The Councilor

Consejo de los Dioses! This is how I envision the Sangguniang Bayan.Yes! I call it Council of the gods because it is composed of fine ladies and gentlemen, the cream of the society, addressed  "Honorable", and in whose hands rest the blueprint of a municipality.

Who is the Councilor? The town folks had watched him metamorphose from a wise village adviser of the datu , to this vastly influential figure called "konsehal". 

What is a Councilor? The Councilor is the most powerful man of his town.He is the lawgiver. He makes laws that can change the course of his people's life. No one is above the law; but the Councilor is behind every municipal law. No one must put the law into his hands; yet, the Councilor has the law in his hand..He enacts measures to prevent lawlessness, disorder and violence. So, he is a peacemaker. He adopts measures to protect his people from man-made and natural disasters. He is their savior. Through his ordinances, he upholds virtue and morality, and prevents vice and moral corruption. He is their disciplinarian.

The Councilor is an environmentalist .He is a naturalist, He takes steps to protect plants, animals and natural resources.To the municipal officials and employees, he is the Godfather. He determines their duties, powers positions and wages. He provides expenditures for programs, projects and services of the municipal government and budget for protection of government properties.He even provides for additional allowances and benefits to judges, prosecutors and public school teachers.

To the barangay officials , the Councilor is their Cicero, their attorney,their mentor and even their insurance security facilitator. The Councilor could also authorise the mayor to negotiate and contract loans.He could appropriate funds for construction of public buildings , restrain the use of a property, reclassify lands and establish fire zones.Indeed ,so great is the power of this man called the Councilor . It seems that he could even tell the wind and fire where to stop . Living or non-living, both are covered by his authority.From the humblest tuba gatherer to the richest man in town , he sets their taxes.The fishes in the sea, and the weighing scale in the market, through his ordinances are under his control. 

The Councilor is put into his position with a mission to fulfill. He is designed to do something for others, to achieve a purpose made out for him at the start.His urgent business in the Council must be service to his people through legislation. The task of lawmaking is gigantic and calls for wisdom and prudence. So he must be well-informed.He must utilise.his potentials and channel his energy towards    the betterment of his people.He must make laws applicable to the prevailing conditions and circumstances..He must meet the needs of his people .

The Councilor is the prime mover of the local government. He can make and unmake his municipality. So, he must be well-versed in his line of work to ensure the economic, political and moral stability of the municipality. He must not serve as a wallflower in the Council; neither must he harbour selfish motives. He must keep his people safe and sound within the fences of the law.He must make them feel that the workings of a democracy is to their advantage .

As the law is the universal guardian of mankind, the Councilor must wield it with utmost care. This is the golden deed that should justify his existence in the Council.As a flower blooms not just to fade, but to leave a tiny seed, so, too, in his heart, he must not nurture corruption nor greed, instead,the people's welfare must be his heroic creed. He must make laws that would serve as his weapon to conquer progress and an impregnable shield that shall protect the people from the arrows of injustice.The Councilor must bear in mind that abuse and misuse of the law is the winter of the society and wherever this winter treads, it takes along its sister, disorder,and if they stay in the municipality forever, more lives, more people and the entire local government will be wrecked .

If the Councilor is unscrupulous,and misguided, he would be the most destructive element of the local government He will be the restraining force of a  municipal development,  a poison bomb that could annihilate a town's progress. A bullet can kill only one person (my cousin said) at a time, but a senseless law made by an irresponsible Councilor can reduce the whole municipality into decadence.

On the other hand a Councilor who is upright and cultured can enrich and develop his municipality to a degree greater than the latest technology can do. He would lay before his people the prosperity that they have long dreamed of  and aspired for. If this happens, I, the little citizen of the Republic shall raise my voice and toast to the greatest man of the Council, I shall shout:"Mabuhay!" let the gentleman live!He is_"The Councilor!".

(For the Councilors of Tigbauan In celebration of Semana sang mga Konsehal )