The surprising Herbert Bautista

IN last week's column ("Reflections on my hometown, Quezon City," The Manila Times, Jan. 28, 2022). I wrote about my reflections on my hometown for 30 years now, Quezon City. I shared that when my family moved to QC (Fairview area) in 1992 we faced problems like uncollected garbage and other issues. I also commended Herbert "Bistek" Bautista, the mayor at the time, for finding lasting solutions to more recent problems like the overflow of the Tullahan River during Typhoon "Ondoy" in 2009.

By sheer coincidence, after I had sent off the column to my editor at the opinion section (I usually write my columns a week in advance, to get it out of the way, so to speak), I was invited by my "Pugad Bloggers" (a radio program at DZRJ 810 AM) colleagues, the irrepressibly naughty and wickedly funny Maricar Serrano, the elegant and articulate Dr. Ethel Pineda, and the acerbic Caloocan City prosecutor Darwin Canete to interview my longtime former mayor, Bistek Bautista.