Anacleto "Boy" Deleverio

Pagadian City Mayor Sammy Co appears to be in full control. But, wait, he is a politician known for his political will, but that will is being severely tested after the elections of May 2007. He is today, faced with heavy sets of dilemma about which he is breaking his head to overcome and solve.

First, there are no less that 7,000 applicants for all sorts of job the city government cannot provide. These job-seekers carry with them recommendations and endorsement from political leaders. If Mayor Co fails to satisfy them, his political clout will suffer. The real trouble is that he will certainly disappoint more, much, much more that he can accommodate, by the sheer number of those seeking jobs.

Second, he must be able to prove to all and sundry that the transfer of regional government offices to the regional center will be completed during his second term. Right now, only about one fourth have actually transferred to Pagadian City. In fact, certain regional offices are categorized as half-baked, if not token, regional set-up now holding office and operating in Pagadian City.

Third, but not the least, he has to “clean-up” his security force which was augmented during the political campaign by notorious characters identified with the underworld. Otherwise, he will find it difficult to pay, feed and control them. Sooner or later, these characters will give him a big headache.

Like it or not, sooner or later also, Mayor Co will have to choose whether to make war with drug lords or kowtow with them. In fact, he was already presented a bird’s eye-view of that dilemma, when some influential people titillated the PNP hierarchy to relieve Police Chief Buenaobra who is obviously disappointed, if not disgusted, with the way the justice and judiciary had been throwing away drug cases the police have filed one after another against apprehended suspects, in the effort to make Pagadian City drug-free.

Finally, but not lastly, Mayor Co will have to do a balancing act when the time sets in for the apportioning of stalls in the newly improved and refurbished agora market. Talk is already ripe about certain old stall owners complaining and murmuring against the projected high cost of rental they will have to pay, while many are apprehensive that big businessmen will come in and form a cartel over stalls they wanted to occupy and operate through dummies to the exclusion of the legitimate ones.

Ilang-ilang may have noticed it, the man she has been sleeping with has become not only a workaholic but also sleepless lately.

Last update : 07-09-2007 14:19

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