FIELD OPEN: After Vice President-elect Jojo Binay showed unusual interest in becoming secretary of the interior and local government, that post drew attention as a potential launching pad for somebody with an ulterior agenda.

Asked about Binay’s eyeing the Department of the Interior and Local Government, President-elect Noynoy Aquino said he had several others in mind for that pivotal portfolio. That was a signal that the field was still wide open.

In searching for the man best prepared to manage the DILG, it may be useful to review the agency’s historical evolution and its current vision/mission. (For this, I now borrow data from the DILG primer.)

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HISTORICAL NOTES: As early as 1897, during the revolution, the position of director of the department of the interior was already a bone of contention between General Emilio Aguinaldo and Katipunan supremo Andres Bonifacio.

In the aftermath of the Tejeros convention in Cavite on March 22, 1897, Aguinaldo emerged as president of the revolutionary government. Bonifacio was to be director (secretary) of the interior, but the plebian never got to assume the post on account of his supposed lack of qualification.

During the Naic assembly on April 17 that same year, Aguinaldo formed his cabinet and named Pascual Alvarez in place of Bonifacio as director of the interior, a move that was presumably part of the maneuvering in a power struggle.

Through the decades, the interior department existed in various forms performing functions ranging from supervision of local units, management of the police, counter-insurgency, community and cooperatives development, and such local concerns.

It existed even during the Japanese occupation (1941 to 1945) as the Ministry of Home Affairs. When the old Department of the Interior was abolished in 1950, its functions were distributed to other departments. It was reincarnated in 1972, under martial rule, as the Department of Local Government and Community Development, which later became the DILG.

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KEY TASKS: The political potential of the DILG is better appreciated in the light of its wide-ranging functions divided into two key areas: (1) management of the 135,000-strong national police and related agencies, and (2) supervision of the local governments directly in touch with the grassroots.

In the right hands, the DILG will be an effective instrument of positive change of the incoming Aquino administration.

The DILG secretary must not only be trusted by the President, but must be one whose background shines with his sterling record of competence and integrity.

Going through the short list of Liberal Party stalwarts being mentioned for the DILG post, I see former Manila Mayor Mel Lopez standing out as best prepared to carry out the President’s agenda in the countryside. He is cut out for the role.

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TESTED BY FIRE: As Manila mayor during the post-EDSA administration of President Cory Aquino being tested by various forces, street smart Lopez was often in the thick of rallies talking eyeball to eyeball with protest marchers.

His firm but fair handling of street marches has prevented the unnecessary spilling of blood.

Displaying the same courage in personally plain-talking to the restless Muslim minority in Quiapo, he scored a record that no Muslim and no policeman were killed during his watch.

He did not have to, but in the busting of drugs and other criminal syndicates in the city, he often personally led police raiders. He has gained plaudits for his non-nonsense handling of such police situations.

This aspect of his management style will be valuable in helping the President supervise the national police and related agencies.

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LOPEZ FORMULA: As mayor of the national capital after the turmoil of EDSA, Lopez was able to prove that an executive need not impose new taxes to improve revenue collection and turn around a money problem.

Inheriting a City Hall wallowing in a multimillion-peso deficit in 1986, Lopez was able to boost revenues and ended up with an exit surplus of more than P1 billion without having to impose new taxes.

His formula, borrowed from his many years as a businessman, was simple. He cleaned the premises and streamlined the collection system to eliminate occasions for corruption. Then he appealed to the taxpayers, personally visiting the big payers and promising them protection in exchange for their cooperation.

His making City Hall taxpayer-friendly has been copied, with impressive results, by other local executives.

His experience as Manila mayor will come in handy when he deals with city, municipal and provincial executives and other local officials looking up to the national leadership for a role model.

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DOUBLE TROUBLE: I keep bumping into namesakes. After that brush with a Federico Pascual allegedly appointed “midnight” director of the Philippine National Oil Co., here comes another Federico Pascual messing up my social security records.

I have just been informed that a certain Federico Reyes Pascual, who claimed having been an editorial employee of the pre-martial law Manila Times where I was a reporter for eight years, was able to collect benefits from the SSS until his death.

Was the old Manila Times remitting contributions to the SSS for two Federico Pascuals, the other being this columnist who has never seen nor heard of a namesake right there in our editorial department?

Do I have a ghost double listed as an SSS member of the Manila Times and collecting SSS benefits — while my own service records have been “missing” and my benefits left hanging?