By Leonardo Micua

 

AS the price of diesel fuel will likely hit the P100 mark per liter as of this writing, and the cost of living continues to soar, more and more people, not only in the Philippines, but the world,  are driven to abject property.

We heard of many owners of buses and taxis already grounded their units in their respective garages, and jeepneys operators-drivers who stopped their daily runs because they can no longer afford to buy fuel without losing their shirts.

For this, a number of drivers, conductors and other workers had to be laid off, who in turn need to find other jobs in order to feed themselves and their families.

By force of circumstances, some public transportations opted to do a holiday not because they are joining the “Tigil Pasada” mounted by some left-leaning sector in Metro Manila but are actually in it for self-preservation. They have to pare down their expenses on costly fuel, plus toll fees (in case of buses) if any. There’s nothing wrong with that.

At the same time, we can’t blame bus companies that continue their operations with one change in their  policy: leave the terminals only with full occupancy of seats to maximize revenues to shoulder high costs of fuel. This, the commuting public must understand.

It is the transport sector that is carrying the full brunt almost weekly increases in the pump prices of imported fuel. But wait, this continuously rising pump prices of imported fuel could just be a prelude to a bigger problem that will hit our people, rich and poor alike, in their solar plexus. There’s a big possibility a gas rationing will be put in place if the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on in months ahead.

Those who were not yet born during the second Arab-Israeli war during martial law here and when Iraq invaded Kuwait, may not have any idea of the impact of gas-rationing. It was tough.

But a gas rationing at this time will even be worse. Imagine what the daily queues in gas stations would look like with our more than 110 million population, more private and public vehicles on the roads.

It is likely that most of us will be riding bikes to work, use kerosene lamp for light, cook our food with charcoal and available firewood etc.

With the Philippine peso shrinking against the U.S. dollar, that would be a double if not a triple whammy for us in this time of crisis.

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It is now a matter of days before Governor-elect Ramon ‘Monmon’ Guico III takes over  the reins of the provincial government. Because of the changing of the guards at the Capitol, the conservative estimate of workers that will likely be given their walking papers would be 3,000 or more, all being Espino appointees.

It’s just normal that they have to go and be replaced by Guico appointees. We know Guv Monmon’s dad, incoming Fifth District Rep. Ramon Guico Jr. too well. He never had a vindictive heart in all his political life, and hopefully, Guv Monmon is like his father whose heart bleeds for those who are in need. 

Thus, there is a big chance that incoming Guv will retain some performing Espino appointees who are true to the jobs, and were not used for anyone’s political agenda.

We heard that few weeks after Guico was proclaimed winner of the election, he sent a team to coordinate with officials of the outgoing provincial administration for the adoption of a smooth transition plan. This enabled his team to get wind of the number of the actual work force in the capitol, their status and the work that they are doing. 

Of course, there will be changes that will be put in place by the new Guico administration. After all, Guv Pogi reigned for six years and nine years by his father Guv Spine.

This may shock some of the old guards at the capitol but is certainly a welcome move for us stakeholders of Pangasinan. 

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The parking area of CSI Market Square has been cleared finally of eyesores, the makeshift shacks used by fruit and vegetable vendors and other items.

I hope these were not removed by Market Administrator Aguedo Sta. Maria just to placate  incoming Mayor Belen Fernandez who will return to her old post beginning July 1.

If Brian Lim had won in his re-election bid, would he remove these eyesores?

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