Cleanliness should start at home

By Eva C. Visperas

Malimgas Dagupan, Clean Dagupan, Linis Dagupan. Same meaning, same purpose, same program.

But has it achieved its objective? Let us check.

The latest was no less than City Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, fondly called by  one of Pangasinan’s top broadcasters Orly Navarro as amputin ogaw (white child), exactly the opposite of the councilor’s complexion, who was fined P300 last week.

His offense was, he was caught throwing a cigarette butt on the ground. He just dropped it maybe as if nothing happened.

Actually, Tamayo, a lawyer, insisted that he paid the fine although he was only warned by the cleanliness task force not to commit the same mistake again. But he told me when I saw him last week, he knows that no one is above the law and he must be fined.

That cigarette- throwing incident drew mixed reactions from the people. Some praised Tamayo for his humility, others deplored him for being a lawmaker who is a lawbreaker.

I also heard that some Chinese businessmen along the downtown area are arrogant when elements of COMET (Consultants, Community Monitoring and Enforcement Team) reprimand them for not observing cleanliness in their establishment premises. Some have become even violent perhaps to intimidate the poor team.

When I was first handed a feature article that talked on The Realization of Making Dagupan a Clean City, it was written there that as of June 28, 2006, the team has reported a total of 147 apprehensions. These were violators of City Ordinance 1456-93 for littering on streets, sidewalks, parks, squares, playgrounds, markets, plazas and other public, and also for failure to maintain cleanliness of the premises of the establishments within the central business district of the city.

By now, I am sure this number has ballooned because the team does consistent monitoring and apprehension. Few days ago, a person who ate santol was also apprehended. Since of course, you don’t eat the seeds of the fruit, the eater indiscriminately threw the seeds on the street and ended up paying P300.

The Cleanliness Campaign Task Force empowered by Special Order #28 series of  2006 signed by Mayor Bejie Lim, has this vision-mission: Dagupan City: Malinis sa Tingin, sa Amoy, sa Langhap.

The task force under the combined leadership of husband and wife Antonio and Rosalina Boquiren works with some volunteer institutional partners to penetrate even the barangays, as well as coordinate with other concerned sectors like the law enforcers, non- government organizations, and the different components of the community.

Last week, I tried to inspect the city hall premises as well as the city plaza.

If I were to give it a rating, I would give 78 percent only. Not impressive grade. What do you expect? I still saw traces of human spits, candy wrappers littering the place, and stray cats’ wastes.

When I parked my old car inside the plaza last Thursday, I was glad there was a space available which I thought was really intended for me. “Wow atchi, looks like it was reserved for you,” Susan Yadao of Aksyon Radyo who is becoming the envy of some mediamen because of her closeness to police officials (ha ha ha), commented.

But my smile was short-lived. As soon as I stepped out from my car, there was something in the air that smelt horrible.

“It’s like the odor that comes out from the fish delivery truck,” Susan added. The plaza is near the fish market. That perhaps explains why because some trucks unload their wares near the plaza.

So, much of the problem lies on the people themselves. A majority view their surroundings as big garbage bins.

And this is the big challenge for the COMET. Cleanliness, like charity, should begin at home.

And this must start within the city hall compound.

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