When a DILG secretary plays partisan politics
It challenges reflection why the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government, has to go out of his way, to openly endorse in public a mayoralty candidate in the City of Antipolo at a huge assembly of people held at the Antipolo Ynares Center during one campaign sortie. Is this part of the official acts of one appointed in government and paid taxpayers’ money? This ought to be an ethical question deserving of answer.
Apparently, the good secretary dangled like carrot the plan to put up the Antipolo City Hospital as the justification why the people should vote for the incumbent mayor’s Team which of course includes a younger brother running for congressman as a re-electionist. That is really hitting two birds with one stone, doesn’t it?
Perhaps all we can say is that ours is a democracy where anyone can say his piece, both in private or public capacity. But then again, there are simply unwritten rules in every civilized society that somehow restrains one to act with a modicum of caution when seen in public, more so if openly endorsing one mayoralty candidate as though stamping his official approval along purely partisan lines.
Thus, that nearly if not all barangay captains and city councilors are under one political banner and therefore unite and stand behind the incumbent mayor’s bid for the mayoralty to the extent that good secretary unabashed raises call for the people in the assembly to unite and vote for the endorsed Team – really should be taken with a grain of salt.
It is my belief that it behooves upon a cabinet secretary, a DILG secretary in this case, to act with some degree of propriety in matters that concern a particular geo-political setting. Or let me just quote what the good DILG secretary said (Antipolo Star), to wit: “Ang hindi ko maintindihan ay sa dami ng taon ng paglilingkod ng katunggali natin dito sa halalan na ito, hindi man lang pumasok sa ulo nila na ang pangangailan n gating mga kababayan ay ang kalusugan nating lahat. Aanhin pa ang edukasyon, aanhin pa ang iyong buhay kung walang kalusugan an gating kababayan?”.
Certainly, it is great proposal to put up an Antipolo City Hospital in this place in the CALABARZON. Problem is, had the first steps been really taken during the good secretary’s watch when he was a Congressman? Signs indicate that not even during the term of his younger brother congressman have steps been taken toward the establishment of an Antipolo City Hospital but on the contrary, a congressional action in this direction has been initiated by the rival mayoralty candidate who is a congressman. So, this might reduce to a case of “look who’s talking”, doesn’t it?
May 10 is just around the corner and more people I believe can discern truth behind platitudes or pure rhetorics. Perhaps, they can fool some of the people some of the time – definitely not all of the time. It .bears watching what the scene and scheme will be if they ever get elected by the people.