Size. Size. Size.

Currently circulating online are photos comparing the food packages being distributed by Ilocos Norte's two cities. Laoag provides "ayuda" to some 70% of families in the city while Batac caters to all families residing within its boundaries, with no exception, registered voters or not.

The food package being distributed by Laoag, photos show, also pales in comparison to that of Batac in terms of quantity and, many say, even in quality. Moreover, one of the two cities is faster by a mile in distributing goods, and it is not Laoag.

Laoag Mayor Michael Keon, since last year, has been uncomfortable—bordering on allergic—being compared to his Batac counterpart. The other city has a smaller population, he says, and it has fewer barangays, which is why it can give more and distribute faster. Going by this logic, all other municipalities that have been outdoing Laoag owe their success and good work mainly to their smaller populace. Going by the same logic, LGUs with larger populations can largely be inept.

What Keon fails to tell us is that his bigger city also has more resources at its disposal, more human hands to make things happen, and other pluses a capital city enjoys. At the end of the day, size indeed matters, and leaders who have a bigger heart, stronger resolve, and less propensity to pass blame and make excuses are the ones who make good things happen in a time when our people are in dire need of good things.

Interestingly, when asked why Laoag rose to the number one spot in the roster of cities with the highest COVID infection rates nationwide, the mayor also had size to blame. "We are a small city compared to those, say, in Metro Manila," he mused, ignoring the mathematical nature of percentages, and the scientific method of data gathering and analysis.

When he is not blaming "size," Keon would point fingers on others. He often entertains "sabotage" theories in his mind. His administration's attempts to justify shortcomings have demoralized other agencies as well. A major reason for the delays is the National Food Administration, the city government claimed in an official statement. "Not true... Unfair!" cry NFA's hardworking employees.

As Keon draws flak, he should know that when people complain, rant out of disappointment and dismay, or, in his own terms, “make banat,” it is almost always not because they are allies of his political enemies. Maybe they are just really disappointed and dismayed. They are not necessarily "doble kara, malicioso and intrigero" which, the mayor repeatedly quipped in a press briefing, are traits of Laoagueños.

The local chief executive has even hinted that our paper, The Ilocos Times, is being used by his political foes, selectively forgetting that he has landed in the front page several times for the city's noteworthy feats, selectively forgetting that his predecessors also got their fair share of criticism and punditry from our paper, and conveniently forgetting, too, that his official social media accounts have, more than once, shared my Facebook posts commending his sincerity and charm, two things that are never enough when people are dying and what we need are lifesaving solutions.

At the end of the day, I say again as I have stressed in the past that our mayor's success is our people's success, so while we may criticize our public servants, we should always be ready to support the government's worthwhile programs if we can, make sacrifices when called for, or simply cooperate and obey protocols that are meant to protect us in the first place.

Having done our part, let us hope that Keon, the mayor and athletic icon, would run faster and more strategically as he approaches the finish line of his first term as leader of the city he vowed to reinvigorate and renew.