Bayani 'BF' Fernando (photo by PINGGOT ZULUETA)

“You will know you made the right decision, to the site when you pick the harder choice, yet your heart is light.”

—Pempe Rodrigo, Rivers of Living Waters Community

A forty-hour prayer vigil has been set by healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez at the new site of MonteMaria in  Alfonso, Cavite on May 7 starting at 3 p.m. with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the walk of the youth from Botong, Taal to the site.

As Fr. Suarez explained in his homily last Sunday at MonteMaria, the vigil will be for clean, honest and peaceful elections. Mass will be at 7 p.m. on the first day, followed by an overnight vigil, then  the usual 10  a.m. mass and another over night vigil and then the Sunday mass at 10 a.m. on May 9, one day before the presidential elections.

In between, there will be praise and worship songs, novena to the Divine Mercy and other devotionals. Everyone is invited to be part of this historic religious preparation for the elections. Food, water and other donations are also welcome, Fr. Suarez said.

And speaking of elections, we recently sat with three interesting mayors with three different pathways to tread - former Marikina mayor and the most well-known MMDA chair Bayani Fernando daring to be the second highest  leader in the land, Taguig ‘s dynamic Freddie Tinga out to win a congressional seat  after a successful three term reign,  “Dirty Harry” Fred Lim in an impending “clash of the titans” with his old nemesis, LitoAtienza to retain his stewardship of the city of Manila.

And what do they have in common? Aside from colorful personalities in different personal styles, an avowed passion to serve, regardless of personal sacrifices.

Take Bayani “BF” Fernando who made his Marikina a clean, green and progressive city, up from it being known only for the Loyola Memorial Park, and its shoe industry which was overrun by Chinese-made cheaper footwear.

An engineer by training, “BF” was literally born in the public market of San Juan where his mother had a rice store. He likes to say that lucky for him, his mother did not name him “Wag-wag” (a rice variety but which now is known for being a second-hand clothes outlet). He went to school in public schools which probably accounts for his love and care for Marikina’s public school network. However, his reading skills were inadequate he realized later, and he took to improving them with a slim book on Einstein he was able to afford. That book pushed him to the science of engineering and methodical thinking.

Through hard work, he and wife Maridess built up a construction business that made the first high rise building in Metro Manila. “BF Construction” also had the biggest galvanizing plant before he ran for mayor and won three successive terms. After that, he was appointed DPWH secretary, then MMDA chair. In this post, BF implemented his unorthodox ways of the “flowering” of Metro Manila. Under his “no nonsense” management style, he cleared the sidewalks and alleyways of illegal ‘tiangges’ and vendors to the delight of the market stall holders and legitimate store owners.

One is either a fan of BF’s authoritarian but “working” mind or you dislike him passionately as do the illegal vendors and traffic violators. But his “transformer” style worked to ease the metro’s traffic gridlock. For example, his innovative “U-Turns” and   his pink fences have disciplined drivers and pedestrians, he gave back the sidewalks to people. More important, he made the MMDA work forces cause to be proud of their jobs. You may not agree with his choice of colors for the urinals in busy streets but you must admit they took off some of the stinky smell around!

“BF” wants to be the vice-president of our country who will restore order in our lives by enforcing the law. He will be the “bastonero” of the president regardless of who it will be. While other politicians would court public favor by doing popular things, not him. He is not fazed to be “hated” as long as what he is doing is according towhat is right for the situation.

Wearing his yellow engineer’s helmet (“Don’t read anything to my helmet’s color tonight…I have pink, green, white, blue…” he teased the media girls.), he said he is happy with his own surveys on how he stands in the vice-presidential contest. Asked if he does not harbor any ill feelings towards his lady boss whom he served untiringly and devotedly only to be disregarded in the choice of a presidential candidate of their political party, BF just smiled his impish smile. Loyalty to PGMA , it seems, is still there.

But he also asks our question – why spend the people’s money on repainting the pink fences and erasing any imprints of BF in Metro Manila? Honestly? I like him, his creative solutions to urban problems, his strong, unwavering “political will!” If he does not make it as vice-president, I sincerely hope that after the one year ban on appointing losing candidates to any position, the in-coming president  appoints him to a cabinet post –maybe at the DPWH or the DILG.

(Next week : Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga and Manila Mayor Fred Lim.)