By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE continued efforts of the Belen Fernandez administration pleading with the seven-man majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod to approve the mayor’s certified urgent bills is already bordering on ludicrous if not already a sign of total helplessness on its part.

It’s ludicrous because Mayor Belen and her Vice Mayor Bryan Kua have been insulted and disrespected continuously over the past six months and yet she still appears to be unaware of the futility of their appeals. If that’s naivety on her part, then everything about her ‘unliserbisyo’ is lost.

She should already expect the majority councilors, namely Alfie Fernandez, Red Erfe-Mejia, Lim mother and daughter Celia and Irene, Dada Reyna-Macalanda, Alvin Coquia and Marilou Fernandez, to continue to refuse to act on the resolution creating the Personnel Selection Board under her watch in the next 3-5 months. No employment and no promotions.

It’s tit-for-tat! It is the ultimate payback plotted by the 7 epaLiFes after she refused to grant their earlier demand that they be allotted budget for 7 more job order employees or P70,00 monthly allowance in addition to their present allocation of P30,000 each. (Translation: They wanted P100,000 monthly of Dagupeños taxes to be deposited in their respective ATM accounts).

In the 7 epaLiFes view, I surmise that not even 10 hearings over the next 3 or more months will be enough to prod them to give Mayor Belen the PSB on a silver platter.  Their planned obvious boycott of last week’s regular session should be enough to tell her that she’s viewed as a lame duck and an easy target!

They seem to know that Mayor Belen cannot and will not hit back with filing of cases against any of them and their allies like she threatened three months ago.  What makes them so emboldened to sabotage everything about her administration?

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STILL NO CASES FILED. Filing the criminal and administrative cases against the 7 epaLiFes’ allies suspected of corruption during Brian Lim’s term should not only be the easiest thing for Mayor Belen to do but it will make the 7 back down and put in their proper places being plain political obstructionists. After all, she already has all the documents to warrant the filing of cases. But she has not filed any like she threatened. Why? 

She was expected to file the first case against the members of the scholarship committee whom she exposed for registering fake scholars, but she didn’t.  Not even for the overpriced and non-delivery of a boat and CCTV cameras, not even for the irregularities that attended the distribution of food and cash relief at the height of the Covid pandemic, etc… Why?

Do the 7 epaLiFes have something on her that would put her to shame? 

Whatever the reason is for her refusal to file the cases, her situation is proving to all that she’s at the mercy of the 7 epaLiFes, and totally helpless. Truly sad.

Worse, if she doesn’t file those cases, she will be never be believed again should she find it convenient to go to media and again threaten her political detractors committing corruption with cases. Remember the fable of the boy who cried wolf too often?

I don’t know what her advisers think of her situation but the filing of the cases or not filing will make or unmake her today and tomorrow.  She will soon be blamed by her supporters who are affected and deprived by her inaction, for not willing to fight back where it counts for their sake Even her faithful delivery of ‘unliserbisyo ‘will not save her failed anti-corruption stance.

Or she can leave a life-long legacy that she’s the first true champion against corrupt politicians and businessmen.

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ACCOUNTABILITY FOR NO-INSURANCE. The fire that recently gutted the National Post Office and the 2013 fire that damaged the municipal hall of San Antonio town in Nueva Ecija should serve as a wake-call to the governor and the provincial board, the mayors and their respective sanggunian.

First of all, there is a law that mandates the insurance coverage of all government buildings.

Fortunately, the national post office was insured for P700-M. However, the mayor of San Antonio was declared accountable by the Commission of Audit for failing to insure the municipal hall with the General Insurance Fund as required by law “against unexpected occurrences… as the proximate cause of loss or damage to government property.”

The local COA auditors can do the governor and towns/city mayors a big favor if they can verify the compliance of the chief executives today lest they be found guilty of dereliction of duty after the fact.

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CROP INSURANCE OVERDUE. In our editorial this week, we are recommending the adoption of crop insurance by the Guico administration as the only remaining worthwhile response to the imminent negative impact of El Niño in months ahead. 

A crop insurance will enable a farmer to recoup losses with coverage from P5,000 to P50,000 by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp (PCIC). 

On this note, I remember then Rep. Gina de Venecia who singly sponsored the bill mandating local governments to implement crop insurance for farmers under their jurisdiction. But as expected, since the proposal addressed need to protect lowly farmers, our elitist congressmen did not give it a chance.

Gov Mon-Mon Guico should consider taking the challenge forward especially for Pangasinan farmers. A meeting with PCIC can give him the full picture of how other provinces and towns performed.

A permanent crop insurance program in Pangasinan is long overdue.

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OLDEST AND CONSISTENT. Next month will be the 67^th year of continuous publishing of our Sunday PUNCH, making it one of the oldest community newspapers in the country that never missed a single issue. Surprised?

My father started it in 1956 but his mission was cut short after he was killed by a Lingayen councilor in 1966. I took over the paper in 1968 after receiving my diploma for a degree in Behavioral Science (not literature, journalism or communication arts) and continued the mission. We delivered the news and opinions from 1972 martial law era to the People Power takeover, through killer typhoons and earthquake, and two years of Covid pandemic, for the past 57 years, thanks to the firm commitment and support of our editorial and administrative staff, loyal readers and advertisers through the years.

I pray our readers and friends will find reason to observe and celebrate our 67^th founding anniversary with us in July.

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