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True
to our promise last March 28, we're back in the driver's seat.
At the outset, our profound gratitude to those who believe
in our ability and capacity to sit as member of the city council
for the third and final term.
While
other candidates have to spend hundreds and even a million
of pesos just to land a seat in the city sanggunian, we ran
our campaign and won through meager resources and very limited
budget.
For
this, our salute to the city residents who are perceived to
be among the intelligent voters in this part of the archipelago
where election is a favorite past time next to basketball
and boxing.
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A
city councilor receives a monthly salary of P25,000.00 and
for three years, a maximum of P900,000.00. But that's the
other side of the story only assuming that a city councilor
receives in full the monthly salary.
The
other side is that the actual take home pay of a city councilor
could be as low as P3,000.00 after deducting the statutory
obligations for GSIS, Pag-ibig and solicitations for trophies,
uniforms, contests and the like not to mention the donations
for fares, hospitalization and medicines even if there's a
Botika sa Katawhan.
If
a city councilor can receive an actual pay for P150,000.00
in three years, he or she must be a Houdini.
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So
why spend almost a million just to become a city councilor?
Where will that city councilor recover the balance? Through
graft and corruption? Your answer is as good as mine.
Be
that as it may, we congratulate all the winners in the race
for city councilors. To the losers, don't worry, you are not
alone in your misery.
We
are planning to write a book on how to run and win in elections
without trying and devote a special chapter on how not to
lose. Joke.
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At
any rate, we are truly happy that the nightmare called election
is already over. Although it was no longer our first time,
we have several lessons learned.
First
and foremost, there is no such thing as party vote nowadays.
A candidate for city councilor must paddle his own canoe and
put up a parallel organization rather than rely on the party
machinery.
Secondly,
patronage politics has been replaced by money politics. Before,
voters go for candidates whom they believe could help them
or extend favors in the future. Now, voters no longer care
if they could get any future help or favor. They will vote
for you if you give them money because they believe that you
will only meet them during election.
The
church should better re-assess its advocacy against vote-buying.
The voters are now the ones looking for the money. Amen.
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For
comments and suggestions, just e-mail to the following e-mail addresses: obiter@boholchronicle.com | 
