Punchline
Indicators for the resurgence of jueteng
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
Where there is fire, there is jueteng. Let’s stop beating around the bush, forget about the old adage referring to the smoke and the fire, and call a spade a spade. The fact is, the conflagration of moral and ethical values in the province is there plainly for everyone to see.
My first sure-fire indicator is the resurgence of the “battle for proprietary rights” among groups of local media practitioners over the distribution of jueteng payola among them.
My second indicator is the sudden absence or minimal news in both radio/TV and print about the resurgence of jueteng in the province.
My third indicator is the surfacing of a white paper about media personalities playing footsies with jueteng lords and their political patrons.
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My surprise indicator was Speaker Joe de V. He did not hold his punches when he recently called on the police to scramble and collar the jueteng (and drug) lords in the province. I don’t ever recall him doing a reality check for the provincial police command at anytime in the past, but he did last week.
Well, at the rate my favorite governor, Guv Spines, is denying the resurgence of jueteng in the province, he will soon find a Pinocchio nose attached to his own and being stretched unwittingly to the limit by his corrupt allies in the media.
Yes, Guv Spines, your favorite rats are gleefully scampering out of their holes for their share of the huge jueteng cheese ball, and you can no longer just deny them, you can no longer deny the resurgence of jueteng without feeling your nose growing longer.
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The white paper being circulated via the email (nobody wants to spend on print copies anymore, a part of the economic crunch felt by nosey media guys) listed but did not identify 17 regular payola beneficiaries among the local media. Curiously, the “paper” went as far as describing the local broadcasters and correspondents of national dailies and networks as the primary movers of med-yola. It is made to appear that the payola is now tilted in favor of the biggies to prevent news of the resurgence of jueteng gaining prominence in the national news.
And, jueteng must be seeing heydays these days because the paper pegged a much higher level of payolas to the med-yola guys. It claims to know that some members of the med-yola now receive P30,000 to P50,000 a month while local political bosses get a pittance from alleged jueteng lords it identified certain “Lito Molina” and “Bong C.”
It used to be “the pen is mightier than the sword”, now it’s “A golden pen is mightiest because it silences all”!
I don’t usually give credence to white papers because these are normally “brave” insights culled by “courageous” cowards. In this case, I only meant to call attention to the not-so-coincidental situations at a time when both the political and police leadership of the province are quick to deny the resurgence of jueteng operations in the province.
Nonetheless, it is incumbent upon the local correspondents of the national dailies and networks to prove the white paper wrong by actively reporting the truth about the resurgence of jueteng in the province. Failing that, I can only surmise how he or she is faring as an outstanding member of the med-yola group.
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SOON, A NEW WHITE ELEPANT. So the good news is finally out.
The Fernandez administration, egged on by Speaker Joe de V, has decided to endorse one of my former favorite mayor Benjie Lim’s foolish dreams – the establishment of a Bangus Processing Plant in Dagupan.
Now the bad news. The plant will surely be another white elephant that shall have wasted millions of scarce funding in three to five years time.
Don’t get me wrong. I am all for the idea of establishing a bangus processing plant. It is certainly one dream that must be pursued with vigor given the phenomenal growth of the bangus-raising industry and the fame that Dagupan bangus has earned over the decades. But it’s a vision that must be pursued by the private sector that will surely look into returns on its investments, not the public sector that, as a matter of practice and tradition, refuses to account for its official acts.
The city government need not look farther for precedents on failed business ventures run by a local government. A processing plant in San Carlos City was established for the city’s mango produce, well that failed miserably. Then, someone came out with a another bright idea – why not process raw tomato as a tomato paste, and it didn’t take long to prove that it was going to be another financial disaster. So after losing millions, you wonder if anyone was ever held accountable for the lost investments.
The answer is obvious – nobody could be held accountable, not after everyone enjoyed the ride at the expense of the taxpayers. Given that template of failure, the bangus processing plant is doomed even before the first delivery of processed bangus could be made.
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The Fernandez administration government must rethink its strategy for the plant if it wants to leave it as its own legacy (no longer my friend Benjie’s), and not as a white elephant that personifies the would-be pervasive corruption under it.
For starters, instead of merely signing up for the Korean grant and putting up the counterpart for the plant’s operation, the mayor and the city council should study and recommend a set of incentives that it can offer to private investors who would be willing to take the risks, and still attain the same targeted objectives for the city and for the thriving bangus industry.
Then, they should request the Korean government to apply the grant instead to the construction of the infrastructure needed to support the processing plant, particularly, a fisherman’s wharf to enhance access of bangus-raisers to the plant, or to establish and support a cooperative of bangus raisers to ensure the minimum delivery of stocks to the plant and help ensure the latter’s viability.
A private investor who is assured of support from the public sector will certainly project profits for the long term, and will be motivated to run an efficient and cost-effective operations.
On the other hand, it’s not difficult to imagine what would happen to the city government’s and the Korean government’s investments if the plant will be run by unqualified politicians’ proteges and relatives who will have no stakes in the venture (and worse, will not be held accountable) but simply are in for the opportunity to make hay while the sun shines.
It’s time for Councilor Alfie F. and the rest of city councilors to begin thinking out of the box!
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/)
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