Only brave mayors face their visitors

YOU know the brave mayors when you see them--literally, see them. With every local executive (well, "almost every", we must correct ourself, recalling the two mayors awarded by the Church in its Parangal para sa Mararangal ) and police officers' favorite social funding game, jueteng, gone for over a month now, mayors have made themselves scarce not only to roving bands of media men but also to their "needy" constituents.

No, we're not one bit personally affected by any local executive's hiding and disappearing acts having seen fit long ago not to join the "roving bands" we mentioned, except on invitation by some of these mayors, or on purely incidental visits with them or, as often is the case, on official business.

Many are the tales of "misencounters " with mayors by some media colleagues that we really feel awkward every time we meet them in office and perforce, have to introduce our self as "from the Media." So far, though, we've always been entertained by town officials on the rare occasions we went to see them, walang taguan.

But, to go back to our first line about "brave" mayors, one such unceasingly open and very visible mayor even in the post-jueteng era (?) is Bayambang's Leocadio "Boy" de Vera.

The legions of visitors he meets and entertains daily at his house in Barangay Bical, that town, save on days he's really on a trip (why, he doesn't even get sick, lucky fella!), easily shows he's no hide-n-seek chap like most of his fellow mayors these days. Really tough, really brave.

His "blessings" apparently do not come, let's rephrase that, do not depend on jueteng as a source. A close assistant of his told some of our colleagues who went to see him once that Mayor Boy believes it is in sharing his family's "blessings", however little in form or value, that makes a leader a leader. Why, he even cooks for his house callers!

Obviously, De Vera does not believe scrimping on or worse, hiding from one's social obligations to people during difficult times is the way to Heaven. Or, to a congressional seat?

Let there be more "brave" mayors! (Pangasinan Star, June 30, 2005)