Cong Randy

“MAGPEPERYA.”
Derisively dismissed a number of Pampanga politicos of UP Professor Randy S. David with his throwing the gauntlet at the House aspirations of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Magpeperya refers to operators of peryahan or karnabal ­ -- travelling small-time amusement troupes that come to barrios every fiesta time.
Yeah, it has come to mean political wanna-bes that show up in their hometown whenever elections are coming around.
No, Professor David is nowhere near such kind. He’s no show-up in Betis, nor in the rest of Pampanga, only election time. He’s very much into the Kapampangan day-to-day grind.
And yes, Professor David has the requisite breeding, education, and stature to fill up any political post, so far superior to the current cretins that demean, if not totally shear off whatever honor left in those “Honorable” appendages to their names.
I remember what I – as then president of the Pampanga Press Club – wrote in nomination of Professor David as Most Outstanding Kapampangan for 1990. Here it is – direct from my mementoes of that presidency:
NO OTHER figure in the field of contemporary journalism – both print and broadcast – has as much faith in the inherent wisdom of the common folk as our nominee. A strong faith that is articulated in his widely-read column Buhay Pinoy in the national daily Diyaryo Filipino and translated in his unstinting efforts, via his popular Public Forum program, to raise the voice of the masa to a level audible to lawmakers, law enforcers, government decision-makers, as well as the pillars of private industry.
By these twin endeavors, he has achieved the very essence of media – of being the coordinate point between the governing and the governed; of being the social equalizer in a democracy. A rare feat even among the best journalists.
Our nominee’s achievements continue to earn recognition from various national award-giving bodies, the latest from the 4th Star Awards for TV for his Public Forum, adjudged Best Public Affairs Program for 1990 and him adjudged Best Public Affairs Program Host, given last October 27. That these were awarded despite his program having been forced off the air sometime in September yet is a testament to Public Forum’s great impact and its host’s deep imprint into the national consciousness.
As the nation has done its share, it is now high time for Pampanga to give that long-due recognition to a son who has given her much honor.
We are therefore privileged to nominate Professor RANDOLF S. DAVID Most Outstanding Kapampangan in the field of mass communications.
It was dated 30 October 1990.
Of course, Professor David was bestowed MOKA honors that year.
It is not a generally known fact too that Professor David was one of the more active civil society representatives at the Mount Pinatubo Commission (MPC) at the time of the lahar rampages.
Professor David was a greater, and much oftener presence, at MPC brainstorming sessions than say, Gov. Lito Lapid or some other congressmen and local government executives that time. I should know, I represented Lapid, as his senior consultant and spinmeister then, at the MPC.
And then, in the “miracle” of the Panlilio victory in the 2007 gubernatorial polls, Professor David was an element there too.
Professor David has all the right to run. All the Kapampangans, not only in the second district, should look at this as a most welcome development. As it has long been clichéd: Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the country.
We should all encourage Professor David and some other like-minded citizens to contest political posts. More than an audacity of hope, they embody the heroic element, that patriotism inherent in the Filipino but long lost in patronage, in the deal-or-no-deal sell-out of principles that is Philippine politics.
So one Lorelei Fajardo, one of GMA’s battery of spokespersons, questioned David’s motivation in running.
“We should have the right intention and right motive in running, and I think there’s no better intention for us than to serve our country, serve our people and make a good difference. “This should be the ultimate intention, and nothing else,”” So said she.
“If she runs, I will think about it very seriously. Yes, I think so. She will not go unchallenged. She will not go unopposed; we will oppose her every step of the way…It’s probably the most foolish thing to do. I know it’s quixotic to run against the President—somebody who has no qualms about using all the powers of her office—but I think somebody has to stop her. And if we get to that point, I will do my part even if that may be myself.” So said Professor David.
That is more than enough right intention and right motive for running. Run Cong Randy, run.