Si Kristine Balmes, kapamilya pa nga ba ng Dinastiya?

Ngayong malinaw  na kung sino ang kalaban ng Dinastiya na tumatayo para manindigan  at wakasan ang 28 taon ng paghahari ng iisang pamilya, marami na ang lasong ipinakakalat sa hangin upang sirain ang isang single mom na tanging naglakas-loob na pangunahan  ang laban  ng Batangueno.

Halimbawa,  kung dati raw manugang yan,  eh di  kapamilya  din pala ng nakaupo?

Mali, dahil si Kristine ay may 12 taon nang hiwalay  kay Dondon Dimacuha, at halos 10  taon nang annulled o  napawalang-bisa  ang kanilang kasal.   Samakatwid, certified single na ang future Mayor na  ito.

Ang 12 taon ay napakahaba  ng panahon  para masabi natin na halos  wala na siyang kaugnayan  sa  pamilya ng dating biyenan, maliban  sa hindi maitatangging kadugo  nila ang apo  nila kay Kristine. Si Dondon naman ay matagal nang may sariling pamilya, at ang tanging ugnayan sa anak, sa aking pagkabalita,  ay ang  pagsuporta sa  pag-aaral ng bata, at ang maalala ito sa mga okasyon ng birthday o Pasko.

Ibig sabihin lang nito,  malayo  sa  isang family affair  o away biyenan  at manugang gaya ng gustong ipang-intriga ng ilan.

Sa totoo  lang,  malayo na  sana ang narating ng karera sa pulitika ni Kristine. Alalahanin  natin na nahalal  sya na  1^st o topnotcher Councilor noong 1998  (kaya nga yata niligawan agad eh baka makalaban pa?). Nasa  kanya  ang lahat ng pagkakataon para ituloy  ang kanyang paglilingkod  sa  bayan, pero nabalitaan ko  rin na pinigilan sya noon na muling kumandidato sa mga taong 2001, 2004, 2007 at 2010, at bilang respeto sa dating biyenan,  maski noong hiwalay na sila  noon pa mang May 2003, ay hindi sya  kumandidato.

Ang hamon, dahil nagtrabaho  si Kristine sa mga development organizations or NGOs,  mulat ang isipan nya sa kalagayang pampulitika kanyang sinilangang Lungsod. Kaya sa paghimok na rin ng marami, at sa pag-asang maski paano sya ay pakikinggan, kumandidato sya noong 2013. Pero ginawa syang isang “malungkot na tinig” at “reklamador”  sa Sangguniang Panglungsod. Hindi  pinapakinggan maski may batayan  ang mga isyu na  kanyang inihahayag sa konseho.

Yan na rin ang malaking dahilan na nahamon syang manindigan na at kumandidato bilang Mayor upang ituwid ang mga nakita nyang mali  sa  pamamahala sa Lungsod, kabilang na ang pagtapos sa paghahari ng dinastiya. Kung hindi nya ito gagawin,  malamang walang kalaban o un-opposed  na naman  ang dinastiya.

Kung hindi natin wawakasan ito ngayon, malamang abutin nga tayo ng 30 - 50  taon

Hindi lang usapin ng dinastiya  ang laban ni Kristine, kungdi usapin  ng kasalukuyang nakakalunos  na  kalagayan ng Lungsod na pinatatakbo ng mga hindi  halal at maaaring kaylanman ay hindi  mahalal (un-elected and un-electable)  bilang proxy ng matanda, mahina  na at may sakit na  punong lungsod.  Higit pa riyan  ang mga iregularidad  sa pamamahala  at lantarang pag-abuso  sa  kapangyarihan. 

Sino nga bang matinong tao  ang  nais mangunsinti  ng mali, maski  pa  yan  ay  dati  mong kapamilya?

Sa isang babaeng may kunsensya, at 12 taong nanahimik,  nakapagtataka  pa ba  na si Kristine ay  nagising at nakahandang tanggapin  ang hamon ng pagbabago, upang hindi  mapag-iwanan  ang Lungsod ng Batangas  sa kaunlaran, kaayusan, kapayapaan  at katarungan?

REPOST: Eddie Dimacuha’s ex daughter-in-law – Kristine G. Balmes Part 3

first posted on MAy 28, 2013...

For 25 years, the Dimacuhas of Batangas City, headed by patriarch Eduardo, have been in power since 1988. After his first 3 terms as mayor, Eduardo was replaced by son, Dondon. Then he made a comeback and was Mayor again for 9 years. In 2010, after completing yet another 9-years or 3-terms, he was replaced by wife, Vilma, the incumbent. This elections year 2013, he is running again to reclaim his old post as mayor.

