WE HAD an unexpected meeting yesterday afternoon with Third District Council aspirant Carmelo “Bebot” Clarion. He dropped by our family’s small roadside café to take some “halo-halo” that allows passers-by to freshen up.
Clarion came from Calinan where according to him, he attended a gathering of some supporters wanting to be briefed on what should be done in the light of the forthcoming official campaign season for local elective positions.
We asked Bebot how he finds his chances in the coming polls where there are a total of 28 candidates in the 3rd district for the city’s legislative body. The one-time appointed member of the Sangguniang Panlujngsod said he believes he has better chances like what was his standing during the 2022 local elections.
But he too, said there is still the possibility that towards the wind-up of the polls there might again be junking among the candidates. He claimed he was a victim of such manipulation.
Meanwhile, when we asked Clarion of his priority measure should he be lucky in the coming May election, his answer was the least that we expected. Imagine talking about something morbid and dirty that perhaps other candidates would not even dare mention!
Yes, but Clarion was emphatic about his priority measure being able to contribute to the income of the city no matter how minuscule. Clarion told us he would want to improve the condition of Davao City’s many public cemeteries that are now heavily “populated” by the dead. He mentioned such cemeteries as those of Mintal, Lubogan in Toril, and Calinan, among others.
The one in Mintal is now closed since there is no more allowable space. Thus the need for the city government to do something like fencing the burial compound with multi-level niches. Clarion also wanted to set aside several niches where the bones of the dead who were buried long ago in graves located on the boundaries be transferred and properly marked.
This way, according to Clarion, public cemeteries will continue to be attractive to the families of dead Davaoenos to bury the cadavers of their demised loved ones. With the public cemeteries becoming overly full, the families of the dead are oftentimes forced to bury the body of their dead in expensive memorial parks instead of entombing the cadaver in government-owned burial grounds.
In effect, according to Clarion, the city is denied income from cemeteries, which are maintained by the local government.
Clarion said he is looking forward to having a “Wireless Cemetery-like” situation in all public cemeteries in Davao City.
He also said he plans to introduce measure that will make maintenance of the sanitation of public markets ideal considering that merchandise sold thereat are essentials for clean and healthy living.
Today, however, most public markets are anything but dirty and poorly maintained. Yet, people come to the place to buy most of their day-to-day food requirements. It is this unsanitary condition of the city’s public markets that is driving the people to prefer buying their food needs at the malls’ wet market or in stores selling items needed for the kitchen.
Initially we feel what candidate Clarion wants to do if he gets the nod of the people in the third district are insignificant, even unworthy of mention. But we realize that such planned measures will have a positive impact on the lives of people. Indeed fixing conditions of public cemeteries, and enhancing sanitation and its maintenance in public markets could impact positively on the common Davaoenos.
Now, will this commitment be enough to push Clarion back to the Sangguniang Panlungsod?
“Let us to see,” according to the late Davaoeno maverick senator Landring Almendras.
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We have talked to a number of people, some with carats, and others simple political observers. They were saying that there are possibilities of another “People Power” happening on or before the birthday of former President Rodrigo Duterte. The mass movement of Filipinos will supposedly converge at the vicinity of Malacanang to force President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. out of the Palace.
We were frank in telling them that as far as we are concerned, the so-called “People Power” is not likely to happen unless it is the military and the police, whose majority members are stationed in Metro Manila and some surrounding provinces, who will initiate it. We argue that while it is true that there are many rallies organized in various places in the country purporting to support the cause of the former President, we have yet to see or hear of big businesses and industries openly supporting the rallyists’ cause. It is also unlikely that individual multi-millionaires or billionaires will be willing to bring the anti-administration protesters to Manila, foot their transportation, food, and lodging bills for the whole duration of the People Power.
Of course, it is another story if some countries supportive of the former President will come in and fund the talked-about power grab or allow its war assets to be used by the anti-Marcos Jr.’s forces.
For now, it is our take that the many rallies supporting the former President are still displays of raw threats aimed at instilling fear to the administration and to the Filipinos who prefer to be skeptically watching on the sidelines.
Again, “let us to see.”
