Unusual SOMA

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    SUN-STAR PAMPANGA on Sunday bannered: Porac mayor’s allies on Soma:

    ‘A mirror of himself’ Lest it be misconstrued that the town of Porac has a mirror for its current mayor, “mirror image” should have been used in the headline, as in “A mirror image of himself.” Which means, precisely in this instance, the state of the municipality address (SOMA) closely resembling the character of the mayor.

    A “very kind one and a reflection of himself.” Referencing mirror imaging right there, “loyal allies” said of the SOMA Mayor Condralito de la Cruz delivered Friday. So reported Sun-Star Pampanga.

    Thence transit us from syntax to substance. “The mayor is known to be kind and humble and he stayed the way he is known for.” So was quoted one Councilor Mark Valencia, disclosing that “There were some pieces of advice to the mayor to openly fight back the lies spread against him but he didn’t oblige.” In keeping with his kindly nature, but of course.

    De la Cruz “had opted not to hit his political detractors and mention their names” in the SOMA, said Valencia in a duet with Vice Mayor Dexter David. So Sun-Star Pampanga furthered in its banner story. In characteristic humility.

    “As you all know, I don’t have children and therefore I will focus on serving the people of Porac.” Selfless dedication, total commitment there. This, Valencia said, “most impressed” him in the SOMA. Who wouldn’t be? For Vice Mayor David: “Mayor Dela Cruz has done a lot. But he is not really the type who openly publicizes all his work. That’s the mayor.

    He is silent, humble and a very good person.” All kindness, humility and goodness is De la Cruz. All kindness, humility and goodness is his SOMA. So Valencia and David proclaimed. So Sun-Star Pampanga dutifully amplified.

    So shall we, hopefully, believe. So David’s one more hirit: “It’s great there is the SOMA because we will see the accomplishments of the mayor and his people.” Alas, there was not a single accomplishment of De la Cruz mentioned in the Sun-Star Pampanga banner story on the mayor’s SOMA.

    No fault for the paper but in me, woefully absent at the Jose Songco Lapid Sports and Civic Center last Friday to lend my ears to the SOMA first hand. Thus my reduction to scrounging, to scavenging for second-hand stories on the event.

    It would have been most interesting to match De la Cruz’s SOMA against the state of Porac obtaining in the minds of certain individuals, and some sectors too, to wit: The state of affairs at Hacienda Dolores where lives have been lost in a bitter and brutal conflict over land ownership.

    Why, on the very day before the SOMA, it was reported that San Fernando Archbishop Emeritus Paciano B. Aniceto and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Roderick Pabillo were constrained to forego celebrating Mass for the Aeta community in Sapang Uwak after they were told “their safety is not assured” as they sought to pass through the contested land, secured by battle-ready guards in the employ of LLL Holdings Inc.

    Full accounting of the shares of Porac from the quarry collections – from allocation to disbursement, the specific projects they funded and status of implementation. The independent Republic of Korea established at the Puning Hot Springs and Spa in Barangay Inararo, where access to the Mount Pinatubo trail has been curtailed.

    So how much are the Korean “owners” paying in taxes? So who gave them absolute authority over the road? And then there is the Porac stink, though much lessened in obnoxiousness now but still extant, rising out of the piggery and poultry farms in the barangays close to Angeles City.

    Absent any story in the national dailies and local publications on the content of De la Cruz’s SOMA, there is only Sun-Star Pampanga account to rely on. Even as it was wanting in the substance of accomplishments, directions, projections and aspirations that usually made up SOMAs, De la Cruz’s address, with all the trappings of epalitics provided by his “loyal allies,” still qualified as one.

    Though less a state of the municipality address than a state of the mayor account. As in, the mayor: kind; his town: kind of…

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