A letter to fellow Binmaleynians

By Eva C. Visperas

Three years ago, I wished and prayed hard for development to come to my beloved hometown of Binmaley. It seemed it was hopeless then. It looked like I was wishing for the moon and the stars. But I held on to my dreams.

Money was overflowing then. Many people were vulnerable too. Fellow mediamen also thought our efforts would be just futile. But deep in our hearts, we knew we were on the right direction. Little by little, we proved that money was not everything.

So a new leader was installed. Mayor Simplicio “Sammy” Rosario proved to all that he was our right choice for change. From darkness, we saw light in the form of projects he tremendously and unceasingly did.

Suddenly, Binmaley had its make over, a physical facelift, a brand new image.

In just three years, we had a beautiful people’s park, once a grazing ground of cows with tall grasses, and no one would even dare stroll around for fear of being bitten by snakes.

Then, our municipal hall attracted the attention of passersby with its new look, inside and out. Once a home of termites, literally that is (I saw it myself after the old occupant abandoned his office when he lost in the elections).

It has become the pride of every Binmaleynian as it is now fully air-conditioned, clean, homely, and its employees now more courteous and accommodating.

No less than President Gloria Arroyo and her senatorial bets who recently came here were awed at the beauty of our Binmaley Presidencia. Easily, it can be considered among the best in the country. A new police station was also constructed, replacing the old, dilapidated, foul-smelling building.

At present, a big gymnasium, envisioned to be a fully air-conditioned multi- purpose building where big gatherings like games of the Philippine Basketball Association, boxing bouts, weddings, baptismal and birthday parties and the like could be held, is undergoing construction.

Binmaley, as we know, is the Fish Bowl of Pangasinan. Fishponds abound, rivers were once teeming with different kinds of fish, until fishpens and fish cages owned by the few rich, influential people suddenly mushroomed with the go signal from the top leader then. Meanwhile the lowly sumisigay (fisherman) was deprived of his livelihood. Fishkills happened many times then, perhaps it was Mother Nature’s message to the greedy saying “’Enough. Stop it”.

Packed with political will, Rosario implemented the demolition of these illegal fishing structures. It was not easy, but he successfully did it.

Thanks to the cooperation of the people who believed in his purpose.

Now, our rivers can breathe again, freely.

Of course, the guy is not perfect but he is trying to deliver his promises as promptly as he could.

Now, the time to judge candidates is here again. Three weeks more to go and the sentence will be finally out.  Money is overflowing again, my sources said.

This morning, as I was writing this piece, I heard Roland Hidalgo of Power Radyo saying in his program that Mayor Sam is standing on a solid ground of politics of performance.

Will the color of money blind us or have we truly learned our lessons in the past?

It’s your choice.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/business-log/)          

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments