Punchline
BSL humiliates the Mighty 8
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
IF the Mighty 8 in the Dagupan sanggunian still cannot see it, the recently uncovered plot of Mayor Benjie Lim’s office to deceive, mislead and humiliate them says it all.
This time, the mayor pushed the envelope further by making his minions lie straight to the Mighty 8’s faces, insisting that the Tsunami Hill project was still in the discussion stage as of March 5 when in fact he had already awarded the contract to his favorite contractor as early as January! But lying to them was no big deal since his office had already made a habit of lying to them without batting an eyelash. What takes the cake for him is the ultimate humiliation he expects to heap on them by seeing them move to a corner with their tails between their hind legs and willingly submit to be the rubber stamp he wants them to be. He seems to have calculated that by now the Mighty 8 is already fully intimidated and ready to stamp their approval on the illegal bidding and awarding of the tsunami project contract.
It’s no secret that Mr. Lim has nothing but contempt and disdain for the Mighty 8. He thinks he has already figured out that the group is an all bark-no bite after failing to make good on their threat to haul him to the Ombudsman’s office for his illegal activities.
Alas, the “all-for-one-one-for-all” cry of the Mighty 8 has become the group’s own undoing. Their majority floor leader, Councilor Maybelyn Fernandez has already made it clear to her peers that she would not cross swords with Mr. Lim no matter how grave the level of corruption that Mr. Lim’s office has committed. Tsk-tsk.
A delighted Mr. Lim has shown that he is predisposed to constantly taunt and humiliate the Mighty 8 with blatant lies and deceit until 2013 and thinks he will always get away with it. Could he be right? Perhaps so.
During one of the SP’s budget hearing, the Mighty 8 discovered that the city hall surreptitiously released P2M as payment for the white tent installed at the Daongan ed Dawel. The payment was released by city hall even knowing fully well that there was no appropriation for the Daongan project.
For reasons known only to the Mighty 8, no one raised a howl, not even a pipsqueak. Sad. Divided, they are nothing, just as Mr. Lim predicted!
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BETTER THAN MEN. There was a very interesting news item that appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s March 8 issue that would make our town’s police chiefs’ heads hang in shame.
It was about the newly installed chief of police in the town of Bansalan in Davao del Norte – Senior Insp. Milfrace Driz. Yes, a woman!
This lady police chief proved “to be much tougher than her male predecessors,” came this testimonial from the town’s mayor. Tougher because she personally led her police force in tearing down and shutting down operations of jai-alai off-fronton betting stations that were found to be operating as fronts for jueteng and its variation, ‘Last Two’. She targeted betting stations disguised as cellphone reloading stations next.
The mayor, Edwin Reyes, obviously helpless against gambling lords and non-cooperative police chiefs in the past, felt exhilarated by the lady chief’s determination to succeed. He was quoted saying: “Only determination by the police would stop the illegal numbers game!” Touché.
I’m afraid our province’s all-male police chiefs are no different from that town’s past chiefs. The jai-teng betting stations in Pangasinan are thriving and continue to line many pockets in the province. The proliferation of “Drop-Ball”, another illegal numbers game in the province, is not even in the equation of earnings of barangay officials, mayors and police chiefs.
I wonder if Dagupan City will ever have a lady police chief. After the Lim administration perhaps?
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PRO-PNOY PROJECT. I have seen pictures of the completed phases in the development of the controversial eco-tourism zone in Lingayen launched by the Espino administration.
There is no denying that a Class A golf course inside the eco-tourism zone is being developed, one that will definitely put the province in the tourism map of the country. Seeing the completed phases, one can readily accept that the reported digging and extraction in the area, mistakenly viewed as a mining activity, was definitely necessary to ensure that trees and special types of grass planned for the zone can survive.
Unlike issues on irresponsible mining by some small-scale miners, the digging of the magnetized or black sand in Lingayen is for a developmental purpose. The dug area is not waylaid after extraction and instead developed for aesthetic purposes.
Even assuming that the extraction of black sand, labeled as “mining” by political detractors, has resulted in revenue opportunities, the present law on mining provides that the affected community will earn revenues from a mining activity. So, there can be no issue if an agreement is reached between the affected barangays and the provincial government that the presence of barangay representatives will be required in the negotiation and sale of the black sand (assuming the provincial government decides not to redistribute the extracted sand to other areas around the eco-tourism zone).
But to suspend the project indefinitely is anti-poor and will delay the benefits that will accrue to the residents of the villages in the area. Without a doubt in my mind, the vision of the Espino administration to make Pangasinan a major tourist destination is taking shape, in line with PNoy’s economic thrust in the regions.
While Guv Spines may not be PNoy’s political ally, the Guv’s eco-tourism zone is 100% pro-PNoy. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the President’s allies in the region, to help ensure that the project is not delayed another day. Any further effort to delay and derail the completion of the eco-tourism zone cannot but be interpreted as another attempt to sabotage PNoy’s vision for progress.
Isumbong nyo kay PNoy!
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COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE POLITICS. If the Pangasinan trapo politicians don’t watch it, we may be seeing the last of support from the Korean government and investors.
In Dagupan City, the Korean government-funded Seafood Processing Plant is a major collateral damage in the fight for good governance in the city. After the past Fernandez administration opted to ensure the viability of the plant by turning over the management of the plant to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Lim administration is out to reverse the intent because he wants to manage it himself.
It’s been five months since the plant was mothballed ostensibly for failing to operate without a business permit. Holding the plant hostage, the Lim administration listed more administrative requirements when the permit issue became moot to impress upon BFAR that the plant will remain closed until the latter agrees to a joint management with the city at the very least. True enough, after the administrative requirements were accomplished, the plant remains closed to this day all because no agreement has been reached for joint management.
In Lingayen, the Korean contractor is also caught in the local political fray that the eco-tourism zone project got mired into. The contractor-developer cannot proceed to work on the project, ending up paying more interest payments on its bank loan it needed to complete its contract.
No wonder, the Philippines is considered one of the worst places for foreign investment in the region, whether for goodwill and development or long term profit.
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Here’s quote from our favorite judge, Judge Ulysses Butuyan, on the Corona trial: “Just remind all that no one is higher than the Constitution. So, no proof illegally obtained may be used as a basis to find guilt. The Supreme Court is exclusively constitutionally empowered to nullify a judgment based thereon, whoever renders it.”
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