By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

IS there a chance that the 7 epaLiFes will soon stop their nonsense with the last ruling of RTC Judge Michael Israel on their petitions?

I seriously doubt that because they never showed any indication that their moves are intended to help improve the plight of Dagupeños in dire need of help. Like a notorious barkada (gang) culture of the 50s, they’d be the happier arrogant bunch if they would be known for their notoriety as the abusive councilors never seen in the city’s history. See how they want people to identify them by their obnoxious uniforms.

To date, they have staged the most number of walkouts, who did their best to block two annual and supplemental budgets for the city, refused to submit resolutions required for the city’s projects, plagiarized the work of their counterparts in the minority, filed cases in court seeking temporary restraining orders questioning votes of the minority, and last but not least, to have three of them ordered to go on preventive suspension over their conduct unbecoming public servants like these were heroic actions.

So far, they find no reason to apologize for their dishonorable actions.

Understanding their mindset, they might yet consider one collective action to complete their packaging of themselves as the city’s bunch of arrogant egoists – a “Walang iwanan” or “No epaLfife left behind” motto?

I won’t be surprised if Councilors Celia Lim, Dada Reyna, Alvin Coquia and Marilou Fernandez make a dramatic announcement of a self-imposed “protest-sympathy suspension” this week since mere walking out of sessions after delivering their privileged speeches at the opening of each session has become predictable and boring.

By disappearing, they have all the free time going around barangays in their barkada uniforms, discrediting the Belen Fernandez administration as the worst city administration because it refuses to bow to them, boasting that they have been voted into office by members of the INC as the qualified majority to do their worst!

Won’t they be missed at the SP session hall? Perish the thought. The city has long been missing a productive sanggunian working for the city’s residents. Good riddance! The new majority can proceed with its fast pace to make up for lost time!

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NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS. In case you’ve noticed, you hardly read any updates on the provincial government’s activities whether with local governments or national agencies, to boost local efforts to improve the delivery of services. 

For some unknown reason, The PUNCH stopped receiving press releases from the provincial government’s information office headed by Dhobie de Guzman.

Is the capitol just busy scheduling group travel overseas for its department heads meant to be a secret, meant to keep the department heads’ mouths zipped about the shortcomings of the Guico administration in delivering promised improved benefits? 

And, who’s paying for these travel expenses? Are these charged to the provincial government’s credit line with LandBank amounting to P6 billion negotiated by Guv Mon-mon Guico??  

Worse, nothing is heard from the governor. No press conferences have been called so far.  He has not reacted to news about the discovery of millions worth of shabu in the province, not even status of relief of operations in the middle of typhoons… nor relief programs for farmers who lost their investments… etc.

Thank God for VG Mark Lambino and the provincial board, we do get some news tidbits from the few numbers of resolutions filed. Besides that, the provincial board sees and hears nothing wrong in the delivery of public services. No more Question Hour held! 

No updates even about the governor’s pledge to clear Lingayen baywalk of illegal occupants.

Is the Freedom of Information getting hazardous to the provincial government?

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QUADCOM’S SCRIPTED MISSION. The QuadCom hearings of the House of Representatives are becoming predictable. Their hearings are not in aid of legislation to improve the country’s campaign vs. illegal drugs trading but filing witnesses’ affidavits that can pinpoint Former President Rodrigo (FPRRD) as a criminal.

So far, it has not shown any intention of inviting any of the more than 1 million who were documented to have surrendered to local governments and were rehabilitated by government.

It only invited families of alleged victims of EJKs during the drug war to simply confirm the violence committed by police operatives while attributing the violence to the orders of FPRRD.

Curiously, QuadCom did not bother to ask any of the invited families presented as ‘resource persons’ to  confirm if their killed family members were involved in illegal drug trading, therefore, giving the impression that the victims were innocent victims.

Worse, the narrative that’s being played and replayed at the hearings is that more than 30,000 were victims of EJK yet no group ever presented any documentation, i.e., proof of identities, places and dates of encounters. It was a number picked out from the air to make the protests against the drug war credible.

One proof that belies the propaganda of Commission on Human Rights about its 30,000 claim, is if there were such a number killed, surely, the country would have seen mass burials everywhere in those days but there was none.

So enough of talks of undocumented 30,000 EJKs during the drug war of FPRRD. Instead, the police should be given credit for filing cases against the more than 5k police operatives who allegedly violated guidelines in the implementation of the drug war.

What’s even more ironic is while only 12 members of QuadCom are following a script (to discredit FPRRD), many of whom were also known to have actively supported the drug war, the rest of the 200 congressmen have not offered nor volunteered any information that the campaign in their districts were marred by abusive police operatives.

Most even went on public then praising the war on drugs for helping improve the peace and order in their communities. I know this was the case in Pangasinan.

I predict that once charges are filed vs FPRRD before the ICC, there will be thousands who will contradict what the QuadCom submitted as evidence.

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Watch out for our podcast PUNCHING DUO with our columnist irrepressible Gonz Duque. If plans go well, we can begin it first week of December.

Meanwhile, our PUNCHLINE weekly 30-minute program on with IFM manager Mark Espinosa goes on air over 104.7 IFM Dagupan every Monday, 6:30 a.m.

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