Punchline
Pangasinan’s Duterte?
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE decision of the Liga ng mga Barangay provincial federation to convene a summit on the war vs. illegal drugs under the leadership of Board Member Amado Espino III, is definitely a move in the right direction.
Pangasinan remains high on the list of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as drug-infected. It is identified as a major transshipment point for the drug network. Thousands of families are affected directly or indirectly, where children have been lured into becoming addicts or pushers, incidents or violent rape cases are recorded, students are dropping out of school, etc. Pangasinan can never be the same peaceful province for as long as illegal drugs are allowed to infect family members.
And where do we find the drug lords and pushers? Where else but in barangays.
* * * * *
DEFINING ESPINO III. It may appear too late in the day or may be construed as a political gimmick to gain some publicity mileage but these can be made irrelevant overnight if Mr. Espino III can impress upon Pangasinenses that he is dead serious about making the campaign at the barangay level succeed. In the first place, no campaign vs. illegal drugs is too late, everything is timely! And only time will tell if the young Espino has the leadership quality to lead the province to shut out the drug lords.
Right now, the young Espino can only bank on his father’s fame as “the greatest governor the province ever had” given the many legacies he had earned for himself as a 3-term governor. There isn’t much he can claim to improve on health, agriculture, cultural, tourism, sports programs accomplished by his dad, the indomitable Guv Spines, that will make a striking difference but simply to promise that he will continue the successful programs. Ohum… definitely not something that can evoke the people’s imagination.
But if he cares to seriously ponder his future, he might still find destiny favorably looking in his direction. In fact, destiny has provided Mr. Espino III one rare privilege to be his own man, to create and take his place alongside his father.
He can be the province’s drugbuster that Guv Spines is not! He can be the man to claim that he is the first to make Pangasinan drug-free!
But can he?
* * * * *
DUTERTE AS A STUDY. The path to it has been carved by destiny. There is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who will show him the way if Mr. Espino III cares to study him.
Mr. Espino III should consider exploiting the current growing, popular clamor for Mr. Duterte to become president, to be the strong president that the country yearns for. He has what makes people listen and look up to him.
Mr. Duterte is a tough-talking, no-nonsense guy who hates criminals, drug lords and anything that disrupts the peaceful life in his city. Many can ape his words but only he has matched his words with action, literally and figuratively. (The only other person whose words I know strike fear in the hearts of criminals is former Senator Ping Lacson).
Mr. Duterte is not known for being an economist, a visionary nor as a compleat politico. So what makes him tick?
* * * * *
WHO WILL IT BE? This brings me back to Mr. Espino III.
He has the opportunity to at least attempt to make Pangasinan drug-free. He can start to build on this image by making and declaring Bautista town drug-free, and move on from there, counting and declaring barangays as drug-free communities under his direction. His claim, however, must be validated by the communities themselves and he must be seen leading the war, consciously maintaining a scoreboard of barangays and towns that he has liberated. This feat alone will define him as the man who can make Pangasinan truly peaceful, the man to do a Duterte in Pangasinan.
If Mr. Espino III can show he can defeat the drug lords and the pushers, he can lick other criminal elements with greater ease. A fearless and successful drugbuster need not make speeches because his singular achievement will precede him and speak for him.
And if he does succeed to make Pangasinenses believe in him by 2016, there is no way he can be kept away as governor for three terms by his constituents. Not even by a come-backing Guv Spines in 2025!
The question is – Is he capable of being Pangasinan’s Duterte? Or is it Mr. Mark Cojuangco?
* * * * *
IMAGINARY PING-PONG. Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez appears determined to establish order in the city streets. However, as of today, she is not any closer to her vision. The traffic enforcers are simply going through the motion of being busy but not performing as she wants them to be.
Take the “Stop” – “Go” paddle signs given to the traffic enforcers to help motorists and pedestrians observe the international law on the use of pedestrian lanes. There was a photo op showing Mayor Belen teaching a traffic enforcer how to use the paddle sign. Obviously, the rest of the traffic enforcers who were given the paddle were not impressed because they decided to use the paddle to wave on motorists simply.
From afar, the traffic enforcer using the paddle appears as playing imaginary ping-pong by the street, waving his arm to and fro directing motorists instead of simply putting up the paddle to signal “stop” or “go”! Worse, they are not standing by the white pedestrian lanes to guide the people.
So next time you hit the city streets, take time to enjoy watching the traffic enforcers play imaginary ping-pong at the expense of Mayor Belen’s vision.
* * * * *
TRUSTED LEGAL ADVISER. Speaking of Mayor Belen, she is fortunate to have a trustworthy lawyer like Atty. Farah Decano as her city administrator.
The absence of an astute legal mind in the city hall, particularly as city administrator was the pitfall that doomed the Lim administration. The racketeering mindset of the Lim administration could not be pulled back at any time because no one was trusted enough to know better. Mr. Lim’s gang found this out too late.
If the mayor had proceeded to auction all properties including right of way areas, simply on the advice of some bootlickers in her coterie for the purpose of raising millions, Mayor Belen would have easily found herself in the midst of contentious legal battles that she could not hope to win, especially among friends as litigants.
Mayor Belen continues to walk on a political landmine laid out by Lim’s loyalists and those who wish to exploit her weakness. So far she’s been lucky, and I pray she won’t ever fall for the brown-nosers’ flatteries.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
