Unlike Mr. Stephen Sergio’s dislike of your plan to run as Congressman of 1st District of Camarines Sur, I welcome this as an opportunity for Camarines Sur. After all you finished your schooling in Naga, learned the language and hopefully liked the Bicol food, too. That makes you fully qualified to run as Congressman for 1st district of Camarines Sur. Besides, you running unopposed, you don’t need to spend a lot of money convincing the voters to vote for you. Thus, you are not obligated to recoup your expenses once elected in Congress.

        Your grandfather when he was the President, believed in the eradication of poverty, which as you know Camarines Sur, despite its abundant resources is still one of the poorest in the nation. Your grandfather introduced the land reform that was viewed as necessary in order to release the impoverished tenants’ farmers from bondage. The signing of the Agricultural Land Reform Code was the highlight of your grandfather’s presidency. Although, until now the beneficial promises of the land reform are still debatable. If you truly believe in the vision of your grandfather and can carry that tradition, in my opinion you are fully qualified to run as Congressman of 1st district of Camarines Sur.

        I don’t blame you for choosing Camarines Sur as your adopted province. This entire province has plenty of things to offer. The same opportunity my grandfather saw when he decided in the early 1900 to uproot his young family from a small town of Batangas and moved to Camarines. When my grandfather came, he had an opportunity to settle in the grassland of Pacol, but, he loved hunting and fishing, so, he decided to settle in Pasacao instead. There in the valley between two mountains of Macad, he took position of virgin forest with giant trees and teeming with wild animals. Where the brooks and river are full of fish and the sea is full of marine life. In time, my grandfather with the help of half a dozen fellow homesteaders, cleared the land, build a house and declared it his own castle. The fertile land bore fruits, enough to supply the needs of the growing family and life was good. If only time stood still.

        Two years after your grandfather became the President, one summer day, my brother and I after taking our carabaos down the river for the noon bath; we heard this machine roaring on the other side of the river. Our young and adventurous mind led us to the other side of the river, where we saw this giant earth-moving machine, tearing its way along a straight line. This bulldozer moved the hard earth making a neat and clean line, which looked like a cut foot-thick kalamay. My father explained to me, the giant bulldozer was making a road all the way to Manila. Where the farmer’s produce can be easily transported and maybe some cousins of ours from Batangas can visit us. However, the road stopped at the edge of the river pending the building of the bridge across the river. The bridge was never built, apparently due to lack of budget, so we, the folks on the other side of the river where short-changed so to speak. The local folks instead built a makeshift bridge made from all sorts of wood, bamboo and rocks, but when the river swells during rainy season, it just washed away for good.

        The path to the river crossing made an incredible mark in my memory. Occasionally, during my deep sleep in my humble place in Canada, I dreamed of myself crossing the river. I was leading our carabao pulling over hundred kilo copra crossing the river and pulling ourselves up the river steep bank all the way up to the paved road.

        The road that was supposed to carry all sorts of transportation was never properly constructed. When it rains, the water will either stay in middle or the side of the road. In time with foot and animal traffic, the water softens the earth and turning the road into knee-deep mud. You can see chasms of mud here and there to the delight of carabaos that like to lie on those mud puddles for hours. Successive Congressmen from 1st district of Camarines Sur failed to rebuild the road. The bridge was never built. The state of our roads and bridges is like the social and economic state of the Philippines. It’s full of mud puddles, the economic bridge is weak and easily washed away when the river of economic troubles swell. Meanwhile, people who got tired of waiting simply go away and stake their claim to fortune somewhere else.

        When your grandfather became the President, he was full of promise. I remember him speaking during his political rally promising to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. However, your grandfather failed to steer the political turmoil within the party and he was facing a brash young Marcos who was the darling of the elite then. And so your grandfather lost and failed to deliver the promise.

        Mr. Dato Arroyo, if you truly believe the promise of your grandfather, and that you will rebuild the roads and bridges for good, I promise my clan on the other side of the river will vote for you. My clan on the other side of that river are honest and hardworking folks. With their sweat they can produce from the land and given the right access to market, their life will improve as envisioned by your grandfather. If you build that bridge, you are giving the farmers a capital, an engine to revitalize and improve the economic well being of Filipinos.

        If you can deliver that, then you are making good of your grandfather’s vision.

        Your humble son of a proud farmer.



MANNY ILAO
Vancouver, Canada