Beboy will not join LP but...

President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino Jr. is apprised by Mayor Eric C. Codilla of happenings in Ormoc particularly on his own leadership which is in harmony with the President’s campaign for a straight path in govenance.

 

MAYOR Eric C. Codilla said he will not leave Lakas-CMD despite the exodus of its members to the ruling Liberal Party (LP). Citing personal principles as his reason, the mayor said that even if this was so, he fully supports the agenda of Philippine President and LP Chairman Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III on good governance.
 

Mayor Codilla bared his thoughts after his conversation with the President during the honoring of Ormocanon farmer Alfredo Q. Roble as a Gawad Saka awardee last Dec. 13 in Malacañang. The mayor told Mr. Aquino that his support to his reform agenda is shown by deeds, not just by words.
 

Mayor Codilla told Mr. Aquino that he shares the President’s dislike for political signages and has in fact shunned putting his name and face on tarpaulins and billboards on government projects and facilities. He believes politicians who promote themselves through political signages are not treading the President’s straight path.
 

Another campaign of President Aquino which Mayor Codilla is following is transparency by heeding the Commission on Audit’s (Coa) directives. This includes removing City Administrator Dr. Dennis Capuyan as chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee as recommended by Coa.
 

This, among other initiatives of the mayor, has earned for Ormoc the Seal of Good Housekeeping for transparency from the Department of Interior and Local Government, the only city in Region 8 to be awarded as such. He also allows opposition councilors to play active roles in his administration.
 

Mayor Codilla said he would rather that his deeds show his genuine support to the President than becoming a partymate traitor, apparently an indirect reference to the Gomezes who ran under LP but were said to have secretly supported Sen. Manny Villar during the 2010 presidential election.
 

Mayor Codilla adds that Ormocanons can gauge the real motives of politicians just by observing whether or not they’re following President Aquino’s example. He cited for example his planned city hospital which is welcomed by Ormocanons who have long been suffering by the poor services of Ormoc District Hospital.
 

But at the back of their Ormocanon constituents, the Gomez camp is lobbying the Health Department not to approve the plan, he said. “By observing the kind of partymate they are, if they’re following the President’s straight path or not, and sabotaging a project that will benefit the Ormocanons, already show their real motives,” Mayor Codilla observes.

(West Leyte Weekly Express issue of Dec. 12-18, 2011)