ISOLATED, But Not ALONE

This December 11,
my Province of Pampanga
celebrated its 436th Anniversary.

The strange thing was,
not a single one among
the Provincial Board members,
the 21 City/Municipal Mayors,
the Basketball Coach/Vice Governor,
attended the official celebrations.

Among Ed was snubbed by all
of Pampanga's Low-Quality Local Officials,
who seem hellbent on driving out the
duly-elected Governor-Priest out of the
Provincial Capitol by the end of 2007,

or barring that,
make his job as impossible as possible.



The Reason?

GREED, pure and simple.



Governor Panlilio shut down
almost every source of kickbacks and
illegal income from misappropriated budgets,
and even blew the whistle on the 500K loot bags
from the Cabalen in Malacanang.

As a result,
all the unapologetic TraPos of Pampanga
are up in arms, distressed by the cutting off
of all their previously free-flowing largesse.


The day after the 500K expose',
every single one of these
pathetic pea-brained politicos
made a pilgrimage to the palace by the Pasig,

where they tried to outdo each other in grovelling
and showing their loyalty & allegiance to the President.

Bugok! Tanaydamo!




My family is doubly distressed by the depths to which
this generation of Capampangan Politicos have sunk to;

it's painful not only for us, but for all our Cabalens,
to know that as a result of the unabated corruption
and rapacious lust for power of the powers-that-be ,
our province is now considered to be the breeding ground
of pond scum jueteng lords and lowlife quarry abusers.




It wasn't always that way.

My grandfather, Rodolfo Paras Hizon,
served his Cabalens well as Mayor of San Fernando
and Vice Governor of Pampanga from 1946 to the 1960s.



By all accounts,
and this we hear to this day from old-timers,
he was a shining example of incorruptibility,
a paragon of what a true public official should be.

He was a member of the Liberal Party,
a contemporary of Manuel Roxas, Jovito Salonga, & Ninoy Aquino.




Things were different back then;
there was a deep sense of decency,
an honorable dedication to service.




In Pampanga during that era,
there was another Liberal Party stalwart
who was an excellent leader,
President Diosdado Macapagal;

here is "Cong Dado" with his partymate,
my grandfather, "Daddy Pong":


Sadly and ironically,

President Macapagal's daughter,
the current occupant of Malacanang,
is now considered by the Filipino People
as the polar opposite of her father,
based on this most recent Pulse Asia survey:


1. In your opinion,
under which administration has there been
the most intense allegations of corruption?

Results nationwide:
Arroyo, 45 percent;
Marcos, 31 percent;
Estrada, 14 percent;
Ramos, 7 percent;
Aquino, 1 percent.



2. In your opinion,
which president is the most corrupt
in Philippine history?

Results nationwide:
Arroyo, 42 percent;
Marcos, 35 percent;
Estrada, 16 percent;
Ramos, 5 percent;
Aquino, 1 percent.



3. In your opinion,
which president is the least corrupt
or not corrupt in the history of the Philippines?

Results nationwide:
Aquino, 66 percent;
Estrada, 11 percent;
Marcos, 9 percent;
Ramos, 6 percent;
Arroyo, 5 percent.


... kaya pala hinahaching si GMA eh!

And no,
don't expect a "Bless You!"
from The Filipino People.


But hopefully,
Among Ed will still give you a blessing.

Our Governor is a Good Man, after all.



Right now,
all eyes are riveted on him,
not just ours in Pampanga,
but all of the Philippines' as well.

We really would all like to see if the
Governor's light can pierce GMA's darkness.



So how does Among Ed feel about his moral crusade
in his province turning into a national campaign?

I really believe he's up to the challenge;
he himself said it best during a recent speech at the Ateneo:


"It has been said so often that Pampanga right now
is a laboratory mouse in a grand experiment
upon which almost every eye
of every disillusioned Filipino is fixed,

steadily observing how the dream
of good and honest governance is realized,
and if it can result in the improvement of the people's plight.


Historically,
our province has always been the breeding ground
of social unrest and revolutionary thought.

Once again,
there is something revolutionary going on in Pampanga.


With fervent prayers,
consultative and exemplary leadership,
participatory and law-abiding citizenship,
collaborative and dedicated service,
together with the application of better organizational systems,
technological processes and innovations,

I believe that we can overcome and transform
the individual and the society.


Then shall our success in Pampanga
be translated in every province of the nation.

Let us all join forces to transform ourselves,
and in turn our beloved Philippines."