David vs Ms. Goliath
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Now that the presidential contest has come to a statistical deadlock, I would like to bring the attention of the
yahoo groups and global websites to other more edifying developments in local politics.
In the small town in Metro Manila called San Juan, the first mistress of Joseph Erap Estrada, Guia Gomez is
running for the position to be vacated by the outgoing mayor, her son J.V.Ejercito.
Opposing her under the cause of good governance is Glenn Angeles, an unassuming lanky widower who is
the grandson of Maximo Reyes Angeles, the first mayor of San Juan.
Glenn first ran as councilor and then vice mayor but could not get through the thick Ejercito cabal of
traditional politics.
Now he is eyeing at the hizzoner's seat once and for all, because he is alarmed by the fact that the family
scandal of the former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada is now being escalated to the top leadership of
their small city.
Angeles said "When Erap's legal and moral wife Loi (Luisa Pimentel-Ejercito) ran for the same position
many years back, we all supported her. But the matter of the first mistress following her footsteps is some
thing else. 'Wala na ba tayong hiya? Wala na tayong dangal?' (Have we no shame, have we no dignity?) This
is just going too far."
This widespread indignation is being shared by many voters of San Juan, because what aggravates this
moral issue is that Guia Gomez' son J.V. who is running for congressman of the city's only district, did not
perform well as mayor.
San Juan under the Ejercitos have been run like a close family franchise. Fleecing the local municipal
budget and mulcting local businesses has been the standard operating practice. The market is dirty and
has become the beehive of wheeler dealers and drug pushers, the city has deteriorated as site of choice for
warehouse of technically smuggled and prohibited goods, traffic has gotten worse each year, education and
health services stagnated and overpopulation created ghettoes, policemen turned lazy and violations of
human rights became rampant. In short, the town became one big toilet.
This has irked Glenn Angeles, whose grandfather built the San Juan Public Market, the San Juan Municipal
Hall and the Sta. Lucia Elementary School two generations ago.
His father, Pabling Angeles, had 28 years of public service, the last of which was serving as vice mayor of
the city.
Glenn envisions a new San Juan where the fruits of Metro Manila's newest city will redound to visible public
improvements, where the people can roam the city free from drug related crimes and violations of human
rights, and live proudly and comfortably.
As a member of Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life and its ministry for mature single men
Servants of the Lord (SOLD), he busies himself conducting Christian Life Seminars for San Juan
constituents and other detainees at the Bicutan Drug Rehabilitation Center. As part of its Prison Ministry,
Glenn is also active with
SOLD lawyers defending poor litigants and victims of human rights abuses.
Angeles wants to wrest the public market away from the control of relatives and political cohorts of the
incumbent family and restore it to truly serve the heartbeat of the people, free from petty and bigtime usurers.
The mayoralty candidate envisions a Kapitbahayan Program or neighborhood alliances that together with a
people-oriented police and firefighters force will make San Juan's inner streets and residents safe.
He is also proposing to conduct a social service survey and profiling of his constituents' needs especially of
the city's less fortunate residents. "The seemingly perpetual Ejercito dynasty is in denial that we still have
slums in our city. Our population density is one of the highest in Metro Manila, and this given our crowded
streets have engendered real endemic problems," he said.
Glenn Angeles does not have a complicated party or machinery to fund so he does not owe any vested
interests any fear or favor. No giant billboards and expensive media ads to recover expenses for; his main
campaign occupation is to distribute his half-a-page leaflet and in going house-to-house explain to his
constituents what he is all about and what his dreams for San Juan are. This is most doable because the
city has only 21 barangays in a total area of 3 square miles.
Like any candidate of Ang Kapatiran Party, his political capital are integrity, sincerity and a servant heart that
he is offering his birthplace and his beloved citizenry.
Those who wish to join this cause for moral and political reform in San Juan City, can email "Ang
Kapatiran"<ebmanalang@gmail. com> where you can also ask how you can send your contributions to
Glenn Angeles for Mayor of San Juan directly.
Godspeed to you all.
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