AS a neophyte lawmaker, we thought Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez would bring in a dash of decency in politics. We recall how husband Richard boasted that voters had a choice not just of the lesser evil but an “angel” in the person of his wife. So it would have been expected that Lucy would be above the maneuverings employed by trapos (traditional politicians).We thought wrong. As it turns out, our congresswoman knows a few tricks she is willing to use on the people she has sworn to serve. Topping the list is using billboards that are liberally hung all over the district and painting her name on schoolhouses for the sole purpose of promoting herself.
The practice may seem harmless on the surface, but the underlying purpose is far from being noble. How many times have we been annoyed by pictures and names of politicians painted everywhere like overpasses, vehicles, public buildings, etc., declaring that such facility is made possible through the efforts of honorable so and so?
In urban barangays like in Quezon City, tarpaulins and streamers are scattered everywhere, hanging on posts, trees, streetlamps and even telephone wires – bearing greetings from a certain barangay official, announcing a free dental checkup courtesy of a councilor, or just about any announcement that would merit the posting of the names and faces of the congressman, mayor, vice mayor, etc.
The tarps are so many that those have become not just eyesores but an assault to the visual sense of the people. It is that culture of shameless self-publicity which the Gomezes are bringing here. Instead of serving as example, the couple is leading the way for other local politicians to follow until our public places are filled with tarps even during off election season.
We dare call it shameless being what it really is. A regular tarp announces a politician’s project but most of Lucy’s tarps lined on our highways bear only her face and name with no mention of any undertaking. Schoolhouses she didn’t even build are painted with her name on it.
Even DepEd test papers are not spared (which is a first; something we have never seen before), as if to condition the minds of pupils that the practice is okay. Only a year and a half in her position and Lucy is showing creativity in trapo tactics. Just imagine how far she’ll go in the coming years. Question is, would it be for the people’s benefit or her own interest and of her family’s?
So far we can’t see how her tarps are serving her constituents. What they are are needless expenses meant to cover the Gomezes’ failure to fulfill most of their electoral promises especially in the municipalities. They need to put tarps beside projects of national government agencies to trick the masses into thinking those are initiated by the congresswoman.
In other words, Lucy’s tarps embody deception and dirty politics that do not complement her “clean” image. The first time people reacted to the tarps, the congressional office responded by placing even more of such materials as if to mock the Ormocanons. The tarps have become nuisances that distract motorists and obstruct sidewalks.
The continued presence of the congresswoman’s tarps are a reflection of her insensitivity to public sentiment. As the only media outlet with balls to point out this wrongdoing, we don’t expect her to take any of our advice. But she’s supposed to listen to the President himself considering how her lapdog newspaper rhapsodizes on how she follows the straight path of President Noynoy Aquino. So why not follow the President’s dislike for political tarps?
(WLWE issue of Nov. 14-20, 2011)
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