Punchline
Training for future corruption
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WHEN I wrote about sentiments of many quarters in the national government (including P-Noy) wanting to abolish the Sangguniang Kabaataan, the only adverse reaction I received naturally came from some presidents of SK chapters. That hardly surprised me since their perks and privileges are on the line. They’ve got much to lose, correction – their political parents have much to lose.
As things stand today, SK presidents are a lucky bunch. They draw regular salaries from public funds just like other councilors and yet they are not held accountable by anyone, not even by their peers. They get scholarships in spite of being habitual absentees during sanggunian sessions. (Translation for political parents – no monthly allowances to give, no school tuitions to pay).
While the law had intended to make SK an institute of sort to train the youth for future responsibilities in public office, little did the authors (including former Senator Nene Pimentel) realize that one of the first things the SK officials would be taught by their elders are the dirty tricks in graft practice. So by the time today’s SK presidents get a crack at being elected as barangay chairman, councilor or mayor, their minds would already be fully calibrated in computing kickbacks.
And as their luck would have it, P-Noy’s plan to break up the group was overtaken by events that certainly merited a higher priority. Lucky them, SK officers will still be elected next week and there isn’t much of a hope that this year’s election would finally give meaning to the law that seeks nothing else but to eventually see a new generation of truly honorable young men and women take the reins of government.
Just watch them campaign. They’re conducting themselves no different from known dishonest elders seeking public office.
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Is there still hope for SK?
As always, I’d love to be proven wrong but the indicators point to much of the same trash – many of the candidates are still offspring of current barangay and town officials who see nothing wrong mimicking their elders’ standard campaign sloganeering, including illegal postering and now, costly gimmicks.
I heard that some doting ambitious parents have already spent at least a hundred thousand bucks for their kids’ foray into the corrupt world of politics. The young candidates don’t even appear bothered at the very least when told that they are blatantly violating campaign and election rules. Obviously they have been told by their elders to ignore Comelec since nobody goes to jail for violating the rules.
What could possibly shock many if not restore confidence and respect for what SK stands for is if various youth groups and their SK candidates forget about joining and signing useless peace covenants and instead lead a campaign of shame against candidates who violate the campaign rules. What a sight that would be to see the righteous among the SK candidates banding together to show their elders for a change what the word integrity means, that respect for law is essential, that there is accountability demanded of all elected officials. They can begin by taki pictures of illegally posted campaign materials and submit these to the Comelec for the latter’s appropriate action (never mind that Comelec could ignore them but the PUNCH can help make that office accountable upon receipt of those pictures).
if there will but one young man or woman who can stand up to the ways of the corrupt and incorrigible elders during the campaign, there is hope for SK.
Meanwhile, Comelec officials should stop issuing warning about candidates violating the election law if they cannot enforce it. The violations of candidates are deliberate and blatant in complete defiance of a useless Comelec. Still for reasons only known to our Comelec officials, they refuse to believe that they are now the laughing stock in the eyes of the candidates.
Heaven help them…and this country.
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ET TU P-NOY? Senator Alan Cayetano hit the nail on the head last week when he told his colleagues that the issue about jueteng is not whether it should be legalized or not but rather whether President Aquino wants it stopped or not.
For too long, our national and local leaders have been tossing the proverbial hot potato to and fro knowing too well that the issue would not be resolved. The bogey raised over and over is that jueteng can no longer be stopped, and therefore should be legalized. Legalizing it is a contentious issue but putting the issue squarely on the President is not.
Truth is, Cayetano’s stand was largely premised on Guv Spine’s declaration that jueteng has stopped in the province, that he has no intention of being a jueteng operator and that he has ordered the PNP to go hammer and tong against jueteng operations in the province. And, indeed, jueteng came to a halt in the province. For the senator, this is proof enough that jueteng can be stopped and it only took the province’s chief executive order to stop jueteng in its tracks. Surely, P-Noy as the country’s chief executive surely can do no less if he wants jueteng stopped. So far, our President today, like Presidents GMA and Erap, has not done as much as Guv Spines.
So far, Guv Spines’ order appears to be holding. And if it holds for good, he may yet be the only sitting governor of the province who would win a third term even after stopping jueteng during his watch. He can be confident that his accomplishments to date can no longer be threatened by mayors and board members who live by jueteng alone.
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MANAY GINA TO THE RESCUE. The ugly ghost of the Barangay Awai land scam has definitely appeared along Calmay River in Dagupan.
Watch Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim protect another business friend imposing himself on the city illegally.
The reclamation activity in Calmay River by the De Venecia Extension Highway by Mr. Lim’s Mangaldan-based friends who own 888 Dagupan Properties Corporation continues to this day without let-up. Sadly, while Mr. Lim appears to be making headway in his river-cleanup project, it’s becoming evident that he has conveniently made it as a front to cover his official protection of illegal activities of his friends in the city. One can only wonder what’s in it for the mayor this time.
If Mr. Lim refuses to protect the city’s natural resources for his friends’ benefit, the city can only bank on Rep. Gina de Venecia to come to the city’s rescue by invoking national government’s direct intervention to stop the illegal reclamation. The city has already lost millions in illegal reclamation in the city through the years, it’s time the official toleration of this clearly graft-ridden illegal activity stops today.
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