Promises, promises

During the electoral campaign of the last election, a candidate for mayor of Parañaque promised, if elected, to resolve the water problem of BF Homes Parañaque Subdivision and respect the will of the majority on the question of the commercialization and opening of the subdivision roads to the general public.

BF Homes enclaves [association members of United BF Homeowners Association, Inc. (UBFHAI)] officials responded by asking their members for a favorable vote and tirelessly campaigned for new voters registration and, during the election, provided transportation for voters without vehicles. The result was that 60% (instead of the usual less than 10%) of registered BF Homes voters turned out to vote.

Following his assumption into office, Mayor Jun Bernabe opened the roads of the subdivision to the general public in utter disregard of the sentiments of the residents and his electoral promise to abide by the will of the majority. In a classic case of too little, too late, he has, on second thought, “created a water crisis committee to find immediate and long-term solutions to the chronic water supply shortage in BF Homes Subdivision and other communities in the city.”

“Although water supply is a national government concern, we are taking the lead in finding ways to alleviate the water supply problems and needs of our constituents in the city,” Bernabe said.

The committee will initially focus on mitigating the water supply shortage in BF Homes, the city’s largest private subdivision with close to l2,000 households.

”The present estimate is that only 25 to 30 percent of the total households in BF are getting regular water supply from the subdivision’s water supply system. The majority are forced to buy their daily water supply from private water tankers,” Bernabe said.

The membership of the committee is composed, naturally, of his business cronies and obedient cohorts instead of UBFHAI, the sole representative of all local subdivisions (enclaves) and homeowners in BF Homes Parañaque Subdivision. Consequently, except as an aid for re-election in the upcoming election in May of next year, nothing really is expected of this committee but hot air.

This is not unlike his electoral promise when he first ran as mayor. Like that old refrain, it’s “lovelier the second time around.” The resolution of the waterless subdivision makes for a good electoral campaign and the residents fall for this kind of gimmick. The incumbent mayor, it must be conceded, is unlike the other politicians when it comes to personal honor of keeping one’s word. He has, after all, created a water crisis committee to look into the problem even if “water supply [of his constituents] is a national government concern”. Never mind that his term of office is almost over.

This reminds me of that time when the “Hyatt 10” sang praises for the President and former Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, on behalf of the Cabinet, handed her flowers. A few days later during that infamous “Black Friday” of July 8, the “Hyatt 10” turned around and asked her to resign. Reminiscent of the promise of Senate President Frank Drilon for GMA to transfer Malacañang to Iloilo in the wake of the political turmoil in Metro Manila, but later joined others in calling for her ouster.

Unlike animals, man lives by intellect and will and thus he lives not just for the moment but also binds himself to his future by his promises.

Without promises there could be no stable society. Nothing human holds together without this glue – the very glue that is becoming unglued today. I mean the individual promise-keeping. There is no sense of personal honor of keeping one’s word anymore. We have become a society of Pontius Pilates, washing our hands of responsibilities as he did. Yet a man who does not keep his promises is not a man; he is a weasel.