Bridge of sighs

By Jun Velasco

HIGH school journalists were surprised at former PNP chief Art Lomibao’s gift of gab recently at a journalism symposium at the Luna College in Tayug town.

Unknown to many, Art, who now styles himself as “Citizen Art,” took special courses in journalism and media, hence his masterly handling of Camp Crame’s media bureau before he became Region 1 director and finally PNP chief.

He is a good speaker, and even after Crame, he has been getting public speaking invitations everywhere every day, we heard. Is the Mangaldan kid yielding to the lure of politics?

We thought he was joking when he said he was “available for governor” during a Rotary meeting, but lately the governor is now Pangasinan governor. And a lot of people are dropping the word “senator.” What?

Art is a friend, and we would caution him against stepping into the political snake pit as he is of a nobler stuff.

At the inter-city Rotary meeting in Dagupan last Monday at Lenox Hotel, Dagupan East vice president-elect Nonong Canicula observed that Art has metamorphosed into a sleek politician but added quickly, “but with a difference!”

Tony Patungan, president of Dagupan East which hosted the 8-club meeting, chuckled the

Pangasinan Rotarians “have become Lomibao fans overnight.”

“They enjoyed his wisecracks, he speaks like a veteran speaker,” Tony chuckled. A Mindanao newsman (Ben Diansay) who came to Dagupan precisely “to catch” Art to also invite him to a joint Rotary meeting in Davao City next week says he will endorse him for “whatever he sets his sights on.”  Ben, publisher of 8 newspapers in Mindanao including a daily, says Art’s affability will enhance his chances of winning.

And back to Luna Colleges, the student journalists who shot him with questions on press freedom, press responsibility, Information Technology, the Lebanon crisis, the Garci tapes, crime wave, and related subjects enjoyed Art’s best repartees cum anecdotes enriched by his 30 years in the military.

If everyone thought that no one could create political ripples in a post Agbayani era, the situation seems to have changed. Political brokers are surprised by Art’s savvy, and they realize it was time to watch and take the guy seriously.

But why is a senate seat being dangled when, according to Sigaw’s Raul Lambino, it’s counting its days? After we finish off with this article, we’ll look for Art to clarify things.

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If there is something the Pantal Bridge has achieved even at its groundbreaking stage, it’s  in bridging Speaker Joe de V and Mayor Benjie Lim together under a makeshift roof that  launched the bridge’s construction last Wednesday, with no less than the President and Governor Victor Agbayani  as go-between.

Pantal, it may be said now, “bridged” Philippine-Japan friendship which was breached during World War II.

It just occurred to us if Pantal Bridge be renamed “The Bridge of Sigh” or Friendship Bridge because of these meaningful developments. President GMA in her SONA (SANA?) put it succinctly when she said that fighting may be inevitable at times which she’d welcome anytime because she is “game” but quickly dismissed it as “a big waste of time.”

The petite president said it’s better to love and befriend than hurt anyone.  Think about it. If you hurt someone, you hurt yourself, too. The voice of conscience always stands in the way. The cliche “make peace, not war” still carried a wallop.

The world is caught in a war that no one – so it seems – such as in the Lebanon case, can win even by a long shot.

It’s tiring to have enemies. Even the thought of it is tiring. Let Pantal, the bridge of friendship, conjure thoughts that bind, not thoughts that divide.

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Our friend Boy Rayos was fuming mad when he called up Friday to complain that for a couple of weeks now, Bonuan residents have been gnashing their teeth over the sudden rise of water along Arellano Bani.  Boy wants the city engineer’s office to explain why flooding in that part of the city could not be contained.

Whatever happened to the city’s dredging and flood control project?  We held the view and we still hold it now that Dagupan, which is situated below sea-level, needs a circumferential dike-wall similar to what the Netherlanders have to shield  their country from the sea  (remember “The Lake in the Dike” story?).

It would be well for flood control czar Fidel Ginez and City Engineer Jane Rosario to placate Boy Rayos who is acting as the spokesman of the aggrieved residents inconvenienced by the flood.

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NOTES: Local Elvis Presley songs aficionados will mark their idol’s death anniversary today, August l7. In the case of the Dagupan Monday club, Celsa Beltran’s Gardenia Cafe will be the venue for a Presley sing-out tomorrow. A similar affair will be held at Rotarian Manny Santos’ restaurant, “Badong’s” at the Dagupan-Calasiao boundary. Manny is also an Elvis impersonator like Atty. Johnny Primicias, president of the Elvis Friendship Club in Pangasinan. Johnny is a familiar name in Elvis fans club in Manila which has for members Chato Bertol, Edgar Opida, Egay Higwitt, Boy Sanchez, Buddy Castillo and many others. They regularly meet at Quattro Restaurant in Timog, Quezon City.     

                                          

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