Idiotic Elective Officials

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

I had a chat lately with some Kagawads (legislator) of a barangay (village) in their public hall whose ambiances included a cool exhaling splitter air-conditioned.

“This building was probably built by the late Ex-Kapitan XYZ my friend?” I asked.

“Yes sir,” two kagawads,  one is a Muslim, who were at my age but looked older, confirmed my 13 words query as attested by the text above (try counting them, tee-he!)

“I could not forget XYZ.  He had an air and he talked loud for everybody to hear as if he was all knowing hahaha! He influenced some of my antics. He was funny,” I told the two legislators, a lady secretary, and probably an assistance who relished what I told them in the vernacular Ilonggo.
  

Illustration is internet grabbed.

“I was his avid supporter when he won his first term as kapitan while I won my first stint as kagawad,” the Muslim law, er, ordinance and resolution maker told me.

“So during that time you had a very intelligent secretary to write official communications because XYZ could hardly compose a sentence in English?”

“Yes! Her father was the secretary during XYZ. He was very good in written communication and understood the ordinances and resolutions passed by the Sangguniang Bayan (town legislative body),” the council member referred to the secretary.

“Even XYZ could not speak and write correct English he got lots of monies that made him the highest elected leader in your village and won for three consecutive terms because he could just shell-out from his pocket some of the wads of bills and gave to those needy folks,” I said about the Kap whose checkered past still made him a successful businessman.

I told them the intellectual insufficiency of XYZ is the epitome of those intellectually bereft mayors, governors, and congressmen whose wherewithal they used in buying votes, paying supporters, and hiring goons that catapulted them to the perch of elective positions in this economically cursed country.

“These elected idiots are protected even by the Constitution and the Local Government Code to run for public office with only a minimum qualification of “Know how to read and write”.

No need even, son of a gun, of an elementary diploma to vouch for their intellectual qualification hahahaha!
For example, I added, a Town, City, or Provincial Administrator needs to meet the following requisites: 

“No person shall be appointed administrator unless he is a citizen of the Philippines, a resident of the local government unit concerned, of good moral character, a holder of a college degree preferably in public administration, law, or any other related course from a recognized college or university, and a first grade civil service eligible or its equivalent. He must have acquired experience in management and administration work for at least five (5) years in the case of the provincial or city administrator, and three (3) years in the case of the municipal administrator” (Section 480, Local Government Code of the Philippines).

That’s the wisdom when members of the Constitutional Commission (ConCom) and Congressmen hammered on their draft as security clauses when they passed the two statues I mentioned above.

I remembered a pugnacious mayor in Pangasinan (who was later assassinated) who ordered his lady treasurer to make vouchers at the expense of the public coffer.

The bursar who was not in good term with the hizzoner (his honor) the mayor would not budge into signing the public document about the payment for his victory party as mayoral candidate.

“I would be sued with malversation and Anti-Graft & Corrupt Practices Act for that,” she told us media men when the duo had acrimonious crossing of swords in the airwaves and prints  after the treasurer expose some of his anomalies that excite the hoi poloi.

Many of our elective officials are idiots and they could bring this country to the precipice and even to hell for Satan to gobble us thus they (ConCom and Congress) gave us an Executive Secretary in Malacanang who is a lawyer, an experienced town administrator, and a barangay secretary who is educated.

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pahngasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)