By Gonzalo Duque

 

THE forthcoming National Days of Protest led by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) religious sect for three days starting November 16 to 18, is making the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. nervous.

A lot of counter-moves by the administration have been going on in a bid to distract the attention of the public from the continuing probe of the flood control projects mess and other related controversies, which have all brought the administration’s trust rating at its lowest level.

Let’s take as an example the announcement made by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, when he reported to the whole world that an International  Criminal Court (ICC) warrant of arrest had already been issued against Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa.

Just imagine that when the latter was confronted about his announcement, he said that a warrant of arrest was in his phone. Ha, ha, ha!

Then here comes columnist Ramon Tulfo making public a supposed list of destabilizers against the BBM administration, with Vice President Sara Duterte on top of the list.

Other moves aimed at preventing or discrediting the scheduled INC rally are continuing, but to no avail.

There is a deeper reason why the INC, for the first time, is doing this. I think that the alleged cheating in the last mid-term election to disregard the votes of the Iglesias nationwide must have been one of the reasons why they are going to the streets to protest and air their grievances.

Well, we can only expect that the administration will do its best to mitigate or cushion the impact of the protest rallies by the INC, and maybe other groups.

But wait, this coming November 30th, a nationwide non-sectarian protest will also be held to precisely again call for the resignation of PBBM and commemorate the birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the Katipunan.

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The LGU of Calasiao, headed by Mayor  Patrick Caramat and his council, must be commended for being the first LGU in Pangasinan and the entire Region 1, to conduct a mandatory drug test on all its employees, from the mayor to the last man.

Teka muna, before I totally praise the effort of the Calasiao mayor, I want to ask him if any hair follicle test has also been made.

We hope that other towns and cities in Pangasinan, including the provincial government, will do likewise.

Here in Dagupan City, Mayor Belen could also follow the example of Calasiao to clear all doubts lingering in the minds that none of the city hall employees is taking drugs.

How about it, Mayor Belen?

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I am happy that Mayor Belen Fertnandez, even before reading my column last week, decided to come back home from South Korea last Tuesday, in time for the post-assessment of the actions of different city department heads related to the typhoon preparedness of the city of Dagupan, then led by Acting City Mayor Bryan Kua.

It is good that Secretary JunVic Remulla issued a directive banning all LGU officials from traveling abroad amid the discovery that when Typhoon “Tino” and even “Uwan” struck, 23 mayors, councilors, and provincial board members left for abroad and have not yet come back.

Among such LGU officials are those from Cebu, where the brunt of Typhoon “Tino” was felt.

Will the Speaker of the House, Faustino Dy III,  and the Senate President, Vicente  Sotto III, issue an order also prohibiting the kind of travelling abroad, considering that no less than PBBM has declared a national emergency for one year?