THE TEMPESTS over Tearose and Freeway have spawned cases against de la Cruz that were filed at the Office of the Ombudsman. Rosemoor's owners accused the governor of grave misconduct and abuse of authority, as well as charged her with graft, for issuing small-scale mining permits, among other things. But the provincial government has argued that Rosemoor's MPSA is illegal and that the company violated certain provisions in the Local Government Code and mining laws.

	Malolos, Bulacan. [photo by Avigail Olarte]

Neither Rosemoor nor the provincial government could have been very pleased with the environment department's solution, though: suspension of Rosemoor's MPSA and all small-scale mining permits approved by the province.

As for the transaction with Freeway Motor Corp., Resurreccion says Jonjon Mendoza had divested himself of his shares in the company in 2000, or two years before the controversial vehicles were bought from it. The lawyer adds that in fact, only 39 vehicles were purchased from Freeway, which was chosen as the sole supplier since it allowed Bulacan to acquire these through a loan.

The provincial government had offered a similar reason to COA, which had called attention to its purchase of medicines from BQS. "(Negotiation) was resorted to in order to ensure that the medicines are delivered to the patients at the exact time these are needed," said the Bulacan government. "Moreover, since the indigency program requires a big budget, suppliers who could extend them a credit line are best preferred."

As of 2005, said COA, Bulacan continued to buy purchase medicines from BQS. But COA noted that at least it agreed to procure commonly requested drugs through a bidding process. An inspection unit was also supposed to be deployed at BQS to ensure the accurate issuance of medicines and that bills and receipts are not tampered with.

Bulakenyos themselves talk of the culture of "favorites" at the capitol. Sometimes, though, they are not referring to corporations that get preferential treatment. Reportedly, provincial employees — department heads in particular — have been given vehicles and enjoy certain perks like travels and studies overseas.

"I (just) know how to motivate people," retorts de la Cruz, when asked about the "favoritism" issue. "To move this bureaucracy to work along the same lines that you believe in, there has to be something in it for them. It's probably a little controversial for others but the truth is it worked. Look at how productive our people now are."

"People only see one part, like the cars," she says, "but it's part of the entire totality of initiatives."

Yet it does seem that Bulakenyos have been considering the bigger picture, which is probably why they had kept voting for de la Cruz despite all the talk that she had turned trapo. They have even tolerated her penchant for naming every other project "JOSIE" — among them JOSIE Leadership, JOSIE Barangay, and even JOSIE vans (mobile training teams for out-of-school youths).

Lately, the governor has been crowing about Project JOSIE or Joint Systems Improvement in Education. Before its implementation, Bulacan students were posting an average national education achievement test score for Math of 39.4 percent; for English, the figure was 40.23 percent. Now the average scores are 82 percent for computational skills and 71 percent in math problem comprehension skills; English reading comprehension went up to 76 percent. Computers were also given to all public high schools in Bulacan.

WHAT MADE de la Cruz first stand out among the country's local chief executives, however, was her streamlining of Bulacan's bureaucracy. Since the first reorganization during Pagdanganan's time, de la Cruz has implemented two more reorganizations that reduced 1,753 plantilla positions to 1,619, and the number of personnel from 2,054 to 1,708 or a decrease of 17 percent.

This allowed the province to upgrade 406 plantilla positions, and with it incentives for employees like full salary standardization, cash prizes, trips, scholarship programs for employees and their children. She also merged the treasurer's office and the assessor's office — one of her classic moves, she says. It was controversial at that time, but the province's tax collection increased and checks and balances were instituted. Bulacan is the only local government unit in the country with such a set-up.

In addition, the governor computerized operations within the capitol, improving service delivery, information access, and supposedly, resulting into greater transparency and accountability. (See sidebar.) "We really have re-energized this bureaucracy," says de la Cruz. "It's something that everybody enjoys because this government is run like a corporation. I run it like a corporation."

Which is apparently appreciated by many investors. Today the province has over 9,000 registered businesses, with P17.53 billion worth of investments by 2005. It also has 249 "millionaire cooperatives" with assets of all cooperatives combined totaling to P5.3 billion or a 44-percent increase from 1998.

Bulacan did acquire a reputation for being a big borrower, though, spooking some observers. But official records show that the province's financial standing remains sound. For instance, its 2005 total current assets versus the total current liabilities show that the province has P1.04 worth of asset for every peso of liability. Its long-term liabilities, amounting to P126 million, are also matched with P2.5 billion worth of investments, property, plant, and equipment, or a ratio of P20.35 for every P1 of liability.

"I'd like to think that I handle our finances well," says de la Cruz. "If I have been winning as impressively as I have despite all these white paper, people must still believe that I am able to do my job well."

She says she does not practice patronage politics that is the trapo hallmark. "To me the height of trapo is capitalizing on the weakness of a person to gain political advantage," she says. And so, she says, she set up a strong indigency program, which is handled by her social welfare office and takes care of such things as providing free medicines and giving abuloy (donations) to those who have just lost their loved ones.

"So it's putting up a system," points out de la Cruz. "Imagine the governor of Bulacan doing nothing but going to wakes and birthday parties?"

As for her pushing her brother's gubernatorial bid, she says she only wants to make sure her projects will be finished. If her brother does well, she says, she might not return to politics at all. "Let it be an open option," says de la Cruz. "It will all depend how events will unfold. But if I say I really just want to finish, I really just want to finish."

"For 27 years I have given this province my life," she says in a strained, almost tired voice. "There's life after being governor."

The governor says she will soon be heading the North Food Exchange, an agricultural and fishery products exchange center that is one of her latest projects. But she says she will also be helping her brother (who others think lacks political experience) should he win against Pagdanganan this May.

She says that what has kept her going through these years is her faith and her idealism. And then recently, she says, some farmers told her she brings them hope. "(It) really made me happy," she gushes suddenly. "If you did not believe there was a chance, if there's no hope at all, my God, what are we wasting our time for?"

Then de la Cruz snaps back to her businesslike-self and says: "It's being able to strategically look at things."