Punchline
Expose hitmen’s faces
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE hitmen and thieves riding in tandem are on a roll.
They know too well that our officialdom, especially our police, are at a loss on how to keep their activities in check. Between their speedy getaway using ordinary-looking motorcycles and their masked identities using their crash helmets, their chances of getting away with their crimes are practically 100%!
The main culprit is the helmet law passed in 2009. Regrettably, law enforcers feel that unless that law is repealed or amended, there isn’t much anything one can do but simply set up check points to look into ownership of the motorbikes and enforce wearing of “protective helmets”!
But without amending the law, there is an answer! Note the law requires only use of “protective helmets”, not crash helmets! There’s the loophole that lawmakers and enforcers are looking for. The law is silent on the type of protective helmet that can be used and sold. The law only requires manufacturers and sellers to sell only helmets made of sturdy material and passed government standards.
A crash helmet that completely covers the face of the rider can and should be banned!
Local governments can and should pass ordinances that ban the use of crash helmets and require a prescribed protective headgear that exposes the face of the bikers and riders! And there are such protective helmets like these in the market!
The provincial government can start with this ordinance, and other LGUs can just as easily follow suit.
This, and the usual checkpoints, should effectively marginalize and constrict movements of the HRIT (hitmen riding in tandem) until they find another loophole in the law!
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QUO VADIS? Where is the Dagupan City sanggunian headed to under the watch of Vice Mayor Brian Lim? To certain ignominy?
Since the Fernandez administration took over and confirmed that the Citystate Savings Bank has been operating without building and business permits, the city council has not even asked one question inside the session hall: How is that possible?
The bank has been operating fully for nearly a year now in complete defiance of the city’s ordinances. Worse, the bank will not likely even be made to pay its business taxes this year since it will not be issued a mayor’s permit again this year in view of the bank’s continued failure to comply fully with the requirements.
Through it all, the members of the city sanggunian led by Vice Mayor Lim just don’t seem inclined to hear, see and say anything about it.
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JDV FACTOR? Already, the hush-hush talk reportedly going around the business circle is the rumor that former Speaker Joe de V is interceding for Mr. Antonio Cabangon Chua, a close friend, who reportedly asked for his help.
Unfortunately for the revered statesman from Dagupan, his name is being dragged into this contentious issue. I’m afraid the unsettled situation is ripe for ugly rumors of influence peddling, the only logical explanation for the failure of the city hall to enforce the city’s ordinances.
I just hope the Dagupeño in Mr. JDV will not make him attempt to right a perceived wrong for a friend with another wrong that will hurt the city. In the same vein, I do hope Mayor Belen would not yield to any indecent proposition that Mr. Cabangon Chua’s loudspeakers in Dagupan are trumpeting – to junk the requirements. We are already in the era of Balon Dagupan, aren’t we?
What could certainly help end these unsavory rumors is for the former speaker to reiterate the dictum to his friend that “No one is above the law” and advises his friend to back down.
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INUTILE? Meanwhile at the city hall, Mayor Belen continues to wait for the city legal officer’s recommendation after failing in her attempts to force the closure by removing its source of electricity.
Mayor Belen initially asked the Dagupan Electric Corporation to transfer the electric meter of the city government being used by the bank without any authorization during the city fiesta. The request was denied!
Out of sheer frustration, she then ultimately ordered the termination of the contract for that meter. Decorp again refused. (Believe it or not, Decorp reportedly sought legal cover for it’s dubious response vis-à-vis the city hall by referring the mayor’s simple letter ordering the termination of the meter contract to the Energy Regulatory Commission for guidance).
So wonder of all wonders, even in the face of such display of defiance by both the Citysate and Decorp alone, not a pipsqueak of protest came out from their session hall. Tsk-tsk. The sanggunian is the body mandated to be the check and balance of the executive branch, yet it does not even wonder how a private bank can actually ignore the city’s ordinances in an act of defiance, how a public utility company can summarily ignore the city’s chief executive legitimate order?
In another parallel move, the Fernandez city hall has also since submitted a draft resolution that would empower the city government to close a business establishment if it does not comply with the city’s ordinances. But the draft is being ignored at the sanggunian, and absentee majority floor leader Maybelyn Fernandez is nowhere to rally support for it.
Has the Dagupan sanggunian chosen to become inutile for the benefit of one businessman and the vice mayor? I pray not.
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GUV SPINES’ SOPA. There were no surprises but questions about Guv Spines “State of the Province Address.”
That the Espino administration chalked up an unprecedented number of accolade and recognition for a job well done from national and regional bodies was expected. Notably, the inclusive growth that the PNoy administration could only promise to the nation, was felt and realized under a hard-working Espino government.
The Espino administration’s successful efforts to boost health, education, infrastructure, agriculture and sports are impressive and cannot be scoffed at by anyone. In fact, more are expected from Guv Spines in his last term.
But there was one concern that was left out in his report card. Nothing was said about his campaign to make Pangasinan drug-free finally. There was no indication that his campaign was gaining or losing grounds. Has the campaign gained some victories? How many druglords and dealers have been thrown behind bars? How many prosecutors and judges in the pockets of druglords have been exposed? How may victims have been rehabilitated? The people would like to know.
We hope Guv Spines will finally report on this next year, same time, same place.
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LOVE. Belated happy valentine to our love-struck and hopelessly romantic readers. Life without love, is no life at all. Didn’t Jesus even say: Love your enemies?
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