WantEd. NeedEd. ElectEd

HE holds the distinction of being the very first Angeles City mayor ever re-elected. But this is not by any means his only claim to fame.
Forged in the crucible of the Marcos dictatorship, his masa conscientization found manifest in pro bono defense of the oppressed and the dispossessed as a stalwart of the most appropriately named MAYAP – the Movement for the Advancement of Young Advocates of Pampanga: the Capampangan word mayap meaning good.
He was elected vice mayor in 1988, but he assumed the mayorship – and proved his worth as city executive – more than once: when the mayor was suspended for some anomalous transactions; when the mayor was nowhere to be found when panic and pandemonium gripped the city that fateful day of June 15, 1991; and when swirling, destructive lahar flowed through and scoured the river Abacan.
At the height of the Pinatubo devastation, when the national government position tilted to the abandonment of his city and to just “let nature take its course”, he summoned people power and drew tens of thousands of citizens rushing with shovels, hoes, sacks and pickaxes in a concerted effort to sandbag the banks of the Abacan River and protect their city from more lahar rampages.
Even in its futility, the effort – dubbed Pala Ko, Buhay Mo by the project coordinator, the Angeles City “Kuliat” Jaycees – succeeded in convincing the national government of the determination of the Angeleño to save his city, thereby altering its position from abandonment to engineering intervention.
And at the 47th World Jaycee Congress in Miami, Florida, USA, Pala Ko, Buhay Mo was recognized as the best Community Involvement Project.
In 1992, he inherited an Angeles City in the worst economic straits: devastated by the eruption, dislocated by the American withdrawal from Clark Air Base. But he did not shirk from his responsibility of leading the city rise from the ashes as the mythical phoenix, so to speak.
Agyu Tamu (We Can) reverberated across the city to rekindle hope in his despairing constituency and renew confidence among investors on the economic viability of Angeles.
And then came that stroke of genius that showed everyone that indeed Angeles City could rise and soar in the economic firmament anew – Tigtigan, Terakan Qñg Dalan (street dancing festivities) timed with the city fiesta in the last weekend of October.
That he did well in his first term found indubitable testament in his overwhelming re-election in 1995. By the end of his second term in 1998, Angeles City has fully recovered economically: all scars of the Pinatubo devastation swept in the dustbin of history.
So he lost in his congressional bid. So – asks someone who is not Alex Cauguiran – what has become of the city’s representation in the House?
So? Just ask me another question and I will tell you no lies.
Being a good man, he just cannot be put down.
He immersed himself in the whirl of protests against the Estrada maladministration and was at the vanguard of EDSA Dos.
The fledgling Arroyo administration tapped him to head the National Housing Authority.
“Homeless is hopeless. The less has to go.” I don’t know if he was even aware of this adage. But he sure did walk toward that direction with the NHA intensifying its socialized housing program. Then too, the Sword of Damocles that long hang over the heads of the resettled victims of the Pinatubo eruptions – the usufruct scheme – was finally and definitively discarded.
It was during his watch at the Office of External Affairs that the case of Angelo de la Cruz – remember the OFW set to lose his head in Iraq? – was resolved. Successfully, of course, with the now-forgotten truck driver still holding his head. Not too high though, I heard. But that is another story.
Excelling in every post the President has assigned to him, he has of late been named head honcho for the development of Subic and Clark – a signal recognition of the trust and confidence of GMA in his capabilities. Immediately, the once moribund construction of the expressway connecting the once mighty bastions of American military might in the Asia-pacific went into overdrive, registering more than 50 percent to completion as of the end of December 2006.
Indeed we have one national achiever here that can make a hell of a difference in the city he once served. Hence it brings me sadness that whenever the Angeles mayorship crops up, there is a certain ennui, if not resignation, over the perceived lack of choice.
Here is the man that Angeles City may want – and definitely needs – to elect in 2007: Edgardo G. Pamintuan.
Maging mayor pasibayu, Agyu Tamu.
(Access previous columns at acaesar.blogspot.com)