Why a Rat won the race

The Year of the Rat is interesting. This early the race for the 2010 Presidential election is already on.

So many want to run: Sonny Belmonte, Noli de Castro, Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas, and Manny Villar – all in the order of the alphabet.

By the way, life is called a rat race because on the Chinese 12 animals calendar, the rat beat the bull out of sheer trickery. It sat on the head of a bull and, when nearing the finish line, it jumped and touched the finish line ahead.

Who of them will have the cunning of a rat?

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But what is more interesting is that it's not only these eight hopefuls, so far, who want to run. Ex-presidents do, too. Plunder convict Joseph Estrada wants to run. Ex-President Fidel V. Ramos, too. His partisan said if Erap can run, who is a convict, why not Fidel?

And a Cory Aquino supporter said, Ramos and Estrada are barred from running again but not Cory because she became President before the adoption of the 1987 Constitution.

The entry of past presidents has made the discussions very lively.

Last week, during the Christmas Party of our Council of Past Presidents of the Negros Press Club in my farm outside Sum-ag, I said, it's now 25 years that I have been its chairman and it's now time to turn it over to someone.

No one wanted to take it so I said, I am turning it over to Modi Sa-onoy who built the NPC building in 1982. Modi was reluctant but we all prevailed on him to accept.

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He just put a condition, that I become the President of NPC. Not to give Modi a reason for refusing I said, okay but they would do the campaigning. They all agreed. Actually I was not interested, having been President four times already. But I also did not want to douse cold water on the enthusiasm of the CPP.

My idea in the club is always to develop younger leaders. With the active campaigning of CPP executive director Amado Villacarlos for me, word spread so fast that it alarmed many of them.

So, when I met Edmund Aspero, he told me it would be a better idea that we leave the election to the younger members. I welcomed it. That's what I intended to do anyway.

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Then our group, Rolly Espina, Modi Sa-onoy, Amado Villacarlos, Ely de los Santos , Edmund Aspero, Rey Siason, Ed de la Fuente, Joel Dojillo, after visiting Ex-Gov. Alfredo Montelibano Jr. in state at La Salle , went to Savory for a bottle of beer as a part of our bonding.

Actually, I did not hear of negative feedback about my candidacy. But, when Edmund told me, I believe it is true. I have been there four times already. The fifth time will be too much. The presidency of NPC is a thankless job, if you really want to make good at it.

What worried them was that Vice Governor Isidro Zayco promised to give half a million pesos for the PhilHealth of the NPC members.

I was the one to whom Vice Governor Zayco gave his nod to and the NPC officials just followed it up. We all want the money to be wisely spent, considering our past experiences where big amounts of money were not wisely and judiciously spent.

I have talked with the vice governor and he will put up a system. One of these is the organization of an oversight committee to be composed of the Council elders. And a strict rule on who are to be covered.

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I am happy my friend Toti Ramos, former Chairman of the CPA Board of examiners has agreed to help NPC as an auditor and to set up the system. And a leading lawyer here, William Mirano, also agreed to be a consultant on legal matters, both Toti and Mirano give it for free. Pro bono.

They said, “Because of you.” They are my close friends.

Together with the Sunshine Boys they donated for the air-conditioning of the sala of the Negros Press Club.

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If the National Press Club lost its luster, it was because the veteran newsmen abandoned it to the younger ones, most of them more of PR men than journalists. The result, the piano was lost, was sold, the mural of Manansala was also sold for millions, and many other anomalies.

Amando Doronila was here a few days ago. He lamented that, too, and told me not to abandon the Negros Press Club. I said, this cannot happen here. Our past presidents are more vigilant.

If there are noisy people here they are not really professional media people, many of them are doing PR for some companies. They are not even members.

That is why at the Council our only interest is that the Negros Press Club continues to have its integrity and dignity intact.

We trust on January 19, our members will elect the best. We will be helping the officials who may need our help. We had many NPC officials who could have made the big difference.

We look forward to having them.*

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