Held hostage by politics

KOREAN officials must be shaking their heads in disappointment as they watch from the sidelines how ugly politics is slowly destroying the Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan which they funded through a generous grant of P100 million.

Makapabaeng. It is an embarrassment not just for the city government but also the national government.

Already, officials of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have instructed Dr. Westley Rosario, appointed manager of the plant and head of the BFAR’s National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center, to at least keep the equipment running to keep it from going completely bust. If Rosario had his way, he would be resuming operations ASAP, something that he has been appealing to do for months now since the plant was ordered closed by city hall in October last year. But the powers that be have other agenda.

The city government, which did not spend a single centavo on the project that is supposed to benefit the fish farming sector not just in Dagupan but other parts of Pangasinan as well as provide employment in the processing facility for potential export products, is holding the plant hostage. It seems that Mayor Benjamin Lim’s stance is that if city hall cannot be in control of the plant, nobody else can operate it. And what of BFAR’s top officials who are supposed to have announced the long overdue decision by March 1? Sense of urgency does not seem to be in their vocabulary.

With the way things stand, Dagupan is making itself look like a unattractive investment site. It will surely discourage future investors or benefactors of projects that may need foreign funding from considering anything for the city.

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Show still on

SAYING its evidence is enough to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona, lead counsel Rep. Niel Tupas of Iloilo said on Tuesday the prosecution panel is resting its case. Tupas also said they were dropping the five other articles of impeachment after having argued for 24 days Articles 2, 3 and 7. Article 2 accuses Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution while Articles 3 and 7 collar Corona of betrayal of public trust.

“Finally, we felt that we have presented more than enough to remove the Chief Justice so we decided to end this,” Tupas said on Day 25 of the trial.

He said they reached that decision after the impeachment court stopped the presentation of a Philippine Airlines executive as witness for the prosecution, and the Supreme Court issuance of a resolution on Feb. 14 prohibiting any of its members and employees from testifying in the trial.

The defense panel headed by Serafin Cuevas is now busy preparing to argue its side of the case.

As Enrile loves to say, “Proceed.”

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