Issues and Insights: Duron the Ubiquitous

By Limuel S. Celebria

PERHAPS no other member of the Iloilo City Council today has been more vilified than Councilor Romel Duron. In recent weeks—not just days—he has borne the brunt of stiff criticism and cast adrift in the maelstrom of various controversies. Deserving or not, he has endured the barbs and brickbats of bristling commentary.

‘Tis the political season, one might say as a convenient excuse. Duron, after all, is considered fair game to political detractors as he looms larger on the horizon than most of his colleagues in the council and the motley throng of wannabes jockeying for the voting public’s attention.

But are the comments and criticisms fair, however? Let’s look into some.

• In the Grab vs. Taxi collision, Duron got sideswiped for his role in facilitating the entry of Grab services into Iloilo. Taxi drivers and operators opposed Grab, claiming there are already more than enough taxis in Iloilo. The issue turned political after a former mayor said a powerful person in Iloilo owns 200 Grab units. The incumbent mayor felt alluded to and issued a strong denial.
• During a city council session, Duron became the centerpiece of one colleague’s privilege speech calling for the observance of decorum during the legislature’s conduct of business. Duron was chastised for his use of the allegedly offensive word “inagi.”
• And, lately, political commentators over the airwaves raked Duron over the coals for his ubiquitous posters strewn all over the city districts.

How does Duron react to all these? With measured indifference. Like any other experienced politician, Duron has acquired a certain amount of imperviousness to bad press. To use a local expression, “hindi sya nahadlok mabasa sa ulan (not afraid to get wet).” He takes criticism in stride and considers the same integral to the game.

Though only in his second term, he is no political neophyte. Duron actually grew up in a political household. His late father, Ruben Duron, was a former city councilor and would have been Iloilo Vice Mayor had they not been “railroaded” alongside Mayoralty candidate Nering Ticao in the block-voting elections of 1980. The Duron patriarch was also a man of the masses, a labor leader, and a union organizer.

Perhaps this is why Duron sometimes displays a distinct quality of character that is both annoying and, at the same time, disarming—he is quick-tempered with an acerbic tongue trigger-ready for rebuke and rebuttal, but he is also quick to realize when he is out of place and is readily forthcoming in his mea culpas.

In a candid exchange with this writer, Duron explains his simple philosophy in life, his reason for being. He said he is guided by the words of Stephen Grellet, a French-American Quaker missionary (1772–1855) who uttered this quote that is famous and familiar to all Good Samaritans:

“I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Cloaked in this philosophy, it is easy to see why he is undisturbed by barking dogs along his path. His focus is on those who need help. But in fact, the metaphor is misplaced. Duron, a canine lover, has been known to regularly feed stray dogs, too.

Duron is on his way to a third and final term as city councilor, after which he is barred from further reelection. Will he be interested in going for a higher position? As congressman, perhaps? That remains to be seen.

(PS. If you’re looking for a little closure, here’s Duron’s answer to the issues: 1) Duron is Grab’s lawyer-nominee to the LTFRB. A conflict of interest does not exist. But Duron admits he has limited his representation with Grab to a bare minimum. He doesn’t even own a single Grab unit. 2) His use of the word “inagi” has no gender imputations but simply describes an answer to his questions which is “neither here nor there.” 3) As for his ubiquitous posters, he said, “I was just following a trend.”)