Punchline
Binmaley can but Dagupan can’t
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
What’s the difference between the governments of Dagupan City and the town of Binmaley?
In Dagupan, fish pen operators can thumb their noses at the mayor and his officials, ignoring the city’s ordinance and get away with it. In Binmaley, the fish pen operators would not even dare think of violating a moratorium on fish pen operations declared by the town’s leadership.
Was it a case of good and bad legislation? Surely, the town’s councilors can’t possibly know more about fish pen operations than the city’s or perhaps the city councilors know a lot more but are not telling for a price? Or was it a case of political will and leadership that one has and the other doesn’t?
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While it was both pathetic and comic to hear the city agriculturist Emma Molina lament about the treatment she gets from the both the legal and the illegal fish pen operators, it is more worrisome to learn that Mayor Al Fernandez did not and would not lift a finger to help her assert her authority as his representative in enforcing the city ordinance.
Something is fishy.
Then it’s been a week since Ms. Molina decried the embarrassing treatment she’s been getting but she has yet to produce the list of identified illegal fish pen operators in the city that she promised to provide the city council. And she doesn’t seem in a hurry to give that list for public scrutiny.
And curiously, City Administrator Alvin Fernandez who had his picture taken in the act of declaring war on the fish pen operators, has been mum about the revelation. Not even a pipsqueak from Mayor Al.
Something is beginning to stink like hell.
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FORGIVE-AND-FORGET? So who’s finally filing a case against the officials of the San Roque Dam?
Has the Spines government shifted to another “forgive-and-forget mode” so soon? If Guv Spines doesn’t pursue his original plan to sue, then he will only have himself to blame the next time another “dam protocol” wipes out more towns. If no case is filed, one can expect the Napocor officials to do the same song-and-dance number to the province’s gullible officials to again escape culpability.
Guv Spines can be certain that he will be remembered as the governor who did nothing when more die again from the waters of the dam.
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JUST AN EMPTY THREAT? Why aren’t many surprised that most gun-owners did not bother to register or renew their licenses to possess their firearms?
I believe the low turnout has something to do with the reputation and sagging credibility of the police as law enforcer and protector. Responsible gun-owners find it frustrating that they keep paying while others are scot-free to keep their guns without having to bother with anything. The illegal gun-owners have police friends who will not snitch on them.
The criminals, on the other hand, have nothing to fear. Only the stupid get caught.
And what would the unregistered gun-owners have to say about Smiley PD Barba’s threat to file for search warrants against them? Do I hear them say – Make my day?
Indeed, let’s see Mr. Barba confiscate more unlicensed firearms and file more cases than the number of registered firearms under the amnesty program. Failing that, he has to agree with the unregistered gun-owners that the police can’t do much but to threaten without a promise to do anything.
