Windows
Gabriel L. Cardinoza
 
 
I felt like I was visiting the provincial capitol for the first time when I had a chance to go there last Friday. This is because what used to be a dark, dungeon-like structure has brightened and its offices now look more dignified than they were two years ago.
 
The capitol lobby, which used to be a hangout of jueteng-bet collectors, idling government employees and vendors, is now a photo exhibit area and the people who were simply there with nothing to do are gone.
 
The semi-spiral staircase is still there (and replacing it with an escalator is a long shot), and climbing it to reach the session hall in the second floor still proves to be a tiring activity especially for senior citizens. The session hall door is now always closed because the hall is now fully air-conditioned. Its gallery has also expanded a little and there is now a waiting lounge for those intending to see the vice governor.

It was in this lounge where I met old media friends. In my work now, I’m confined in the office 8 to 5 and unless media friends come to visit me, there is really no way I will still see them.  
 
Inside the vice governor’s office, the space was reduced by half but the backroom conference hall and dining area for the board members is still as spacious as it was.
 
I had a short chat with Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino’s chief of staff Ryan Ravanzo and asked him if at the mezzanine of the vice governor’s office, the ceiling was pushed higher. Ryan smiled and explained to me that the ceiling height is still the same and those holding office there still bump their heads in the beams once in a while.
 
The joke there, he said, is that their favorite soap opera used to be Kampanerang Kuba because all of them now walk like hunchbacks even if they are still far from the concrete beams. Through the years, the have gotten used to their office environment and in the end, their consistent efficiency has proven they can work well and help the vice governor deliver vital services to the people under any situation.
 
What also caught my attention is that the office of the provincial secretary is now also directly connected to the session hall through two doors that open to it.
 
The only this they may have missed is providing a good backdrop to the session hall. In the past, there was a provincial government logo at the back of the presiding officer. Now, what one sees are two windows that provide a backlight to the hall and a bad angle for photographers as well.
 
The interior designers, if there was one, should have taken a look at the Dagupan City session hall to see what a good backdrop can do to the hall.
 
* * * * *
 
At the office of Provincial Administrator Boy Solis, Asingan No. 1 Councilor Vangie Dorao was there. “What brought you here,” Vangie asked me.
 
I told her that whenever I am in the capitol compound, I make sure that my lunch is a bulalo at Frank’s.
 
“So?” she asked me. “So, I am here because to make the bulalo more delicious, you have to pay Attorney Solis a courtesy call,” I shot back.
 
“Ging, sino ang kasama mo?” Attorney Solis butted in, smiling impishly.
 
To make a long story short, Vangie and I ended up having our lunch at Frank’s, her heavy make-up almost melting as she perspired profusely under the bare GI sheets roof of Frank’s.
 
“You’re crazy. Sira ka talaga,” she told me as she wiped the perspiration dripping in her face and neck.
 
She had to retouch her make-up.