Don't fear the 'point man' yet

"To me, there is no greater way to achieve clarity than to run alone, or share miles with a trusted friend." 
-- Kristin Armstrong

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Ilonggos will have to take at face value the claim of Iloilo City Councilor Jeffrey Ganzon that he has been designated as President Duterte's "point man" in Iloilo City.
Now that Ganzon has disclosed he visited Davao City to meet the President on March 27 where he was reportedly invited to join the PDP-Laban, many Ilonggos will start to speculate that he might run for city mayor in 2019, even if Ganzon has nixed the idea.
Assuming that Ganzon will change his mind and run for city mayor under PDP-Laban; and assuming that Rep. Jerry Trenas will also run for the same post, Ganzon's biggest stumbling block would be the principle of the "equity of the incumbent"--assuming the party will honor that rule--asTrenas has been a PDP-Laban stalwart since the start of the Duterte administration. 
It will be another story, however, if Trenas will pave the way for Vice Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa as Liberal Party's official standard bearer for the mayoralty race.   

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In a political context, "point man" means a person at the forefront of an activity or endeavor.
In other words, a "point man" could mean "organizer" or "coordinator". A point man doesn't have any official portfolio other than his being affiliated with the administration party.
Since Ganzon is an elected official and has not relinquished his position, his designation as "point man" may be assumed as liaison in nature. 
It could also mean being tapped as the President's eyes and ears in Iloilo. The most important for Ganzon is he now presumably has the trust and confidence of the President.
Ganzon's potential rivals should have no reason to worry yet since the alderman from Molo has not been officially sworn in as new PDP-Laban member.
Trenas and other PDP-Laban members may start to cross the bridge once Ganzon has become a full-fledged member of the ruling party.

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WE will be watching the three Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) musketeers who cast aspersions on the reputation of dismissed Secretary Mike Sueno when they poisoned President Duterte's mind.
We hope they can exorcise the ghost that bedeviled them in their widely known fracas versus the grand old man of South Cotabato. 
Sueno, a well-loved and much-admired former South Cotabato governor, has insisted he never pocketed a single centavo from the 76 firetrucks worth P20-million each in Austria since no public funds have been paid yet to the supplier, which will be done on a government to government basis.
It's not a joke to be fired because of allegations of corruption especially if your guilt has not been proven. 
In his age, Sueno must be hurting so much. If he were Japanese, he would have committed suicide because of the degree of shame he received from the unforgiving President Duterte.