The year that was

WITH TWO elections, 2013 became one of the busiest years for politicians, especially the local ones. Not only did they have to fight tooth-and-nails with their political foes, they also had to have a quick turnaround for round two in the barangay elections so they consolidate their hold in their respective fiefdoms. The result was staggering. Here in Laoag City and Ilocos Norte alone, allegations of record-high vote buying were thrown against politicians of all sorts and colors. And this only worsened during the October barangay elections as even a supposedly apolitical office became fair game for local political kingpins. Topping it up was the Liga mga Barangay elections, which expectedly were won by the politicians-in-power's choices; never mind if they turned out to be their wives, sons, daughters or any other relative. What really mattered was that they maintain a stranglehold on their political kingdom. 

And as much as most—if not all—of them succeeded in their selfish interests to gain political control of their fiefdoms, these distinguished politicians could have been more useful to the people they are serving if they have also used the same effort in stopping the wanton killing and excessive violence happening all around the province. As sad as it has now become common occurrence for Ilocanos to wake up to morning news of shootings and stabbings, it is patently disgusting that no concrete moves have been made by these officials to at least decrease the violence as they seem to be inutile in trying to stop it altogether.

Their current thrust of promoting the province as a tourism destination and an investment hub falls flat on its face with the violence that has become normal occurrence. If only some officials would look beyond their noses and see for themselves the real situation--and not settle for unsettling "praise" releases and photo-ops for every conceivable express project—then they current campaign to boost Ilocos Norte's economy might actually work. Until then, the people they vowed to serve, protect and uplift would have to hold their breath as these promises are eventually fulfilled. 

A year that will be

In as much as we hope and pray for a peaceful new year, a lot of these still hinge on our local officials to buckle down to work and stop the wanton killing around the province. But if their past actions are any indication, then we might have more of the same violence in the coming new year. 

The perennial problem has always been loose firearms and the inability of the police to at least confiscate even a miniscule percentage of them. Police visibility has also become a problem as they are more often invisible; brawls among teenagers regularly break out in Laoag City's business district and not even a hint or a smell of cops coming to break it up has been observed. As it is, the brawlers are left to duke it out amongst themselves until more responsible citizens attempt to stop them. The frequency of these brawls are alarming and the fact that they happen in the heart of the city is, well, quite disheartening. If this is the situation in the center of the city, how worse could it be in the fringes of Laoag? 

As much as we expect our officials to be smiling at flashing cameras as they cut ribbons of their various projects, we expect them more to at least put order in the areas they are supposed to be governing. For it is the height irony for them to be flashing their million dollar smiles while their constituents fall to violence either by shooting, stabbing or mauling.