HAIL THE SUBTITUTES –That yarn spread by the malicious rumor mill that former Mayor Benjie Lim will stage a surprise by substituting his wife Celia as Nacionalista Party candidate for mayor in Dagupan did not take place.

The Dec. 10 deadline allowed by law to effect substitution of candidates lapsed with no shadow of Lim showing up to file his COC as a substitute candidate. Where is he? Has he finally recovered from a stroke that he suffered on the eve of the 2013 elections or almost three years ago?

What took place at the city election office was the withdrawal from the race of outgoing councilor Alfie Fernandez as Liberal Party candidate for vice mayor and his immediate replacement by Pogo Chico Barangay Captain Bryan Kua.

In the provincial elections office, Rep. Manay Gina de Venecia of the Fourth District of Pangasinan withdrew her certificate of candidacy and was immediately substituted by her son Christopher or Toff to his legions of friends and admirers in the celluloid world, being one time child actor on TV’s “Billy Bilyonario”.

In the case of Alfie, his withdrawal from the race was not totally a surprise because he was already reluctant from day one to rumble with Vice Mayor Brian Lim who opted to run for reelection instead of staging a showdown with Mayor Belen Fernandez.

Remember, he had to be cajoled to challenge Lim and after some talks with his family was eventually convinced to run for vice mayor under Mayor Belen a day after his father Al accompanied the mayor to file her COC with most members of her team in tow.

But despite persistent rumors he will withdraw from the race, we did not think he was that serious in turning his back on Team Belen.

Remember that when Mayor Belen was on sick bay, it was Alfie and his father Al who welcomed LP’s vice presidential candidate Leny Robredo to Dagupan City.

Then during the opening of the city fiesta last Dec. 4, we saw him in the company of fellow councilors on board a pick-up truck right behind the head vehicle of Mayor Belen waving to fans and tossing candies to children and bystanders, giving anyone with no inkling of his plan.

Then came our Rolly Dioquino telling us after seeing the city parade what he heard from an unimpeachable source at city hall that the son of Al is backing out from the race and Al could be the substitute candidate. – Leonardo Micua

 

UNRESPONSIVE POLICE CHIEF — How quick do police chiefs in three cities respond to media query on crime incidents? A PUNCH reporter made a random check here’s what she found out –

1) Superintendent Jeff Fanged of Urdaneta when asked of basic information about a teacher who was charged by her students for allegedly slapping them. Text message for was sent at 10:41 a.m. Fanged responded at 10:46 a.m. of same day. OK!

2) Superintendent Christopher Abrahano of Dagupan City on the arrest of a school principal during a buy-bust operation. Text request for the details of the report sent at 8:10 a.m., reply received at 8:40 a.m. of same day. OK!

3) Superintendent Charlie Umayam of San Carlos City on the gun slay of a city councilor last Monday. Request for basic info about the crime was sent at 6:29 p.m. of that night the killing was committed. Please note that the body of the victim was discovered earlier at around 5:00 p.m. Umayam didn’t reply. Huh?

Maybe Mr. Umayam was too busy attending to the crime, the reporter texted him again and patiently waited for an hour. No answer. Another hour, still no answer. Duh?

The reporter decided to call instead of texting to check if his cellphone was working. It was working. Twice he was called, still no pick up. Ayayay!

Another call was made the following day at 7:57 a.m. thinking Umayam might have already caught up on his sleep, after being restless attending to the investigation. Still, the call was simply ignored. Agi!

As I write this piece, already Thursday at 10:30 p.m., the reporter has not received a text message from Mr. Umayam. Dapat pala “Umayaw” apelyido ni sir. Umaayaw sa pagbigay ng impormasyon.

I do know that most police chiefs who, no matter how busy they are, exhaust all means to respond to reporters’ requests the soonest possible time, for information happening in their respective areas. But Mr. Umayam is different.

I remember giving a piece of advice to police chiefs of Pangasinan when I was invited as one of the speakers in a forum about police-media relationship. I said that the police should treat the media as friends or allies and must make themselves accessible for interviews, either by phone or personal visits. I told them then it is better to share information with the media than let them do a wild guess which could make the news report inaccurate.

Superintendent Umayam? Helloooo, hullllooooo, halloo!.—Tita Roces

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

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