NGONGO. In his rerun for the Barangay Dolores chair he once occupied for long, the City of San Fernando’s first gentleman, Melchor Santos Caluag, reappropriated the only moniker he used to be known for. That which had propelled him to the Capampangan consciousness, served him in good stead in his political battles, in both barangay and city polls, if only for a council post. That which, he is certain, will work wonders for him anew.
Another ex-multi-term barangay chair on the comeback trail in the capital city, San Agustin’s Amando “Do” Santos, made a reacquisition too, but not of some nom de guerre like Melchor’s. He refurbished the popular sport shoe blurb that scored at least three wins and one loss for him in polls past.
Ngongo. Let’s ‘DO’ it. Two samples but more than enough to reaffirm a point I made of barangay elections in a piece published here on Oct. 24, 2007.
PASSIONATELY PERSONAL. That is a natural course in barangay elections as everybody there, at the least, knows everybody. That is even if everybody is not related, by affinity or consanguinity, to everybody.
Thus the heat of the campaign: the stake, prized as though it were the presidency of the country itself.
It does come as no surprise but as a matter of course for blood to lose its thickness in barangay politics: brother fights brother, mother fights daughter, father fights uncle, in-laws fight one another, all affinities rendered asunder.
With family wealth dispersed and doled out to the voters, barangay elections not only help the local economy in terms of liquidity but serve as great social equalizers.
Personalan, truly makes the essence of these elections. This is most evident in the names put up by the candidates. Can you get any more personal than that?
That given, barangay elections present are but a recycling of barangay elections past. Aye, what I have written here 13 years ago still very much in currency now.
In my barangay in Sto. Tomas town, there was a Payok who ran against a Pusa. The latter is out, but the former – the incumbent – at it again. Elsewhere, there is a Manok, a Bulik and a Tatso too again. Plus a Kabayo, who is not the now dearly lamented Apalit Mayor Tirso.
I saw a Tuyo running for kagawad somewhere. And a Menudo too. Also, a Buru. Too bad my friend Paksi, a former town councilor, opted to retire from politics altogether after he lost in the municipal polls. They would have provided some culinary delight to the polls.
It is in barangay elections too that handicaps are celebrated to highlight candidacies, not disabilities. There is a Putot, a Duling – not Mayor Boking Morales’ erstwhile ever-loyal lieutenant (turned-bitter-foes and also-rans for the Mabalacat City mayoralty in 2022), a Salapi (one with extra digits, not money), a Bungi, and a Tikol and Pile in the running. And while at it, add a Komang to complete the PWD cast.
Oh, how could we ever forget the undefeated Ngongo, who after his third term bequeathed his post to his wife (now CSF Mayor Vilma Balle-Caluag).
Candidates truly come in all shapes and sizes: Taba, Payat, and Sexy; Tangkad and Pandak. And Toothpick too. In all shades of color also: Baluga, Puti, Brown, and Tagpi, as one afflicted with vitiligo had for a political moniker.
With a Kalbo running around, can a Kulot be far behind?
Strongman Atlas runs (amuck?) in Dau, Mabalacat (running for kagawad this time in the ticket of his father Boking). Wonder now if his rival Doc Aurelio will take the moniker Hercules. But for certain though there are a lot of Samsons running out there.
Personalan, so the name-calling gets real nasty.
Junior Sablay? Still too kind, make that Marcoracot, a penny-ante plunderer, a petty Marcos.
The “man you love”? Make that the manyilab (arsonist).
A candidate left by his wife becomes a pindeho. One with only a mother is a putok sa buho. Reasons don’t matter here. It’s all perception. It’s all deception.
Still, there’s much in one’s moniker that makes the big difference in the polls.
There’s a Genius for re-electing barangay chair in Magliman at the boundary of Bacolor and the City of San Fernando.
The Nike blurb “Just DO it” appropriated by and doing wonders for the capital’s Barangay San Agustin chair Amando “Do” Santos.
There was once a barrio in San Fernando too where the contending candidates were surnamed Apostol and Jesus, and one nicknamed Satanas. Guess who won?
Satanas and Apostol lost. And the voters rued their choice.
Barangay elections, as in any other political contest, is no simple name game. All too personal they may come, so keep the passion but don’t leave out the reason.
