Is ‘Bugok’ mad at Gonzales pa and son beyond politics?

“I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.”
--Booker T. Washington

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Does the bad blood between former mayor Vicente “Bugok” Ramirez of Lambunao, Iloilo and the Gonzales father and son--former mayor Reynor and incumbent mayor Jayson--transcend beyond politics?
The question surfaced because hardly had the disqualification case 74-year-old Ramirez filed against Mayor Jayson Gonzales simmered down (the mayor has appealed the decision of the Commission on Elections in February this year which disqualified him for lack of residency), Ramirez came out swinging anew with another hatchet.
He wanted the Office of the Ombudsman to throw the books at the Gonzaleses for "unliquidated" cash advances, the latest of which was in 2016 totaling P8.983 million in a complaint he filed on June 26, 2018.
Ramirez had also filed a similar complaint against Mayor Jason’s dad in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, according to reports.
Ramirez’s problem is that no matter how he wanted to paint the Gonzaleses as bad guys, majority of the people in Lambunao believe otherwise.
I have yet to meet a Lambunao resident who will say (even in strict confidentiality) that Mayor Jason Gonzales is corrupt and inept.

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We have nothing against Ramirez’s latest fusillade against Mayor Gonzales, but some observers, especially the people of Lambunao, might suspect he is “politicking” since all the cases that were thrown against the Gonzaleses father and son, so far, came only from one person: Bugok Ramirez.
Although there is no law that prohibits the likes of Ramirez from peppering certain public officials with Ombudsman cases, the fact that Bugok Ramirez has been identified as the Gonzaleses’ veritable political “whipping boy” in Lambunao makes the entire brouhaha look like a charade.
If political enemies of the Gonzaleses think they have the “smoking gun” and want the people to believe them lock, stock, and barrel, they shouldn’t focus on Ramirez as the lone “gunner” when emptying their bullets.
To make their cases more sound and credible, they should let other personalities “who can go to court with clean hands” file them, not the recycled, overused and tainted Ramirez.

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Ramirez wanted the younger Gonzales criminally and administratively charged respectively for alleged violation of Article 218 and Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code and for dishonesty, gross misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and grave abuse of authority.
Also included in Ramirez’s charge sheets were the town’s municipal accountant; municipal treasurer; individual officials and/or employees granted with the unliquidated cash advance; signatory to the obligation request (ObR); and other public officials and employees who signed the disbursement vouchers and other supporting documents of the subject transactions.
Mayor Jason Gonzales was prepared to face Ramirez’s accusations, according to some reports.

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Like many Ilonggo soccer fans, we will continue to follow the nerve-tingling 2018 FIFA World Cup matches until the semifinals and the finals.
These are the remaining matches entering the round of 16 as of this writing: Brazil versus Mexico; Spain versus Russia; Croatia versus Denmark; Colombia versus England; Sweden versus Switzerland; Japan versus Belgium.
All matches are getting exciting and thrilling now that Argentina and Germany have been given the doors.
My eyes are always on Croatia, Spain, Belgium.
I hope to see one of the three in the finals.

Is ‘Bugok’ coming back?

“To admit you want to have a comeback means you have to admit you weren't what you were supposed to be. You dropped below your own standard.”

-- Marilyn Manson

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- If luck would have it, 74-year-old Vicente “Bugok” Ramirez, former mayor of Lambunao, Iloilo in the Philippines, might recapture the municipal hall in 2019.

In the first two months of 2018, Ramirez’s political camp has scored a mind-blowing “triple whammy” against the formidable Gonzales political hierarchy.

In January, the Ombudsman suspended Vice Mayor Cesar Gonzales and fined former mayor Reynor Gonzales for receiving transportation allowance despite using government vehicles.

Both Gonzaleses were Ramirez’s tormentors: Cesar beat him for vice mayor in 2016 and Reynor whipped him for mayor in the previous elections.

In February, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division disqualified Mayor Jason Gonzales for failing to meet the one-year residency requirement.

The ousted mayor is former mayor Reynor’s son.

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Before the Gonzaleses reigned supreme in Lambunao politics, Ramirez was the town’s sensational and veritable political kingpin.

In fact, he was Lambunao’s longest-serving chief executive until Reynor, a former police general, defrocked him and ended the myth Ramirez had established for a long period of time.

Ramirez’s political supremacy was never the same again after the Reynor Gonzales debacle.

In the succeeding elections thereafter, he could not win anymore against any Gonzales in a one-on-one duel.

Ramirez went back to farming when he sensed politics could no longer put him back in the totem pole of political demigods.

Mayor Jason Gonzales has appealed the Comelec verdict, but the issue has put a dent on their family’s political invincibility in one way or the other.

Even if Mayor Gonzales can win his appeal, the specter of disqualification case will continue to haunt him for the rest of his incumbency.

The recent turn of events has sparked renewed interests among Ramirez’s followers to toy with the idea of reviving his mothballed political career suspecting that the Gonzaleses are now limping.

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SOME jaded politicians who are using the social media to hit back at their critics are wasting their time and are only doing themselves more harm as a result.

When they panic and rant in social media when their attention is being called over a certain subject matter with social relevance and public interest, they expose themselves as cry babies and not worthy of the position they hold.

When they are being criticized they must welcome it and even thank their critics; that means they are doing their job.

If nobody has noticed them that means they are useless and non-performers; if nobody has criticized them that means they have not made an impact on the community that they serve.

Only immature and onion-skinned public officials cannot appreciate the wisdom of constructive criticism.

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I empathize with Iloilo City Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, son of the late Sen. Rodolfo “Roding” Ganzon, one of the original pillars of the condemned Iloilo Freedom Grandstand.

He appeared to be the lone voice in the wilderness as he sobbed in their regular session a week ago while appealing to delay the grandstand’s demolition until its new location has been constructed.

Vice Mayor Ganzon probably did not want even King Kong and Godzilla to touch the grandstand with a ten-foot pole if only to preserve the memory of his illustrious father.

Even the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has noted that the cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions which aggravate the situation even more.