“Maglilingkod ng tapat, maglilingkod ng lubos”. We have heard the line often enough May of this year when we voted Nilo Leyble into office. Yes we, because I myself voted for him too like the majority of us did and I am beginning to regret that. It was not like we were given much of a choice. He was more like, the lesser of evils we had to choose from. He does seem to be the lesser evil to (Angelito Gatlabayan) a former-mayor-turned-congressman(inutile congressman I might add), who wants to be mayor again.
However, isn’t full and faithful service necessarily assumed of any one who vies for leadership among us? Most probably because we have not had in recent memory a leader who had indubitably met the said expectations, each candidate for leadership have to restate the obvious; that he will not steal from the public coffers, that he will serve faithfully. We have forgotten that leaders are just as importantly expected to lead. To lead, leaders have to have vision. Where are you leading us in the near future, say the full term of your office? By the time your term ends what kind of city will Antipolo be? While necessarily having vision is quiet clear, what is not so clear is the vision that the candidate has. This is the one that he needs to sell to us the “polity”. This is what we the “polity” “buys into” if and when we let him sit in city hall. The moment we vote for a candidate, we vote for a vision, we buy into his vision. Less clearer is how if at all the candidate intends to “operationalize” his vision, his plan for the long term (strategic objective) broken down into short term action plans. Having done that he will have to say where he intends to get the resources for his plans (logistics) and how specifically he intends to use the said resources in his command. Cumulatively this is what is commonly known as a candidate’s platform and should have been clearly discussed by the candidate when he campaigned for office. This will show not only how knowledgeable the candidate is for the office he is applying for, but also how knowledgeable he is of the city he intends to lead. If and when voted into office this platform becomes the standard by which his leadership is measured.
Regretfully, I for the aforesaid reason have failed to peruse Mayor Nilo Leyble’s platform. More tragically, I have even failed to inquire of his vision for Antipolo. For this reason, I have time and again looked in to the Antipolo City website. What I have found are mostly slogans. Although the website did mention several programs, I have yet to see how they fit into a rational whole, something which would be apparent if a only vision is clearly stated. I have also yet to see his full term plan, let alone schedules of completion for programs and projects, let alone costs and returns of investments. Oh, of course, on some Mondays when I have perchance upon the city flag ceremony, I have heard the treasurer’s collection and disbursement report. But then again, while I do appreciate knowing how much the city had collected, and how much is spent on what (more than just knowing that the mayor have been honest with the people’s money) I would really, really want to know in view of what grand plan are all those expenses for. (I, would not want to go into the tragedy of knowing that while former Mayor Gatlabayan did indeed a lot for Antipolo, yet considering the vast resources at his command (i.e. the taxes collected etc.) he could and should have actually been able to do more, and on what really mattered, not on a lot of the trivial pursuits that Antipolo could at that time do without.)
Would it not be possible therefore if the mayor’s office can publish, his vision, his strategic objectives, his action plans, schedules of completion, yes the treasurer’s reports in the City Web, lest we begin to believe as I am inclined to now that he does not have any? Let not the mayor be afraid of the scrutiny, nay the opposition his vision and programs will generate because his capacity to sell his vision to us will be his vindication. Foremost of all by publishing his vision, and plans for Antipolo in the city web for all and sundry to see and remember (maybe save for posterity) Mayor Nilo Leyble will prove to all and sundry that he is not the man that Mayor Gatlabayan is, Mayor Leyble is a man of his word. In effect he is saying that he is not afraid to etch your words in solid rock because he intends to do as he says.