The first political challenge to Dimacuha happened in 1998 (erroneously mentioned as 1997 earlier), after his mandatory third term. His son, Angelito or Dondon, was first councilor, and he wanted to make sure the latter would succeed him so a comeback would be easier. The elder Dimacuha enlisted the support of practically all the viable influential families in the city, and gave some of them a place in his slate. To his surprise, a relatively unknown young lady candidate from the Gonda-Balmes clan, Kristine Balmes, emerged as top councilor. Of course, that can pose a threat to his comeback. But the young Balmes was soon swooned to her feet and fell in love with Dondon. They later married, bore a daughter, and eventually separated. She is now running under Liberal Party, an opposition to Dimacuha, to reclaim her council seat.

Kristine Balmes, a beautiful and young promising leader topped the council elections under Reporma, party of then Batangueno presidential bet Rene de Villa. Dondon Dimacuha won, as neophyte mayor that city hall was actually being run by his father, Eduardo, who had his own office space inside the Planning Office, but accessible via backdoor from the mayor’s office.

Many saw a political future for Kristine then. She could be the next vice mayor or even mayor. Her becoming a vice mayor would be a nightmare to the Dimacuhas because they could never be sure if she would bow to their wishes. So there must be another way.

Dondon courted Kristine, and the rest is history. They separated later after siring a daughter who is with Kristine. Last news about Dondon is that he settled somewhere abroad, remarried and has a new child.

It could have been just another love story, but it also undermined Kristine’s political career, albeit halted her momentum, and forced to be a quiet observer for a time.

Then in 2010, she resurfaced, not as a candidate, but as deputy provincial campaign manager for the then struggling Liberal Party of Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas in Batangas (struggling because they were in opposition to the hated administration of strongwoman Gloria Arroyo). As history would have it, Noynoy won as President.

Kristine could have asked for any job that could propel her to popularity, but she did not. Instead she quietly assisted presidential sister Pinky Aquino-Abellada in social development work as Batangas Coordinator of the Aklat, Gabay, Aruga tungo sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa (AGAPP) Foundation.

Now comes elections 2013, and with all her strong presidential connections, Kristine could have asked to run as vice mayor at the very least. Why not when she had been a top councilor already? But she did not. She must have imbibed the humility of her late grandfather, former Board Member Ding Gonda. Instead, she opted to make another run in the City Council.

In her campaign, she avoids being linked, or say anything about the Dimacuhas. Pressed to comment why she did not run under her ex-biyenan, she would politely say that she never was politically affiliated with the Dimacuhas in the first place, and that she is committed to the Aquinos (considering the connections).

Such is the humility of the person. She must have been through a lot, and probably know about the Dimacuhas more than anyone, but she would rather be herself again – the idealistic Kristine Gonda Balmes, committed to true public service. 

-to be continued-

The Noynoy Aquino phenomena

I am not the type of a political supporter who would carelessly announce my choice of a candidate. But in my Facebook account, I readily said “Let's just go for Noynoy... it's the imperative of the times....a new breed of leadership - inspirational, free from corruption and hunger for power.”

Of course, I meant it, and would stand by it unless I proved myself wrong!
Immediately, there are reactions from friends, mostly favorable. Elsewhere, I see a lot of various reactions on Noynoy’s candidacy. One bishop even warned against “joining the bandwagon.”

Another senator slammed Noynoy’s camp for using the term “good versus evil” in the coming elections. Of course, it was not Noynoy who said that, but Mar Roxas, the sometimes tactless scion of political ritzy families of Araneta and Roxas (remember his public expletives, which I supported as understandable in my other blogs).

Some sociologists try to explain the euphoria over Noynoy as some sort of political romanticism, which according to them does not have a long shelf life, meaning it could fizzle out over a period of time.

Be that as it may, I still believe that the reason for this “euphoria” is very simple. It is not a battle between Gloria and Noynoy, neither is it a battle between good or evil, I must agree. But it is a battle to win the trust of our people back. To win our people’s confidence in governance, so badly tarnished by Marcos, Erap and Gloria.

Talk to any ordinary Filipino and most likely, you will hear sadness and hopelessness. That we have become too wary of politicians, for even the incumbent, who has a PhD in Economics has only given us the most disappointing leadership of all time.

So when Noynoy, a personification of Ninoy and Cory, has announced that he is willing to take the lead, we have become euphoric. So he must live up to our expectations. Otherwise, we are a lost people.

Sadly, no politician in this generation can match Noynoy’s credibility (at least for the moment). He may not possess an impressive track record, but the thing is, we trust him. Why? Because we trust that he would not betray us, that he would not betray his parents’ legacy.