General Admission
Lawyer poised to sue PAG-ASA over Cosme
By Al S. Mendoza
MY friend intends to sue PAG-ASA, our weather bureau.
Know why?
My friend’s mango orchard was devastated during the height of typhoon Cosme’s fury.
“I relied on PAG-ASA and look what happened to my mangoes,” he said. “They were felled to the ground, their fruits ruined.”
He said he was ready to harvest one day before Cosme struck. “But because PAG-ASA said it was only typhoon No. 1 in Pangasinan, I postponed the harvesting,” he said.
Turned out it was typhoon No. 3. That was on May 17.
My friend had about 200 mango trees – all heavy with fruits ready to be harvested.
“About half of them had been uprooted,” he rued. “About hundreds of their fruits went to waste.”
His one-million peso-plus earnings this year went down the drain, so to speak.
My friend is a lawyer. He is practically retired; he spent his retirement pay building his mango farm in our hometown of Mangatarem.
“I nurtured my mangoes for 15 years,” he said. “Now, there’s virtually wasteland in my orchard. All because PAG-ASA bungled on its forecast again.”
The windows of our ancestral home in Mangatarem were also blown away by typhoon Cosme. And so were some of our neighbors’ roofs and windows in General Luna St.
Our beloved Pangasinan has been declared under a state of calamity. Meaning, those badly affected by typhoon Cosme could “easily” borrow money from banks to repair the damages they had suffered.
“No, I will not borrow money from the bank,” my angry friend said. “I will instead sue PAG-ASA for damages.”
If the case will prosper, I guess this will be a landmark event in the otherwise checkered history of PAG-ASA, whose notoriety to make faulty forecasts since time immemorial has become legend.
* * * *
Because of typhoon Cosme that came like the proverbial thief in the night and inflicted a wide swath of destruction in our province, Mayor Sam Rosario of Binmaley had to cut short his trip to the U.S.
Rushing back to his town, Rosario immediately buckled down to work to alleviate the plight of his constituents, especially those who suffered heavily with their fish pens.
I raise a glass to the mayor’s heroic act. If all mayors are like him, then I don’t see any reason why all our towns can’t become Class A in the immediate future.
* * * *
I motored to Baguio via Urdaneta two days after Cosme hit land and the devastation I saw was really that heart-rending. Close to P200 million had been lost in crops, the bangus industry and properties.
Electric posts toppled. Trees virtually cut to shreds. Roofless houses all over. Wires dangling precariously along the McArthur Highway.
Even Marcos Highway suffered terribly, with 26 landslides recorded.
* * * *
Is it true that JDV is building another house of his own in San Fabian?
My legman, Sao Natagari, said the former House Speaker wants to establish a residence in San Fabian in preparation for his plan to run for governor of Pangasinan in 2010.
“Joe DV also wants to have former Governor Victor Agbayani as his running mate in 2010,” said Natagari.
JDV is a resident of Dagupan, a fact that prohibits him from running for governor of Pangasinan.á Dagupan, being a chartered city, does not belong to Pangasinan insofar as politics is concerned.
Joe DV may have lost his clout in Congress, but not in Pangasinan.
Joe DV has an influence that has become legend, and his relatives are all over Pangasinan. My own mother (may her soul rest in peace) is a cousin of Joe DV.
Guv Spines should better be ready by now if he intends to keep his post by 2010.
(Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
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Jonathan Sison
12 June 2008s
Hi Uncle Al,
This is Jonathan, your Cousin Soc Sison’s eldest son. I would just like to comment on and set the record straight regarding your article, “Lawyer poised to sue PAG-ASA over Cosme,” in Sunday Punch, dated May 27, 2008.
“I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them.” — Ezekiel 25:17
I begin by referencing the above Biblical excerpt because I firmly stand by the belief that everyone is held accountable for their actions, whether it happens in this life or the next.
In the instance of the lawyer, he is suffering from the immediate consequences as a result of his nefarious practices. Though I do not wish to go into detail as to the specifics of his ignoble endeavors at this time, know that they exist and perhaps serve as an explanation for his lamentable circumstances.
If the lawyer intends to sue someone, he might as well sue The Almighty himself because it was He who had administered the appropriate punishment for stealing that which did not belong to him in the first place, i.e. the mango orchard.
To reiterate, he possesses no legitimate claim to the fruits nor the land of the orchard and has not invested a single peso for their production. I genuinely believe that losing “his” one-million peso-plus earnings this year is only one of the many Acts of God meant to produce justice out of his abhorrent undertakings.
Furthermore, the lawyer is not morally justified in suing PAG-ASA; in fact, he is only using PAG-ASA as a scapegoat to compensate for his greedy, corrupt, and wicked decision-making which eventually led him to his own demise.
If he had been prepared to harvest before the typhoon struck, then why did he postpone the harvesting till after?
Logically speaking, if one is prepared to harvest before any form of typhoon is set to hit, then by all means, exercise precautionary measures, reduce the risk of loss, and harvest before the turbulent event is set to take place. So why did he postpone? It was because of greed.
A wholesaler offering to buy the mangoes at an increased price per kilo compared to the competition convinced the greedy lawyer to postpone the harvesting until after Cosme.
In effect, it was his decision that inevitably led him to his fate. As such, nobody, especially not PAG-ASA, should be held accountable for his own decision-making.
The lawyer in the story had a chance to harvest before the typhoon but had deliberately and willingly chosen to forego the process until afterwards.
So by default, he inherits the full extent of accountability and by extension the blame for the loss in profit.
To end, I would politely like to request that you revise the original article with more precise information.
If this is not possible, then please take care to ensure that any future articles written on this particular topic are presented in a manner that is free of fallacies and with the most accurate information.
Otherwise, please discontinue the coverage of this issue in exchange for a sounder one.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration and I appreciate your effort to correct these inaccuracies.
Respectfully Yours,
Jonathan Sison
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