Probably there are those in the political animal kingdomship who may say that they have stayed almost a half century in Iligan's politics and may probably assert that they can better say about the dynamics of Iligan local politics.

In my case, I may share my humble analysis of some of the basic points about Iligan politics. In all of those years that I've been in public service spanning three City Mayors, I would say that our beloved city's politics is very dismal because it's very traditional.

All political issues in Iligan everytime local elections are coming, they are just recycled of issues of the past defeated politicians. It is a repeat with the former villain is now the hero, and pretty well sure that in the future will become a villain. Balos balos Pilar as they say.

Issues like nepotism controlling the departments, family members in various elected posts, gambling and drug issues, cartel of selected contractors and suppliers, payroll of unknown aliens lurking in the fields of City Hall and all the others everyday we heard being lambasted in the local media outlets. And all these issues have been staying in local politics since the time of the former Mayors with their opponents becoming the new Mayor and the latter now being attacked with the same subjects he exhorted before.

Because they are recycled and redundant, lip servicing is very clear in Iligan City's local politics. To us of the internet generation, it's already an utter disgust hearing some politicians who have already mastered the art of lip servicing. Like a magicians, they can make white black and vice-versa. To me they looked like an old clown jesting in stage, making fun of the already recycled or rehash local political issues.

Nothing's new actually. Nothing new because these political clown making some so much lip servicing have been there even before the second world war.

That is why I would say that lip servicing have done no good to the development of Iligan City. So much have been invested on petty polticking instead of investing on hope and opportunity for the City of Iligan.

I tell you, before the second world war, there are only two famous streets in Iligan, and these are Quezon Avenue and Aguinaldo Avenue. Now, 2009, still we only have two famous streets, still Quezon and Aguinaldo Avenue. In fact we are the only highly urbanized city in the whole country where our political system is traditional and obsolete. Iligan remains to be a living mummy in local governance. We have good leaders but we are using an old and obsolete system making our development a mummified being pre-dated before the second world war. Look at how we are electing our City Councilors, we are still electing them at large when other cities have already subdivided their city's into districts in order to make a proper and direct representation and distribution of the government's resources attuning to the increasing population and demands of the people.

In this view, it's time for our people to be awakened and be aware of what's going on in our City. It is needed at present, the education and the inculcation of values in the right selection and the political recruitment of our local leaders that will bring real action and concrete development to the City, instead of that aged and dreaded lip servicing of our mummified politicians of the long past.

No comments:

Post a Comment