Many are wondering why our beloved Mayor, Honey Lacuna, is not replying to verbal attacks being launched against her by a political foe who dreams of being voted by the people of Manila whom he previously left, all in the name of personal ambition for a higher position and greater clout.
First of all, the lady mayor would not waste her time answering and dignifying baseless attacks. She would rather focus all her attention and strength on the needs of Manilans whom she serves.
She also does not believe in negative campaigning, something her foes are too preoccupied with, way before the campaign period.
She is not the type who would go down to gutter-level politics because she is confident that her accomplishments will speak for themselves.
Her service record is not tainted with any form of corruption like having hundreds of ghost employes or taking kickbacks from gargantuan loans.
She is also conscientious enough so as not to put up so many projects for show, only to get kickbacks from them and then leave behind huge loans that would make the city coffers and the people of Manila suffer for years.
I just find it appaling how one candidate, whose career he owes to the family of Mayor Honey, can have the guts to claim that the Lacuna siblings owe their position to him.
Let me be clear on this. Mayor Honey and her husband, Dr. Pangan, became part of the city during the time of Mayor Fred Lim, during which they began serving in their capacity as highly-professional doctors.
Councilors Philip and Lei Lacuna, on the other hand, are duly-elected by their respective constituents in Manila. The positions they hold are elective and not appointive meaning, they owe their positions to the people who voted for them. Their brother Dennis, on the other hand, was appointed by former Mayor Erap Estrada.
What I am saying can be easily traced to see who’s lying.
It is everyone’s right to run, no matter how unqualified he may be. But using lies to make everyone else look bad and in the hope of making himself look good is just pathetic. This is what happens when a candidate cannot present any concrete plan of government.
This candidate had been making the rounds, giving away so much money and propagating lies about the lady mayor. Not only does he show his unethical and ungentleman side, he also clearly shows how good he is at violating the law by engaging in what is clearly premature campaigning.
While claiming to be a strong candidate, he had been spending millions upon millions in the hope of getting support. Going on panic spending is a clear admission of the strength of the one you are going up against.
This is where I admire those who decided to reject the monetary offers.
In politics nowadays, those who stayed with Mayor Honey Lacuna out of principles are such a rare breed.
The big question is, where does this candidate get all the money already running to hundreds of millions way before the filing of the certificates of candidacy and the campaign period which is yet to start next year?
When ‘Carina’ struck, while Mayor Honey was wading in floodwaters to personally check on submerged barangays, the candidate, whose name is not worth mentioning, is in a huge restaurant very busy giving away money to barangay chairmen and other barangay officials, only after they give a listen to his black propaganda.
This, of course, is on top of the money offered for some politicians to jump to his camp.
The kind of money that had been flooding Manila being perpetrated by this candidate whose specialty is ‘bribery’ is just outrageous.
It is a red flag that he wants to gain back control of the city to make money, unless he is a fool who would spend so much without the hope of getting back his ‘investment’ plus interests, all in the name of money that belongs to the people of Manila.
The debt that this former official left behind is a staggering P17.8 billion.
Had there been no such huge debt that Mayor Honey’s administration has to deal with, she would have given a much better amelioration package for the city’s senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disability, students and the residents in general.
Mayor Honey is a highly-educated and a decent woman who is truly, genuinely Godly. A devout Catholic who does not mouth her religious beliefs but actually puts them to action.
This is why she serves as an inspiration to her colleagues in Asenso Manileno and the entire City Hall, be they officials or employees.
Just like the majority of Manilans, I also cringe at the sight of people claiming to put ‘God First’ in their lives but doing the exact opposite. Someone ought to remind the guy that one of God’s Commandments tells us: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
