Preparing history today for tomorrow

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

THE provincial board made history the other week by creating the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission. And it couldn’t have made a better choice with PUNCH columnist Gonz Duque as its recommended first chairman/executive director. It was Gonz (and his committee) after all who did a yeoman’s job determining the approximate founding period of Pangasinan as a province.

But much of the credit should go to Guv Spines who evidently inspired its formation by his passion and keen interest in promoting Pangasinan’s culture and language. You have to hand it to him as the governor who is painstakingly making a difference for Pangasinenses as a people.

This is one legacy that the governor and the board members can claim and boast to their great grandchildren (presuming of course that “Chairman” Gonz and future commissioners will do a good job at it which I have nod doubt they will).

Guv Spines, Bm Mojaimito Libunao and the rest of the board members, and “Chairman” Gonz:  take a bow!

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I only pray that the future provincial boards would never have to deny the commission ample maintenance and operations budget to ensure the quality, preservation and protection of its database for future generations to appreciate.

The quality of the output of the commission will depend on quality investigative research and editing, and that costs money. This should be one item in the budget that should never be equated with other priorities like health, peace and order, etc. History may not feed mouths or buy more guns for the police but it helps build the character of a people who will face challenges of their own in health, peace and order and other sectors.

It’s imperative, therefore, that ample sums are appropriated to see to the constant updating of its equipment and databank.

(Here’s an unsolicited important management policy that I hope “Chairman” Gonz will adopt: Ensure the exclusive use of computers for the commission’s databasing for that purpose only, meaning no employee should be allowed to use the computers for email or games, the main sources of virus attacks! In addition, all processed data should be preserved in back-up hard disks as well).

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With the advent of Internet, information technology and social networking, the commission will have its hands full in no time validating submitted and researched contributions, photos and anecdotes of great Pangasinenses who have come before us. Consider the amazing enthusiasm of many of our elders who plunged into social networking with nary an apprehension but simply taking delight in reuniting with lost friends, classmates and relatives of old through cyberspace. They will make good regular resources for historic accounts. Above all, nobody has to worry about parting with cherished old photos because these can now be emailed to or duplicated (and yes, photoshopped with so much ease) by the commission.

With the formation of the commission, I can imagine thousands soon dusting off and rummaging through their antique bauls where treasured photos and letters have been kept for ages, all raring to share golden moments captured or frozen in time.

So to all would be town, school and family historians, await the commission’s guidelines then fire away with your pictures and data.

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EMPOWERING BARANGAYS. In our editorial this week, we included as part of our wish list the empowerment of more communities in the province.

While the Local Government Code has provided for all the organizational, structural and legal authority to enable a barangay unit to govern itself as a community, what most barangays lack is the complete information to effectively govern, specifically, updated information on national laws and town/city ordinances. Empowerment, after all, is about making communities self-reliant and well-informed.

Over the years, it was not unusual to see barangay councils finding their own ordinances being deemed redundant, duplicating town/city ordinances that are in place, all because they did not have the information.  To the consternation of the barangay officials, redundancy meant waste of time and resources spent for the adoption of the barangay ordinance. But that is not even as bad as finding their barangay ordinances in conflict with town ordinances and therefore, voided.

This fact highlights the reality that only the local legislators and the police (where applicable) are aware of the existence of ordinances that impact on peace and order, yet little or nothing about health and sanitation, environment, zoning, etc.. While nothing has been said about it, it is, in fact, the ignorance of barangay officials themselves that contribute to the lack of civic order in communities.

In this regard, mayors can make a lot of difference for their constituents if they use their resources and authority to direct the holding of a series of fora among barangay officials in their towns/cities on town ordinances and related national laws that the barangays should help enforce at their level. Imagine the impact of law enforcement if ordinances are enforced at the barangay level.

The wherewithal for these fora can be provided by the internal revenue allocation being earned by the barangays.

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A blessed Christmas and a peaceful new year to our loyal readers and advertisers!  It is they who have made the Sunday PUNCH what it is today – independent and credible!

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