War vs. illegal drugs scorecard

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE public can now appreciate the progress of the provincial government’s war vs. illegal drugs as reported by the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office and shared by Guv Spines during the Pangasinan Peace and Order Council meeting last week.

At least, the public can now measure the success of the campaign now that the baseline data is established, without need for glowing claims of success by spokesmen.

We have published on page 1 the scorecard that Pangasinenses can refer to from time to time and hopefully will be updated monthly by either the PPPO or the Provincial Anti-Drug Advisory Council or Guv Spines himself.

I will reserve comment on the report since we are only looking at the baseline, the starting point, of the campaign. Suffice it to say, however, there is much to be done by all quarters. A very telling data is the fact that there is evidence that out of the identified affected 322 barangays, not one has been cleaned and cleared.

It would help to put pressure on the residents of the affected barangays to act with dispatch by publishing the names of the barangays and their respective kapitans! At the end of the day, the success or failure of the barangays to come clean can only depend on either the kapitan finally having the courage to impose his/her political will or he/she continues to share in the drug loot.

I sincerely hope Guv Spines, as the province’s father and top political leader, VG Ferdie Calimlim, as head of PADAC, and BM Pogi Espino, as head of the Liga ng mga Barangay, will continue to exert pressure on our kapitans in the endeavor to protect Pangasinan families from the evil clutches of the drug syndicates.

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SHE DOESN’T LIVE THERE. A curious thing happened during the public hearing on the proposed ordinance amending the present fisheries ordinance in Dagupan City.

While the discussion was focused on the proposed amendments that seek to completely ban fish pens in the city, a sidelight was the casual revelation of Kagawad Efren Bautista of Barangay Pugaro about existing and continued operation of some 50 illegal fish pens in his barangay today.

What’s significant about it? Nothing new there really except that Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez had announced and had given strict orders to City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina that all fish pens should be gone by June 15! That’s 15 days past the deadline, and the illegal fish pens to continue to operate!

If that is not a clear defiance of the mayor’s order, I don’t now what is!

When asked by The PUNCH about the veracity of Mr. Bautista’s claim during the hearing, I was nearly floored by Ms. Molina’s recorded reaction: “I have no idea since I don’t live there!”    

Here is the head of the city’s agriculture office, given a specific and direct order to clear the city’s rivers, acquitting herself of any responsibility all because she doesn’t live in Pugaro island, ergo, she should could not be expected to know anything. She resides in Mangaldan, a good 10-km distance from her house, is a good alibi, or so she thinks.

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SUSPEND AND/OR INVESTIGATE. The unexpected revelation of the Kagawad Bautista and the shameless reaction of Ms. Molina should be enough ground for Mayor Belen to suspend her outright for insubordination and being unfaithful to her duties as the city’s accountable officer. At the very least, Councilor Joey Tamayo should reopen the investigation of her activities as city agriculturist.

Ms. Molina obviously does not think highly of Mayor Belen to believe she can hoodwink her and get away with it making her boss believe that she has reformed after supporting the move of former Mayor Benjie Lim to fill the city’s rivers with illegal fish pens 3 months before the 2013 elections.

I had spoken with Ms. Molina sometime in two months ago to get her confirmation if, indeed, she received the order to clear the rivers. She confirmed and went on to say, the order of the mayor will be strictly observed.

To her credit, she didn’t say then that she should be held accountable after the deadline period since she does not reside in Dagupan. Perhaps she thinks this is the right time to disown responsibility since she was caught red-handed clearly defying Mayor Belen, secretly tolerating the violation of the order of the city mayor perhaps for a consideration.

That’s for Mayor Belen and the city councilors to find out.

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MERRY MARRIAGES IN USA. The US Supreme Court ruling legitimizing Same-Sex marriage sent a lot of members of the LGBT society I know in a tizzy.

It was the best news they ever heard even if the US law does not apply here. So what was the excitement about?

The known same-sex couples here are already titillated by the prospect of getting married in Las Vegas, never mind that the Philippine law does not recognize it. They can have a reception upon their return, party with friends and celebrate their union as a real couple, no longer merely as a “live-in” couple but as a true inseparable couple based on US law and in the eyes of friends and relatives.

Perhaps, this is one unintended benefit that the High court justices had not expected – to draw more visitors to the merry USA to avail of the right and privilege to a same-sex marriage.

Of course, there are still the two crucial questions in my friends’ minds – Can we get a visa? Are there restrictions on foreign nationals availing of the law? But even these are not enough to damper the exciting “Love Forevermore” mood of my LGBT friends!

C’est la vie!

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WHERE IS GONZ? The fans of our weekly Fire Player Gonz Duque have began to wonder why he has not written his thoughts about anything as he usually does in our last four issues.

He is in the US of A for an extended vacation. Since we had not made any explanatory remark about his expected absence, some suspect he’s raising funds for his idol Rody Duterte, still others believe he and Mayor Belen have agreed on a secret rendezvous to plot the city’s future without any kibitzer looking over their shoulders.

Some even asked if Gonz had decided to leave us since I introduced Gie Pasalo as our new columnist. Absolutely no truth to that. Nothing could make our pages burn in our readers hands than to have “Playing with Fire” and “G-Spot” in the same issue.

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

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