Amor con amor se paga

Columnists are supposed to focus on contemporary events. But sometimes there are events that require comment and worth mentioning because they refresh our minds about a person or past incidents.

And that was the case with me yesterday when I attended the necrological service for the late Governor and Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Montelibano Jr. at the provincial capitol.

What struck me was how Bob Cuenca, former provincial board member under Montelibano, managed to zero in on the reason for Montelibano's charism – love.

Bob spoke briefly, but he truly captured the Montelibano “mystique… This was the reason why, until yesterday, there were many old-timers at the capitol who treasure memories of their governor, although they did pay tribute to Governor Joseph Marañon as one with the same disposition.

He truly loved the common tao, pointed out Cuenca . And he was the one who pointed out the distinction between “To” and “Toto” which, in case of the former governor, intimated immediately a sense of community and family.

I had long wanted to define the Montelibano charisma. But it eluded me for a long time. But one of the things that contributed to it, as pointed out by Cuenca , was his love for the people.

We would go to a barangay and everybody would ask us for favors. “To”, they would tell us, this is our problem.” But when Junior appeared later, they all rushed to him calling out “Ari na si Toto Junior.”

He was always at ease with people. It was not a put up job. There was no pretense in his affection for people. And this attiude and concern for the common man was evident from his governance.

Besides, as pointed out by former Board Member Elvira Guanzon, it was because Montelibano immediately surrounded himself with young and creative minds. People with same mentality as him –people-oriented.

Because of that, he was able to elicit from them the nod to go the extra mile to comply with a mission. And that was what happened with Elvira whom he dispatched aboard a helicopter to far Candoni to discuss problems with then Mayor C. Nava.

But, perhaps, there is one thing that has escaped the notice of most Negrenses. Montelibano was the first local executive who started putting up an affordable home program for the provincial employees. That Paglaum Village in Mansilingan today stands out as a monument to the concern by Montelibano for the average employee. It was a program with the Development Bank of the Philippines . And the amortized cost was certainly within the realm of an ordinary employee's take home pay.

It was a socialized housing program that benefited the lowly capitol employees. Most no longer reside there. They have either sold their original units had them improved and leased to others for big sums. But the more important is that it made each one of the awardees a landowner and real estate owner.

One of the original awardees, Felix (his family name I now cannot recall), told me that he had never dreamed of ever owning his own house and lot. And he had been working as a janitor at the Capitol for 20 years by the time the program was launched by Montelibano.

Cuenca cited Montelibano's predilection for the teachers. Perhaps, it was because he had studied with them while still young at Binitin. He had been exiled there by the Old Man, Peding, “to discipline him and teach him that he should be able to cope with all kinds of people.”

But, whether intentional or not, Peding's act resulted in Junior's easy-going ways with the average tao. The amazing thing, I could recall, was of Junior backslapping ordinary people, palpably from the farm, and calling them “classmates.” He would then launch into a recollection of their student days in Binitin. The same with people from the barangays. Many of them their names he recalled with ease.

We were often at loggerheads when he was invited to a speaking engagement with the upper crust of Negros society. He was often scared of them. And he would ask me to re-do and change speeches prepared for him. He was never at ease with “high-fallutin” words. We solved the problem later. I agreed that the thing to do was to give him the ideas in a tickler and for him to deliver his thoughts in his own words.

So, you have it there. Socialized housing, and a host of other projects all intended for the common tao. And the Paglaum Mobile medical teams went the rounds of the barangays of the province to bring the benefit of health to the common tao who never had enjoyed before the ministrations of physicians and nurses.

But enough of that. Montelibano now belongs to the ages. And I was working in his administration as governor.

Meanwhile, my prayers and best wishes for Gov. Marañon who, the doctors insisted, must take a rest from his gubernatorial chores. As I had earlier mentioned, old timers at the capitol attribute to Gov. Joseph the same pro-people attitude as that of Montelibano.*

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