Unfit for 1st class citizens

By: Manny Valdehuesa

CAGAYAN de Oro is a first-class city; meaning, it is inhabited by first-class citizens. It should also have first-class public servants.

Inferior public servants should have no place in the company of first-class citizens. Crass behavior, selfish political conduct, or shamelessness have no place in polite society.

First-class citizens are supposed to be knowledgeable and educated; they should know how to handle the aberrations of politics and the abuses of traditional politicos (trapos). But there’s one task they often overlook: how to keep the same tiresome faces from monopolizing public office.

Everyone knows, or should know, that it is not good for a city to let the same people corner the privileges of public office over and over again. It spoils them and corrupts them.

Letting trapos corner politics and the local economy causes corruption to become generalized. Thus sovereign citizens must be guarded about public office; for it is a gift that only they can bestow on another citizen.  This gift is not meant to be reserved by anyone for his own purposes, much less bought or monopolized by any family or political dynasty.

Anyone who seeks to monopolize political power or seeks to buy his way into it should be firmly dealt with—ostracized or banished from politics, if possible. It is selfish, greedy, and anti-social behavior.

Such behavior is not only unseemly, it is expressly forbidden by the Constitution of our Republic. And any party that tolerates or practices it has no right to seek the confidence or support of the people.

But talk is rife of how determined is the defeated mayor, Vicente Y. Emano, to recapture City Hall and reimpose his leadership on the First-Class city of Cagayan de Oro.

If Cagayanos make the mistake of letting him and his Dynasty become the lords of the city again it will set back democracy and local development. All the years of alleged public service rendered by them yielded nothing of value to the field of public administration except to confirm how pernicious is the Machiavellian way of governing.

Rather than enrich democracy, personalism and vanity bastardizes it. Governance and the opportunity to serve must be open to everyone, not just to a few, nor just to a family or dynasty.

Democracy and its dynamism hinges upon social change; change for the better; fresh, new ideas and new ways of viewing and doing things.

Now, what can a trapo bunch led by Vicente Emano and his clones possibly introduce to the First-Class city of Cagayan de Oro? Can they be expected to bring about change, let alone change for the better? An old trapo learning new tricks?

Trapos are into politics for what they can gain—personally, as a family, as a dynasty. They do not enter politics to serve as much as to be served. They’re not into it to give of themselves or their talent (if any).

They’re there for the advantages they can gain. Dedicated or heroic leadership is not in their vocabulary except as rhetorical campaign devices. True heroism requires selflessness and sacrifice.

But note how the longer they are in office, the more comfortable they get, the more powerful and influential, and the more affluent they become. That’s why it’s virtually impossible to change or remove them. And that’s why first-class citizens should avoid supporting trapos.

(Author of books on governance, Manny Valdehuesa is national chairman/convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc.. E-mail: valdehuesa@gmail.com)