Idol si Kap!Written by Sigbin II (Paul Vistal)
as published by the Bohol Chronicle Lifestyle Section
If some twenty years ago you were to approach Lucio Tagaro Sr., “Tay Lucio†to most people, although these days he prefers to be called “Lucieboyâ€, and tell him that he would be serving as his barangay’s barangay captain for twenty, uninterrupted years, he would probably tell you, “Aguyyy, Ginoo! Pasayloa ’ning makakasala.†as he is wont to do these days with every strained movement of his arthritis and thereby he’d run the risk of taking the Lord’s name in vain.
At 56 in 1987, he was already a long-time government employee, having served at a regional director’s office in the Ministry of Agrarian Reform and, at the time that he was made to sit as OIC Barangay Captain of Adlawan, Valencia, at the permits and licenses division of the Municipal Treasurer’s Office. But he had never been an elected official.
A year after the EDSA Revolution, the municipal officials of Valencia chose Tay Lucio to replace the OIC barangay captain of Adlawan, who had been, shall we say, deposed. It was not altogether a voluntary assumption of office. That time, there was no honorarium for serving as barangay captain. Of course, there were perks to the office, but for the main part, if you served at all, it had to be from the heart.
How could he have held the office for twenty years, you ask. Wouldn’t that violate some provision in some law somewhere setting the term limits of our government officials? The answer? Well, you can chalk it up to the laws concerning our barangay elections and the various postponements barangay elections have had in the Philippines. That and the trust that a people can have for their leader in choosing him time and time again.
For his first electoral term and his third and subsequent terms as punong barangay, he was unopposed. Fighting for his second term in the only election where he had an opponent, he won by 54 votes in a barangay with about 300 voters.
In the passing years, he had worked for and accomplished the concreting of a circumferential barangay road, the construction of nine water reservoirs, a day care center, a health center, a basketball court, a multi-purpose center, and a barangay hall, and the establishment of a waterworks system.
Of course, he did not accomplish all this by himself, but he has been recognized for these achievements. Twice, he was invited to come to Manila to be honored as one of the country’s Outstanding Barangay Captains. Twice he declined. The reason? He says it is because he doesn’t feel comfortable spending the people’s money on trips. He adds that he isn’t comfortable with his Tagalog either.
Was he always this committed to his constituents? His wife, Tarsila “Nang Inday†Tagaro, says he could not be trusted with their store, back in the days when they had a store. He’d end up giving away all their goods to those who’d come to him with their problems, she explains. His barangay kagawads note that he’d even contribute his own money to help complete projects of the barangay.
Last December 1, Tay Lucio spent his 77th birthday as his first day as a citizen after so many years of being a public servant and of giving to the people. What are his plans for the future? I can’t tell you that. Only Lucieboy knows.
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