By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
I went to meet Baguio City Congressman Mark Go morning of last Friday, our press day. Finally got to see him. He was our instructor in one Political Science course “long ago” in UP Baguio. He could not remember me. But I should be one of those students that teachers should find hard to forget.
There are usually two kinds of students whom professors won’t easily forget: the diligent and the negligent or the academically delinquent who were always late or absent from their classes or in the submission of requirements. In other words, the good and the bad. I belonged to the latter.
But he could not recognize me and perhaps would not have believed I was once his student if not for some facts only a former student of his would have known. I told him I belonged to the class that might have been the first graduates of the course which I think was his brainchild—having double majors, with no minors. Thus, I earned an AB Social Science degree majoring in economics and political science.
I also reminded him that his car then was a light blue Ford Cortina. He said, yes but that was “long ago.” Yes, it was, 40 years ago to be exact.
These were parts of the introductory pleasantries. Then I asked him about what’s going to happen come the next time of political reckoning which will be around the corner in no time. His answer was he will go for reelection.
Then I said, “You were a professional manager, shouldn’t you be managing the city?” The reaction was “yes but…..” In so many words, I gathered or concluded that he appeared hesitant to go against some political alliances he might have recently developed. So, as of now, reelection is the plan.
I really don’t know if his plan factored in the fact that his immediate predecessor, former Congressman Nicasio Aliping, appears hell bent on running for congressman. I chanced upon the latter twice already the past month and the dialogue was the same, “tumolong kayo manong mang kumbinse ken apo mayor to pagbigyan na datako ay annudi na. (Please help me convince the mayor not to run for congressman and give way to his younger brother).
The first time I met Aliping, he even said that we should not allow the mayor to have his undefeated political record to be broken. And that he (Aliping) is already used to being defeated so, just in case, it will not really be that bad as far as he is concerned. Or that he has nothing to lose.
Well, if the incumbent mayor and Aliping will both run for congressman, then they will split the so called Mountain Province votes otherwise known as the highlander votes and Congressman Mark Go would then be laughing on his way to his second inauguration as congressman for the lone district of Baguio City.
But this is just an aside. Back to my conversation with the incumbent congressman.
I told him that my main intention in meeting him was to bring to his attention an anomalous act committed by the Bids and Awards Committee of the DPWH’s Baguio Engineering District regarding the non-opening of a bid by a contractor client of mine. Noticing, however, that he was concerned about the number of people waiting for their turn to talk to him, I told him that perhaps I should just write things down and submit it to his staff. Of course he agreed as there was no other choice— I will file the complaint anyway in the hope of attaining a better public service in the future.
There were other things we talked about which will come out or be expanded on in this corner every now and then.
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