Punchline
Guv Spines for Vice Guv?
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
AT last it’s in the open!
Guv Spines finally confirmed that he is grooming his son and namesake ‘Pogi’ (does that make the Guv ‘Mas Pogi’ for namesake?) to succeed him as governor when he bows out in 2016.
If the jump-ball will strictly be between former Cong. Mark Cojuangco and former mayor and now Kap Pogi Espino, the odds are definitely in favor of the congressman, who is undoubtedly the political heavyweight to contend with. Kap Pogi’s claim to political stardom strictly speaking is limited to his being a 3-termer mayor of Bautista.
But in truth and in fact, 2016 will not be a Cong Mark vs. Kap Pogi contest but Cong Mark vs. Guv Spines! Whether Kap Pogi likes it or not, it will be a proxy war for Guv Spines and all three gentlemen know it to be so! If it weren’t, Cong. Mark did not have to steal the limelight away from Guv Spines on the day the popular governor delivered his state of the province address. He did so because he knew he has a lot of catching up to do against Guv Spines who has already a number of championship trophies tucked away in his cabinet.
If it weren’t, Guv Spines did not have to make the announcement for his son. Read his lips: “It will be ME vs. Mark!”
In the world of internet war-gaming industry, the statistics for Guv Spines vs. Cong Mark encounter can make the Pacquiao-Mayweather dream bout a run for its money here in Pangasinan.
So place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! Guv Spines (for Pogi) or Cong Mark!
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DILEMMA. I would hate to be in the shoes of any of the mayors at this time.
The mayors and barangay kapitans are worried as hell how to not please just one but both. For as long as they can remember, they all worked and partied together and succeeded! They can find no reason to dissociate from each other. The ride for them has been good until Mr. MC told them they have to choose. Last week, Guv Spines had the same message to them: Choose!
Perhaps, the mayors would not be so stressed over it if there were critical damning issues between Guv Spines and Cong Mark, then choosing sides may not be too difficult, but there are none. Both are gentlemen and achievers in their own right. In fact, the 2016 campaign period may yet turn out to be the only campaign where the outcome will only be decided by how each one used their logistics, not by campaign speeches and black propaganda.
That’s the price one has to pay in politics. Friendships and relationships are never permanent, only political interests are.
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GUV’S ACES. The confirmation of Kap Pogi’s bid also effectively marginalized political dreams of Cong Pol Bataoil and VG Ferdie Calimlim of becoming governor soon.
However, without a doubt, they make viable candidates as vice-guvs. But will Cong Pol want to slide down from being a congressman to a vice guv to Kap Pogi? Will VG Ferdie move to Cong Mark’s camp? Now that’s where the next series of speculations lie until their respective certificates of candidacy are filed.
But there is one political scenario that can still unsettle everything even before our dyed in the wool politicos can discern what’s before them. Consider Guv Spines running for vice guv to Pogi! Remember how Davao’s Mayor Rod Duterte managed to keep himself strapped to the city’s throne? His daughter Sara easily won one term as mayor under the shadow of his father who ran as her vice mayor.
Like it or not, Guv Spines holds the aces, and everyone knows it.
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CRIMINALS’ HELMETS. Dagupan Mayor Belen F. is right to call for a dialogue on the helmet ordinance since it is an equally important agenda for her regional peace and order council as well. Criminals riding in tandem and/or using the motorcycles as convenient getaway vehicles are not the exclusive problems of Dagupan.
She knows she must find a solution that can marry both and serve the interests of the helpless public.
If only LTO regional director Jojo had been less combative, he could have had the opportunity to shine by initiating the dialogue himself at the onset. But obviously, he myopic attitude only saw an opportunity to get back at the detractors and mortal enemies of his former patron and bossman BSL. He could have been the man who showed what statesmanship is all about but he’d rather show who’s boss even when he is not.
As a mid-level functionary in the DOTC totem pole, he can draft administrative orders to make his bosses look good, but he can never believe to think for a moment that he can dictate on what a local government unit can and should do. Worst, he only has powers to threaten his subordinates (and his bosses) but not local officials.
Having said that about him, here is a suggestion that perhaps he, as a bureaucrat of the implementing agency, can introduce as another set implementing guidelines to the helmet law.
Note that the law simply requires “standard protective motorcycle helmet.” There is no description or technical specification of the helmet except that a helmet must bear the Philippine Standard (PS) mark or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) of the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) and complies with the standards set by the BPS.” Therein lies the answer.
The issue at hand is not really about the use of helmets but the use of a particular helmet that hides the faces of criminals. The standard protective helmet should refer to the helmet being used by the motorcycle riding police officers! Their helmets do not cover the their faces. What criminals use are crash helmets that completely cover faces and used by professional car and motorcycle racers.
LTO can do the country a service by further defining the standard crash helmet and ban crash helmets in the streets except in race circuits. With this in place, the city ordinance can be amended further merely to authorize barangays and the police to set up helmet checkpoints to flag down motorcycle riders who use banned crash helmets.
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PROTECTION. The arrest of the brother of former Mayor Magliba of San Fabian in a drug buy-bust operation of the Dagupan police confirms what many have long suspected – that politicians are already in the pockets of drug syndicates for protection.
A similar report cited by our Deretsahan Bebot Villar in this week’s issue points to a similar situation in La Union. The nephew of a town mayor is brazenly supplying illegal drugs in 5 towns!
One therefore wonders how much does the office of P/Sr. Supt. Sterling Raymund Blanco now know about politicians and their relatives who are involved in illegal drug trading? Ditto for P/Supt. Christopher Abrahano in Dagupan City. There have been reports about two barangay kapitans in Dagupan who are in the thick of it. Why hasn’t a buy-bust operation attempted on them or their relatives? I’m afraid until they get the big fish in the city, the protection racket will continue.
But today, I salute the Mr. Abrahano and the DCPS for collaring a Magliba sibling. Keep the good hunt going!
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