[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’ JUST ANOTHER DAY ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
It’s Jed Mabilog’s fault again…
CAN WE really disassociate ourselves from persons that have become the symbol or personification of certain organizations, i.e. companies, products, sports, music, and governments?
For most Ilonggos born and bred in “I Am Iloilo City”, Panay Electric Company or PECO is always associated with the Cacho Family so much so that when a brownout occurs the natives blame “Cacho.”
Bombo Radyo is always Florete, likewise for pawnshops and if the radio station commits a faux pas, the blame is on “Florete.” I am not sure though if the item people want to pawn is not accepted, they blame “Florete.” I must admit when it comes to this area, my expertise is next to zero. I have never been to a pawnshop and would probably be lost inside one.
Basketball and basketball shoes? What comes to mind is Nike and Chicago Bulls and, of course, Michael Jordan, probably still the greatest basketball player of the modern game.
Football and it’s the legendary Pele with the World Cup champion Brazil National Football Team. Lately we have Lionel Messi and Barcelona Football Club with Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.
And when it comes to politics, it’s always former President Gloria Arroyo’s fault. Well, that is according to her predecessor, now former President Noynoy Aquino who blamed her every time his administration commits a blunder.
If Noynoy Aquino can’t seem to connect the blame on Gloria Arroyo, then the late President Ferdinand Marcos is always the convenient excuse.
Of course, while Noynoy Aquino was laying the blame on Gloria Arroyo, the natives were blaming him.
If Manny Pacquiao loses a boxing match then it’s the referee’s fault, or if some beauty queen fails to win the Miss Universe crown, then it’s the judges’ fault.
Coming on sixth place after cockfighting, beauty contests, boxing, basketball, and politics, “blaming someone else” is the Filipinos’ favorite pastime. “It’s always somebody else’s fault.”
Now that it’s the term of President Rodrigo Duterte and every time something happens not to their liking, Leni Robredo, Maria Ressa, Raissa Robles, Antonio Trillanes, Jim Paredes, and Cynthia Patag blame President Rodrigo Duterte.
And back to “I Am Iloilo City.” Every time the streets are flooded (maybe they should blame God for the rains), there’s traffic, even brownouts now and every bad news about the city, the natives blame Mayor Jed Mabilog.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared Iloilo as the “most shabu-lized city in the country” and just recently as the “bedrock of illegal drugs”, in the process laying the blame on Mayor Jed Mabilog.
I think it’s unfair. Mayor Jed Mabilog is not entirely to blame for the above; he’s probably corrupt but then again, he’s a politician.
Take note people, Jed Mabilog is the lowest rung in the totem pole of political power in Iloilo. There are several more people way above him. During their heydays in the Aquino administration, whatever Jed Mabilog did in Iloilo City had to be approved by the top people bigger than him not only in terms of power but in physicality as well in Iloilo’s political hierarchy.
Do you really think illegal drugs became the growth industry in “I Am Iloilo City” just because of Mayor Jed Mabilog?
Here are excerpts from the July 13 Business Mirror editorial:
“Every organization has a leader and sometimes the person becomes more than just the title, but becomes the personification of the organization.
“Common sense tells us that no single person is responsible for the decisions and actions that a government — or a corporation for that matter — makes and takes.
“However, this idea of equating government almost exclusively with an individual is becoming more extreme.
“While it may be easy to label a policy that has a name and a face, the emphasis goes to the name and not the policy.
“In addition, to put the success or failure of government initiatives solely on the shoulders of the individual at the top makes it much easier to blindly follow the leader and not the direction the nation is moving to. It is our responsibility to understand and take charge of where we are headed.”
Former World Mayor No. 5 Jed Mabilog is not “I Am Iloilo City.” He just happens to be its mayor. There are bigger people on top of him that dictates political power but of course, being a “good boy” is also profitable. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
