By YOLANDA Z. SOTELO

EVERYONE knows that Kimi Cojuangco, the new mayor of Sison, is a rich-rich girl. She has everything in life and she could just be enjoying whatever material riches have to offer.

But there she is, a mayor of a fourth class town, deeply involved with the problems of marginal farmers, on women’s health, on local governance, etc.

Yet she seems to be enjoying it, too. Maybe in helping others she has found something that gives her the satisfaction that no money can buy.

“I have a silver spoon in my mouth when I was born. Then I married (Mark Cojuangco, representive of the fifth district) who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” Kimi Cojuangco said.

She was not at all bragging. It was just a statement of facts.
But she claimed that all the riches she is surrounded with do not give her the fulfillment she craved for.

Let’s hear it from her:

“If, from the time you were born you have life so easy, you realize that’s not what is important in life. You don’t get fulfillment from material things. You get fulfillment from helping and working with people. And that’s what drives me. I just love being with regular, ordinary people.

“Even before (Mark) became a congressman, I used to have a group of girls that I headed. We used to feed the really kawawa (pitiful) squatters in Navotas. I went to a parish church there and that’s where we fed them two meals a day. In the beginning the kids were really malnourished, too thin. We weight them after a month and we see improvement. That was my first social work.

“Then Mark ran (for Congress) and I started to get exposed to the different towns of the district.

“I really like social work. It gives me fulfillment. But I never thought I would become a mayor until Mark asked me to run. So here I am.”

And so, they say, the rest is history. Kimi now leads the people of Sison which she says is a beautiful town. Of course, though she mingles easily with the people, you can tell her apart from them. After all, she’s tall and lovely, with mestiza features and white skin.

When I was asked to interview Mayor Kimi (that sounds nice), I actually had misgivings. I have seen her from afar but how do I interview a rich girl who had just joined politics? Is she snobbish? Snooty?

Was I surprised! She is a down-to-earth, as human-as-you-and-I woman of substance. She cried when she talked about a “bankrupt local government” that she inherited, which would mean she will be “begging” for funds to finance her projects.

“For the first time in my life, I’m reduced to begging,” she said, sounding very frustrated. But since her husband is a congressman, that won’t be too difficult.

Still, it’s a learning experience for Kimi, girl who has found her niche among the people of Sison.