A friend text me to hurry up and see her at Venus Park view Hotel in Baguio City, she told me the Metro Manila development Authority czar is having a press conference and if I am interested to meet him, so without hesitation I heeded her call.
When I entered the hall of the hotel the press conference was finished but he was still talking to a group of farmers from Benguet and Mountain Province. As I listened to him he is a soft spoken and amiable guy but behind that facade I could sense an aura that exudes firmness and determination. Maybe I was influenced by daily media coverage on television and the news papers how he was able to transform a complex and ugly metro region into a decent and manageable one is a factor. Testimonies by word of mouth of people directly and adversely affected by his implementing policies who hated him yet ultimately praised his actions when they saw the end of his means is another influencing matter.
I compare him to a doctor who does a painful surgery with a sharp knife purposely to remove the malady and to heal the ailing patient. This person is removing a social cancer in a sick society as mentioned in Doctor Jose Rizal’s el Filibusterismo. It’s success can result in a healthy nation.
I heard him say that if only every one do their work well, then we achieve a healthy society. He molded a legacy for other leaders to emulate but the senate and congress are deaf and blind to follow suit. They are more interested in grandstanding and promoting their self interest. Some do not care spending millions of pesos to promote themselves as the good guys, pro poor and for the masses but without a legacy to back up their willingness to overhaul a sick nation.
What is the use of looking good when a nation that needs an economic and social order? I believe at this time we need a hero (BAYANI) not procrastinators and pretenders who only aggravate our ailing society. Can Mr. Fernando who does what he says become the next president of the Philippines? Why not.
