A pseudo SOCA?

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

THERE is this piece of good news for Dagupenos… but still more bad news.

City Mayor Benjie Lim finally agreed to present his plans formally to the city council as mandated by the local government code (LGC). Hopefully, this change of heart will finally result in what he originally touted in his vision as “shared responsibility”.

His agreeing to present his program to the city council is a step in the right direction but I still could sense some equivocation on his part.

His letter, citing Section 455 of LGC, said “The local chief executive can (underscoring mine) present the program of government…” Then, he sets the condition that his address should not be known as State of the City Address. Here we go again. It will look like a SOCA, sound like a SOCA, smell like a SOCA but it will not be a SOCA. Hmmm.

Why he has to make it appear like he is doing the people and the city council a favor is highly pretentious. The LGC says it is his mandated duty, not an option on his part to present his program to the city council. But OK, if face-saving is what he needs at this time, then let’s grant him that if that is what it will take for him to start the business of proper governance.

By all means, the city council should welcome the opportunity to straighten things out with the executive arm for the city’s benefit, never mind the face-saving antics.

I only wish Mr. Lim will finally drop all his power play antics, dump his “business deals” using public funds and finally buckle down to work to become the best mayor the city ever had. He can start by practicing what he preaches to his barangay kapitans –  “Be accountable,” he tells them.

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Now, back to the bad news.

I just got a set of documents with the city’s seal marked “confidential” from my city hall moles “Venus” and “Adonis”. It was in connection with my publication of the overpriced grocery items for the mayor’s feeding program.

The documents were proofs of the conspiracy in that highly anomalous city hall transaction using the people’s money. The documents bore the signatures of Mayor Benjie, Vladimir Mata, BAC chairman, Ildefonso Calimlim, city budget officer; Teresita Manaois, city accountant; Leah Aquino, CNAO NO. IV; Lynn Magno, proprietor of Jurick General Merchandise, the members of the Committee on Awards, namely Virgil Tangco, Eduardo Magno, Atty. Roy Laforteza and Engr. Nestor de Vera, and Maximo Alexis Tan, executive assistant III. (Curiously, the document for approval by Ofelia Celi, city auditor, was left unsigned).

I am willing to share the set of documents to whoever is inclined to file the complaint against all the named officials with the Ombudsman. Could retired Appellate Court Justice Teddy Regino, the renowned graft buster, be so inclined?

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THE FINAL COVER-UP? Here’s a more telling indicator of the hanky panky in the city hall.

As minutes of the city council would show, City Legal Officer Roy Laforteza, during the city council session on the city’s budget, conveniently pointed to the city auditor for the explanation in a bid to avoid incriminating himself further on the question of the discovered illegal release of city funds as calamity aid without benefit of a declaration of state of calamity in the city.

Everyone would logically expect the city auditor, Ofelia Celi, to reflect the illegal transaction in her report citing the absence of the official declaration of a state of calamity but why did Atty. Laforteza seek refuge in the city auditor’s report seemingly to absolve himself and others?

I believe given this unexpected and surprising response from Atty. Laforteza, the city council should not dilly-dally in reviewing the city auditor’s annual report. While I do not wish to speculate what the city auditor reported, I cannot but have this nasty feeling that a cover-up has been completed to make it appear that the release of the calamity fund was legit. If so, then Ms. Celi certainly would have a lot of explaining not only to his bosses but to the Ombudsman as well.

As things stand today, the revelations of former COA auditor Heidi Mendoza on the case of former Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia (no relation to us, thank God!) during the Congress hearings have already prompted inquiries on the illegal acts of resident auditors across the country.

For Ms. Celi’s sake, I pray she was faithful in performing her duty as auditor and nothing of what Atty. Laforteza insinuated.

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I HAD TO BE IN EDSA. The week that passed saw the celebration of the 25th anniversary of EDSA 1 People Power. Like the thousands who were made to suffer the curtailment of basic freedoms during the martial law, I recall in hindsight how dangerously and foolishly daring I was to be in EDSA throughout the fateful People Power days in 1986.

I stood by Camp Crame’s gates believing I could help man the ramparts against the column of tanks, armed with my training as ROTC advance graduate and my licensed puny .22 cal Llama pistol tucked away in my jacket! Foolish? Nah, I’d say stupid to believe I could survive a bloody battle. Thank God, our People Power preceded that of Egypt, Libya, etc. or their examples would have prompted Mr. Marcos and General Fabian Ver to blow us up to kingdom come at the first sign of resistance. So, I constantly thank God today for His infinite wisdom and goodness to make the Philippines the first template and thereby kept many of us still alive today.

And there was one amusing incident during the first hours of Cardinal Sin’s’ “call to arms”.  As I walked up and down that stretch of EDSA, I met several acquaintances in the Marcos government who were apparently there for the same reason. One greeted me with a knowing smile: “Fancy meeting you here, Mr. Garcia!” Obviously it was in reference to my being Mrs. Imelda Marcos’ “inaanak sa kasal“. The inference of that greeting was obviously my surprise “betrayal”. I replied: “Why shouldn’t we all be here?” They smiled again and resumed their leisure walk.

Indeed, I had all the reasons to be there. It was martial law that labelled me a subversive…it detained me for a day then harassed me throughout for putting out a special free issue of the PUNCH on the first day of martial law (in violation of PD 1081 daw) reporting on the military crackdown (I was told later it was only the PUNCH that managed to put out an issue in the country on September 21)…it ordered me out of the province so I wont be visible in the eyes of the military and the police… it prevented the PUNCH from reporting the evils of martial law… it prevented me from functioning as a journalist.

I had to be there.

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THE GOOD LIFE. Simple joys can be found in good restos in Dagupan. Consistent quality in food preparation and portioning are Enzo, the Japanese resto in Orient Pacific Center on Perez Blvd., Todd’s in Eastgate Plaza, Gloria Maris at the CSI Mall in Lucao District, and Matutina’s III in Tondaligan. A new find is the Time Machine along the Bonuan Road. Check them out!

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