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In my most recent column, I wrote about the general euphoria that many of us agree seems to hover around the country today, after the new President took his oath of office. It wouldn’t be hard to guess that I would be writing in this column about a related topic: OPTIMISM. It’s amazing how drastically the table turns, so to speak, after a change of leadership has taken place. A recent survey has shown us how a dismal negative trust rating of the previous leader was replaced by an incredibly high positive trust rating of our new leader. More people have high hopes of seeing a brighter, more promising tomorrow. And we have less people raring to fly out of the country for some greener pasture. I guess euphoria breeds optimism. Or is it the other way around, optimism breeding euphoria? Whatever the process is, let’s enjoy the good things that are happening around us today. The truth of the matter is we do not have yet the reason to rejoice. All we were given in the recent momentuous national event was a slogan that promised to crush both corruption and poverty: “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap!” Whoever coined this phrase is a genius. It is rare that an English word is made to rhyme with a Tagalog word. And the slogan succeeds in delivering a simple, clear, concise, compelling message. It promises the very thing that people want to have. And that’s about the only thing the newly elected leader has given the Filipino people so far – a promise! With that promise come the new and old faces to rely on simply because they compose his cabinet. But let’s wait and see. Although we had been doing this in the past nine years, we were waiting then for something to end. This time, we are waiting for something to begin. Let us all rally behind the man who is determined to give us hope, and hopefully not in a very distant future, something to smile about. In the town of Paniqui, the re-elected Mayor has just given his State of the Municipality Address. Here is another young leader who is determined to give his people a reason to hope, and yes, a reason to smile. Just starting his second term, this energetic leader is not showing any sign of work enthusiasm waning. His municipality is not insulated from the optimism that has had a domino effect throughout the country. Taking this momentum, Mayor Dors Rivilla hypes up various opportunities to expand and improve livelihood programs starting from the grass roots level. In the coming months, we will see consistency in his governance platform which he will continue from his first term of office. We will see that his three-pronged governance template has not changed as we see more efforts and programs towards improving employment, education, and health services.
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