“WE ARE most willing to improve much that we admit our mistakes.”
So spake City Mayor Edwin Santiago in the banner story of Sun-Star Pampanga last Thursday.
This, in relation to the epic fail of the city government in presenting the new archbishop of San Fernando with a symbolic key to the city that has been widely disparaged – the key, not the city – as “trashy” and therefore insulting to the recipient as well as unbecoming of the giver.
That presentation was on October 27 at the Capitol grounds in the civil government welcome rites for the Most Rev. Florentino G. Lavarias.
To recall, here’s part of our account that day: …The governor presented the archbishop with the symbolic key to the province, seveninch in brass crafted by an Apalit artisan in metal repousse, locally known as “pinukpuk,” and encased in lacquered wood.
For his part, Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan presented Lavarias with an 18- inch gold-colored key, crafted in wood by local sculptor Chok Sotto in a case lined with lahar, symbolic of the city’s phoenix-like re-borning from the devastation of the Mount Pinatubo eruptions.
City of San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago handed to Lavarias a yellow key of undetermined material – laminated plastic or colored capiz? – with chips, dents and folds throughout its length of some 12 inches. The seal of the city at the center of its head, a paper cut-out with fading colors and texts.
It’s general appearance, in the words of board member, “the impression of a key by a kindergarten pupil just learning how to use a pair of scissors.” Replete with comments like: “Migtipid ya ing San Fernando.”
“No mistake about it. It is a found object from the city dumpsite in Barangay Lara.” “Instead of honor, it is insult that Santiago heaped to the archbishop with that key… (that) is not befitting of the stature of a prince of the Church.”
“An insult too to the people and the city itself, as for all that self-acclamation of world-class status, of being cosmopolitan and a business center, all it can afford to give its spiritual leader is a sordid excuse for a key. And to think the seat of the archbishopric is Santiago’s city!”
The unkindest cut of all from a judge who saw that key as: “indeed symbolic – of the dearth of culture, lack of sense of history, and spiritual drought of the city government.”
Unintentional
Rued Santiago in Thursday’s Sun-Star Pampanga: “It was never intentional and we did not want to displease anyone, especially the Archbishop. But we humbly admit the mistake and take it a lesson for us to improve all the more.” On Tuesday afternoon, Santiago called on Lavarias at the Chancery and presented him a new key artfully – and tastefully – crafted in resin by local artist Merlito Gepte.
The mayor reported to media during a breakfast forum Wednesday that “we were received well by the new archbishop and we talked for a considerable time” on “various concerns of Fernandinos, the Church and city government.”
Aye, as Sun-Star Pampanga’s banner story put it: “We are most willing to improve much that we admit our mistakes” makes a definitive closure to the key issue there. Human imperfection ennobled by an acceptance of it and the resolve to rise above it. Santiago should have stopped there. And all would have been well.
But he didn’t. In the parlance of the kanto: panalo na, humirit pa. As a trenchant take of Punto’s Ashley Manabat on Santiago’s “other” ruminations over the key issue during the forum now show. Obviously (ir)rationalizing why a not-sopresentable key was presented to Lavarias the first time, “The mayor explained that under the Procurement Law, a minimum of 45 days is required before any purchase is made by the city. He said the city cannot suspend the procedure unless “we are under a state of calamity” because “we have a policy of full disclosure.”
Clueless
WTF, where’s Santiago coming from? So, he followed government purchasing procedure and for that failed to produce the key? So, it follows that Gov. Lilia G. Pineda and Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan – given the same time frame with which to procure their own symbolic keys to present to Lavarias on Oct. 27 – suspended procedures, if not violated the Procurement Law by coming up with their respective keys on time?
There must be some other ways – aside from breaking government procedures – to procuring symbolic keys, which, unfortunately, Santiago is totally clueless about. Cluelessness indeed made Santiago the day the archbishop came to be welcomed at the Capitol. Here’s a direct quote from him in Manabat’s account: “It’s not every year that we changed our Archbishop. We were informed about it but these things happen. Even Mabalacat was not able to give its key in time for the ceremony.”
Obviously, Santiago neither read the welcome program nor attentively followed the proceedings. Else, he would have known that only the LGUs of San Fernando, Angeles and Pampanga were listed to present symbolic keys to the archbishop.
The part of Mabalacat City, hometown of Lavarias, was to present him with a medallion – which Mayor Marino Morales did with great pride and joy. To continue with his (ir)rationalization — Santiago said the City Tourism Office has initially given a “token” symbolic key to the Archbishop which was made of Capiz by a lantern maker which is “symbolic of our craftsmanship.”
In one fell swoop, Santiago negated all the glory, grandeur and greatness of the arts and crafts of the Fernandino.
For that “the impression of a key by a kindergarten pupil just learning how to use a pair of scissors” to now be heralded by Santiago as “symbolic of our craftsmanship” is a most grievous insult to all Fernandino artists and craftsmen that have ever lived, and that are yet to live.
To be less harsh, even kinder, to Santiago, we may just dismiss this as a case manifest of the Latin maxim De gustibus non est disputandum – about taste, there is no argument. Kanyakanyang sirang panlasa lang yan.
We have to give it to Santiago though, with that humility and sincerity obtaining in his willingness to improve.
No matter the steepness and expanse of his learning curve.
