Punchline
Unresolved issues
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
NOW that the Ombudsman has received a complaint from a “concerned citizen” against Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim for the noted anomalies in his office, the city can move on to resolve other reported irregularities involving the mayor’s office.
By the new Ombudsman’s standards, soon, Mr. Lim and his cohorts will be made to account for 1) The purchase and loss of the 30-hectare lot in Baranagy Awai; 2) The anomalous bidding and overpricing of items purchased for the city’s feeding program for malnourished children, and 3) The illegal distribution of calamity funds to favored barangay kapitans in the absence of a declaration of a state of calamity in the city on October 2010. All in the spirit of the “Matuwid na Daan” of PNoy!
Some of the unresolved issues in the city that need urgent attention are: 1) Settlement and funding of Daongan ed Dawel operations; 2) Investigation of city hall’s claim of “fake” signatures of Mayor Lim and City Administrator Vlad Mata that appeared in certifications permitting illegal occupation of premier beachfronts in Bonuan Binloc; 3) Sale of MC Adore and Calasiao properties; 5) Construction of Tsunami Hill; 6) Accounting of 2011 and 2012 Bangus Festival funds and 2011 Fiesta funds; 7) Unsolved murder case of Madelaine Goyena. Did I miss anything?
Now, let’s see if the Mighty 5 (6 na?) in the city council will be up to the challenge this time! (Their ignominious turnaround after announcing their determination to file complaints vs. Mr. Lim is still ominous). But what I am certain about is the inclination of the original set of Onor-onors (Brian Lim, Red Erfe-Mejia, Emong Vallejos and Chester Gonzales) to do their worst to keep these issues in limbo, very much like what they did last week, when they tried to prevent a discussion on the Awai scandal and the peace and order situation in the city.
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JUDGES AND NEWSPAPERS. This corner congratulates Dagupan RTC Executive Judge Genoveva Maramba for recently taking the cudgels for complaining petitioners in extra-judicial proceedings who are being made to pay excessively for publications required by law.
Not a few banks and individuals have complained to judges how and why some local newspapers can charge atrociously high for the publication, even higher than the rates of national publications and get away with it. This malpractice in the local print media has become so rampant that even the courts are already being unfairly suspected of enjoying a cut in the legal notices’ publication racket of the print media.
In addition to the rules set by law, Judge Maramba has required that only qualified publications with minimum of 8 pages per issue can participate in the raffle of notices. The move seeks to further protect the public by weeding out “kotong” newspapers (with 4-6 pages only where more than half of their pages are devoted to legal notices) that obviously exist mainly for the right to publish legal notices without regard to journalism mission, tenets and ethics while imposing exorbitant rates on a hapless public.
Her requirement will go a long way in restoring the integrity of the local print media. She correctly interpreted the intent of the law, that newspapers deserve to be helped but the privilege should not be abused by the print media sector.
I hope the other executive judges will see the merit in this new requirement.
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First a background. P.D. 1079, law that governs publication of extra-judicial notices, was adopted in 1977 by the martial law regime to help community papers then struggling to survive since prospect of regular advertising was practically nil because of the economic environment then. The safety net for the public was a set of rules in the law to ensure that the public would not be overburdened by it.
Here are the pertinent provisions of the law. 1. Only newspapers that published continuously without break for 12 months prior to date of raffle can qualify to publish the notices. 2. Newspapers cannot charge more than 80 % of its current advertising rate. 3. The notices should observe a prescribed print format, i.e., 8 points light, single-spaced between lines for body and 10 points light, single-spaced for titles; column width should not be less than 9 ems (1.5 inches or 3.8 cms).
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If the law is so specific, why, indeed, are petitioners/litigants today paying more than what the law has intended?
Here’s why.
1. Many judges do not have the trained eye to detect what’s bigger than 8-point font size, and what is a single-spacing between lines. (I suggest that the judges require all newspapers to submit own samples of notices in the prescribed format which shall be used as basis reference in resolving complaints. A violation by a newspaper should be ground for disqualification for at least six months while continue to show proof that it is publishing regularly).
2. Judges routinely accept claimed advertising rates of newspapers (as high as P25,000 a page) without validating if indeed the newspaper’s space is being bought by advertisers at the claimed rate. (I suggest that newspapers be required to show 5 proofs of payments and copies of the published ads yearly to validate a newspaper’s basis for the claimed rate. No newspaper should be allowed take advantage of the law by arbitrarily imposing a rate on petitioners that commercial advertisers do not choose to pay. The law provides that a newspaper that has no evident commercial advertising can only charge P10 per column inch).
3. Judges are not keenly aware that failure to publish just one issue over a 12-month period prior to the date of the raffle is ground for disqualification. Enterprising printers have managed to circumvent the law by submitting a file of “52 issues” at one time as proof instead of requiring submission of copies weekly for 52 weeks consecutively to qualify. (I suggest that no newspaper be accredited if it fails to submit copies of issues weekly to the courts).
The court administrator had clarified to the Philippine Press Institute in 1993 that a participating newspaper must show proof by providing copies to the courts weekly whether there is a scheduled raffle or not. (Note: Fifty-two copies can easily be prepared by an enterprising printing press in a month’s time without actually publishing and circulating for 12 months by resorting to copying stories of other newspapers’ past issues regardless of dates of issues).
Indeed, it was the lax enforcement of these provisions by the courts over the decades that emboldened many enterprising businessmen and printers to publish as many newspapers for the business of publishing judicial notices only, not for journalism purposes.
I encourage petitioners to promptly file complaints with executive judges if their notices were printed in fonts bigger than 8 points, or use larger spacing than the standard single, and believe they are being unfairly overcharged. The honorable judges must take the time to right the wrong, and help stop the racketeering by “kotong” newspapers to protect an unsuspecting public.
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PING VS. CORRUPTION & CRIMINALITY. The news that Senator Ping Lacson may yet be the country’s DILG Secretary or Crime Czar after the May 2013 elections has given hope to many in this benighted country that finally we will have someone with a political will and determination not only to crush crime syndicates that have long been operating with impunity but to fight corruption at its roots.
This was the fervent prayer of many when they voted for then presidential candidate Ping in 2007 against all odds (FPJ and GMA). He was feared because of his no-nonsense approach to criminality and peace and order. It was this particular legacy that his detractors in both camps desperately sought to discredit.
I’ve had the privilege of working with him up close since 2005, long enough to get to the truths about the lies that were spread by his political enemies. To help enlighten voters then, I prepared “The Lies and Truth about Ping Lacson”. The last time I searched the internet, it can still be read at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FilipinoAegis/message/1359 or simply Google the title.
I do know that retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz and DDB Sec. Bebot Villar would love to see him installed soonest. So do I! Don’t you?
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56th YEAR OF PUNCHING. I wish to thank our loyal readers and advertisers, for being there for us in the past 56 years. Your constant prayers and support have given us the courage to perform as you would expect from your independent community newspaper.
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