Editorial
A time for hope
IT’S Christmas, the season when we wish each other love, peace, and hope.
In the midst of the heated political battle in Pangasinan, our local leaders would do well to send out a dose of love to each other by leaving the fight over the jueteng payola issue at the legal court of the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman, in turn, which this year opened a satellite office in Pangasinan, can bring love to the province by prioritizing the case and handing out a verdict as soon as possible. Perhaps that is a lot to ask considering the complexity of the age-old problem of illegal gambling in the province, a major source of corruption and a root of ugly patronage politics. But it would at least be fair to Pangasinenses, and to Gov. Amado Espino Jr., the man at the center of the accusations, to have the issue settled soon in consideration of the May 2013 election. People deserve to know whether the governor should get their vote for a third and final term in light of whether he is guilty or not of dipping his hands in the dirty jueteng pot.
Meanwhile, the murder of Infanta Mayor Ruperto Martinez last December 15, right in his own home, again puts the spotlight on the peace and order situation in the province. Whatever the motivations, political or not, the number of cold-blooded shootings perpetrated by hired guns in the province over recent years is chilling. It is not enough that these cases are solved by the police. What the authorities need to show is the capacity to stop these crimes from taking place. Otherwise, the public will never feel protected nor served.
It’s Christmas. A time of hope.
* * * * * *
Two governors
WHY did President Aquino suspend Gov. Gwen Garcia of Cebu at the “most unholy hour?” Unholy because the decision was handed down when Christmas was just around the corner; the Supreme Court, where Garcia could seek a legal remedy, is close for the holidays. And why did the suspension have to last six months, which means Garcia will no longer be governor from today up to the mid-term election in May? Worst, Agnes Magpale, the vice governor of Cebu, has been hastily sworn in as acting governor even if the suspension document had yet to be served. Coincidentally, Magpale is the sister of Cabinet Secretary Jose Almendras. Ummm. And Garcia, who supported Gibo Teodoro in the 2010 presidential polls, is a member of VP Binay’s UNA coalition party. DILG secretary and Liberal Party president Mar Roxas, Binay’s foe in the 2016 presidential derby, was the chief enforcer of Garcia’s suspension.
Not far from home, the threat of suspension hangs like a Damocles sword on the head of Gov. Amado Espino Jr. who was recently at the receiving end of the wildest accusations hurled at him by Ric Orduna, the Bugallon mayor who, accompanied by Roxas, accused Espino, his former boss, of plunder at the Ombudsman because “Espino received jueteng funds worth P900 million.” Since when are “jueteng funds” considered public money? Coincidentally, Nani Braganza, Espines’ foe in 2013, is a fresh Liberal Party transferee from GMA’s Lakas-CMD.
To recap, two governors of two of the country’s vote-rich provinces are under fire. Both are not members of Mr. Aquino’s Liberal Party.
We smell something fishy here.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
