Manny Valdehuesa
IF it’s true that the wife of Congressman Rufus Rodriguez, Mrs. Fenina “Nenen” Rodriguez, will no longer run for election to fill his soon-to-be vacated post in the second district, it should be welcome news.
Equally welcome is Congressman Rufus’s statement that his sister, Ms. Jocelyn “Bebot” Rodriguez, won’t vie for any position next year.
That leaves his brother, Maximo Jr., as the only other member of his family in public office—being the party-list representative of Abante Mindanao.
News of this sort is refreshing. It boosts the hope of many that the constitutional prohibition on political dynasties will prosper.
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Although Party-List Congressman Maxie may still run for reelection via Abamin, it is still a step forward that his brother has invoked the public’s anti-dynasty sentiment as the reason for his wife’s and sister’s withdrawal from contention. They gain points for righteous politics.
Such points may seem such a small consolation. But any gain in our much abused politics—as exemplified by the shameless opportunism of traditional politicians (trapos) in exploiting advantages of being in office—deserve notice and appreciation. What the Rodriguez family is doing is forego advantage and privilege—providing contrast to the insatiable political appetite of ex-mayor Vicente Emano and his dynasty in controlling politics and economics in our province and city.
This contrasting backdrop in the developing scenario for the 2016 election is punctuated by the emergence of a new political group headed by Congressman Rufus.
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The campaign season now looms as a contest between the group of Mayor Oscar Moreno (identified with the Liberal Party), the Padayon Pilipino Party (an unabashed Emano election machine), and the Centrist Democrat Party (CDP) headed by Congressman Rufus. It is a three-cornered contest marked by a clarity of issues rarely offered to the city’s electorate.
Mayor Moreno’s group is known for its textbook-like approach to urban management, pursuing an eight-point program as its platform from the outset of its campaign in 2013.
Ex-mayor Emano’s group is famed for its patronage-oriented style of politics, notably the “piso-piso” land distribution scheme that panders to poor, landless, and manipulable voters.
Then there’s the CDP of Congressman Rufus—new kid on the block, so to speak—but by no means a pushover given its platform and organizational dynamics, of which more later on.
Suffice it to say at this point that this will be an election contest worth watching, for it will showcase differences in style among and between three typical groups in Philippine elections. Abangan!
(Manny Valdehuesa is PPI-Unicef outstanding columnist awardee, author of books on governance, and national chairman/convenor of the Gising Barangay Movement Inc.. E-mail: valdehuesa@gmail.com)
