LAST HURRAH FOR FIRECRACKERS. With only three days more to go before New Year’s Eve, the nationwide ban on firecrackers is now too late in the day to implement.

President Rodrigo Duterte, we were informed, is not keen on implementing the ban this year, noting the huge investments of businessmen in the fireworks and firecrackers industry.

Good for these traders. The President still considers how much money they have already spent for their business and would not let them lose the opportunity to at least recover the money that they have so far spent from their pockets.

But next new year, expect the ban to be in effect throughout the whole nation as Mr. Duterte is bent on making his own Davao City, where firecrackers are definitely a no-no during New Year’s Eve, a model for the whole country.

The people of Dagupan City know this and are making this December 31 their last hurrah to greet the new year with big bangs but only for firecrackers that are not prohibited.

The Dagupan Police vowed to arrest all those who explode the banned firecrackers like “Goodbye Philippines”, “Bin Laden”, “Judas Belt”, big triangles and  those who would fire their guns indiscriminately to greet the new year.

They even warned Barangay Chairman George Galvan to forego this year’s noon-day New Year’s revelry in his Barangay Pogo Grande, or he and his fellow officials will be arrested for violating the firecracker law.

Firecracker vendors in Dagupan were still allowed to sell only those that are not banned and only in an area at Poblacion Oeste, close to the Calmay River as a safety precaution. And since the lighting of firecrackers is now discouraged, community fireworks display in barangays are being planned.

But curiously in New Zealand where we once spent our New Year Eve, we observed that the only ones lighting firecrackers bought online from licensed companies were Filipinos who miss their old tradition back home.

New Zealanders gather every year at Queen Victoria Park in downtown Auckland for a picnic to watch the hour-long fireworks display at the Sky Tower, then the tallest skyscraper in the southern hemisphere.  – Leonardo Micua

 

NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE . – Of course that doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process.

Many have their own personal New Year’s wish (es), including this corner, too.

But in our work, dealing with many kinds of people, I have simple wish for most public servants we deal with in our day-to-day grind beating our deadline.

I wish more will be reminded that public service requires dedication to the job.

Simple yet hard to follow by some who act as if it’s their birthright to be in the position they are holding now.

Many in high government position act as if there’s ‘forever’ to their title.

Many act as if they belong to a royalty whose every word must be followed like a decree. Worse, their minions act like “a fly on top of a carabao” and make people feel they, too, are high, mighty and proud.

Disgusting yet change, it seems, hasn’t come, at least as far as they are concerned.

Let’s cite a specific example at the DENR Provincial Office based in Dagupan. Of course, local newsmen are aware how their boss, Wendy Co, tries her best (though sometimes her best seems not enough, especially on controversial news) to respond to media queries.

I set an appointment with her. I was referred to a point person. I got the data I needed. Then I made another hirit, for another possible news, this time about Pangasinan’s another pride, the Manleluag Hot Spring in Mangatarem town as it was recently visited by DENR Sec. Gina Lopez.

Another staff, Mrs. Orduna gladly referred me to a certain Marlyn, the one in-charge about our concern.

Unang tingin pa lang, parang negative vibes na agad ang dating ni Madam sa akin. But I didn’t let not my initial impression of Ms. Marlyn (judging by her facial expression) distract me because I do keep in mind that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

I politely introduced myself to Madam Marlyn when she launched her version of ‘shock and awe’! Mrs. Orduna was a witness to this.

“Wala akong mai-share. Busy pa akong gumagawa ng report. Katatapos ko pa nga lang gumawa ng minutes ng meeting, board resolution (Imagine herself saying these lines na nasa third floor ang kilay nya!),” she rattled off.

I was shocked as if I was stunned by the noise of lighted “De Lima” explosive pyrotechnic that sent PNP Chief Bato running.

“Okay po Ma’am, salamat na lang po,” I quickly told Madam Marlyn and left to return to the room of Mrs. Orduna.

Another staffer, after hearing my story, sympathetically commented, “Ma’am hindi ka nag-iisa.”

“So ganun pala, nasanay itong si Ms. Marlyn sa bad manners?“ I replied.

I promised them I wouldn’t let this pass. So promptly, I sent text messages to Madam Wendy. After an hour, she phoned me back and asked what happened. As one might have expected from Madam Wendy, she was so apologetic for the bad manners of Ms. Marlyn.

“Ma’am nasanay siguro sya na ganun sya umasta pero it’s about time magbago na sya. Mukhang nakakalimot sya sa tamang asal,” I advised Madam Wendy.

To Ms. Marlyn and hundreds others who act and think like her: Umpisahan nyo nang magbago kasi nakakahiya kayo sa gobyerno.—Tita Roces

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