Mysterious charisms
of Montelibano

One of the most mystifying human phenomena is charisma. It is the virtue that can mobilize mass and convert people into fanatical followers. It is also the ability to mobilize masses behind a cause.

It has baffled many. Even the most profound intellectuals cannot seem to explain charism and its mysterious impact on people. That is why members of the Council of Past Presidents of the Negros Press Club agreed Saturday that former President Joseph Estrada remains the idol of the masses.

That was a surprising consensus. It seems that, as pointed out by Primo Esleyer, the common tao have their own perception of what they think is reality. That defies and transcends both logic and legality.

Later, on prodding by chair Modesto Sa-onoy, most of us reached the conclusion that Junior was an outstanding provincial governor. Not because of his lengthy tenure of the governorship but because of his focus on the goal outlined in his program.

Former president Ely de los Santos called him and the late Bacolod Mayor Carlos Benares as vested with managerial and administrative abilities beyond compare.

Later, all agreed that the outstanding image of Montelibano was that of his shirt jack (usually white), his Paglaum blue sports jacket, the blue cap and a towel around his neck that endured time and space.

But there was more to it than just symbols.

My first glimpse of Junior's ability to rise to a challenge and mobilize the mass behind them was the Bacolod Great Flood. When one morning, I woke up with the floods waters entering our residence then at Barangay Montevista. Accompanied by another official, I motored downtown aboard a Toyota Land Cruiser. The sight that greeted us was appalling.

Libertad was covered by flood waters. Even Lacson Street and the Paglaum swimming pool were down under murky water. We tried to get across Araneta Avenue , but found ourselves blocked by flood waters.

We tried calling up City Engineer Sembrano. He was beyond connect in the upper reaches of Mambukal. We also phoned then City Mayor Romeo Guanzon. He could not be reached either. So with then police chief Col. Arcadio Lozada.

We alerted then Provincial Engineer Eriberto Losaria. He asked personnel of his office to report to the provincial engineer's compound. Those available gunned their trucks and moved out to help rescue the distressed citizens.

We, then, informed Montelibano of the disaster and the steps we had taken to rescue the flood-stricken population. The question – did the provincial government have the authority to intrude into a purely city government concern?

But the call for public service made it imperative. We had to do something. He agreed. There was only one radio station operating. And Junior summoned Eddie La Gonzales and Monet Padilla to help mobilize public support for the flood victims, many of them evacuated to public schools.

Then I saw the impact of his memory. Few were aware that Montelibano had a photographic memory. He had that uncanny knack for names, places and organizational linkages of most individuals.

He immediately called on city residents to pitch in with their relief aid for the victims. Eateries came up with hot meals and grocery stores dispatched tons of food and grocery items to the provincial capitol.

Students from the University of St. La Salle , Hua Ming, Trinity College and others in the city rushed to the Capitol to lend a helping hand.

Students and provincial employees were organized into gangs who handled their respective aspects of packaging relief goods. Others loaded them on trucks which immediately roared off to the various evacuation centers with several on board to help in the distribution.

Montelibano was everywhere. He would banter with the students and employees as they went about their work and congratulated them for their heroic contribution to the effort to help the helpless and the hapless.

He remained indefatigable on his toes for hours. Swigs of water and fastfood he took in but he never faltered in moving around the stream of disaster workers.

And he later took pains to explain to Mayor Guanzon why the provincial government took the unprecedented step of invading the city. Guanzon may have been embarrassed but he knew that his cousin did not intend to displace him as city executive.

When power was restored, other radio stations took up the great crusade and that became the talk of the town.

But what was imprinted in my mind was the single-minded focus by Montelibano on stoking the masses to lend a helping hand to those who needed help in their hour of distress.

Only a true believer can mobilize the masses behind a cause and cases. And that was the part reason for Montelibano's charism.*

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