Money talks and it talks the loudest during the recently concluded Philippine Councilors’ League (PCL)-Bohol Chapter elections in which the price tag, or the market value, of each “honorable” legislator, or call them lawmaker, ranges from P3,000 to P8,000 (cold cash). Witnesses said the P3,000 bounty was courtesy of incumbent PCL President Ramonito “Monching” Torrefranca, the best bet from the town of Chocolate Hills. Three years ago he ran for the same position unopposed. Since becoming a PCL president, not much has been said about him perhaps because he belongs to the committee of silence at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), or maybe there were nothing of his activities that caught media attention. He surfaced only three years later when he sought for the same ex-officio glory.

Meanwhile, the P8,000 windfall was a political bonanza coming from the infinite pockets of Antonio Ouano Jr. of Getafe town. Ouano, on PCL election day held at the Bohol Plaza Resort, virtually became an advanced party of Santa Claus as far as the town kagawads are concerned. Not only that, to the eyes of the more than 400 councilors who attended the much-anticipated PCL derby, Ouano had succeeded in making himself appear as the sole owner of Central Bank. His political “generosity” is in fact billed as the most extravagant in the entire history of PCL elections in Bohol, something that would erase the traces of financial flamboyancy left by former Carmen Mayor Che Delos Reyes during the May 2013 elections.

Whatever it is, the election is over. We have a new PCL president, and many are pinning their hopes on Ouano that he would change the somnolent image of PCL-Bohol and transform it into something feisty – and add, transparent and sincere. For the past several years we all know that PCL-Bohol has always been synonymous to a placid lake. If all is quiet in the door of PCL office, public calls for thorough accounting of financial scandals allegedly perpetrated by Ouano’s predecessors is a noisy view in the window. And that is the daunting task of newly elected PCL president Ouano – that is to restore the collapsing reputation of PCL-Bohol.

Ouano, if he is serious with his intentions, can very well work with Gov. Edgar M. Chatto, whose governance and leadership have catapulted the Province into the Hall of Fame in the DILG, being the “Best Governed Province in the Philippines” for two consecutive years. The only way for Ouano to fit in the system of Chatto-Conching Lim administration is for him, as we know it, to get his work done and regain the confidence and trust of his fellow lawmakers. Just because money rained during the PCL election, it would be unfair to make any judgments regarding the personality or motivation of Ouano. By all means, he is considered a neophyte at the halls of SP. For the benefit of the doubt, let us allow him to give his best for the sake of his constituents and for those who trust him. After three years, then we can reassess our points of view here: either we whip him or lavish him with praise. After all, as society’s relentless watchdog, that has been our job for almost three decades. As our unsolicited advice to PCL President Antonio Ouano Jr., we wish to quote Lao Tzu who said: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”