Punchline
Public perception kills
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
The more the city hall bureaucrats try to pooh-pooh the presence of coliform bacteria in Dagupan City’s rivers, the more ridiculous they sound. Instead of alerting the community about the risks and what can be done to contain if not eliminate it completely, they are telling us, it’s ok to have the coliform bacteria because it’s harmless, it won’t kill!
They really don’t get it.
I still can’t get over what city agriculturist Emma Molina professed to know, insisting that coliform bacteria do not pose any serious risk to the city’s famed Dagupan bangus or to humans.
I cannot but suspect that she was absent in her class when the subject of coliform bacteria was taught. Will someone please tell her that any water contamination is serious and hazardous?
If she still insists that that no person will ever die for simply drinking contaminated water, then the invitation for her to drink a glass of water (BFAR certified to be positive of coliform bacteria) from Dawel river still stands.
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This time it’s City Health Officer Leonard Carbonell’s turn.
He assures Dagupenos that nothing is risked because the source of the drinking water is not in any of the contaminated areas. Neither is bangus risked because it is not raised in those rivers. And, as if to prove that the situation is under control, his office already warned about eating shellfish or oysters from those rivers. (That’s supposed to make the residents feel assured?) Then he cites hospital records that there have been no disease outbreak in the city caused by contaminated water.
Perhaps so but on the other hand, he forgets that the city has been hit by a series of fish kills. Were the fish kills caused by air pollution? He forgets that what “Dawel” means to tourists and residents – yes, Inihaw na bangus! And what impression will a contaminated Dawel river give? Try delivering your spiel to the visitors.
I rest my case.
By the way, in case he is not aware, the city government recently told Pantal residents to position their waste recycling center right beside the Pantal river. And city hall would not hear of any protest from the residents. Tsk-tsk.
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Be that as it may, the serious risk we speak of is not only about environmental degradation but public perception.
If Mayor Benjie Lim, a marketing guru himself, wants us to believe that the bangus industry will not be risked by a negative public perception, then the bangus industry is in peril.
The stakeholders of the bangus industry would be more assured if Mayor Lim defines immediate steps he will take to ensure that there will be no more fish kills and the level of presence of coliform bacteria will never exceed the tolerable level.
Enough of defensive postures.
It’s time the city adopts the proven strategy of Alcohol Anomymous. Alcoholics get treated only if they own up to their problem. In Dagupan City, Mayor Lim ought to say: “We have a problem, let’s solve it.”
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A PUNCH online reader asked me for my own suggestion on how to solve the recurring water contamination problem in the city instead of just “whining”.
My initial reaction was to tell her that I thought the question was not fair to Mayor Lim. In the first place, he had not suggested any form of action then except to deny that the bangus industry was threatened.
If it’s any help, instead of preaching to Mayor Lim, I would simply remind him of just three things he said he would do in the past –
1. To strictly enforce the fishing ordinance and demolish illegal fish pens.
2. To construct a sanitary landfill. 3. To close the dumpsite beside the beach.
There are a hundred and one solutions that can be raised by any “armchair
general” but only a “sitting mayor” can make them happen.
In other words, the ball is in Mr. Lim’s court, not in anyone else’s. In the business of governance, this is called accountability.
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WALK, DON’T RUN. Alaminos City is clearly on a path to sustainable growth and development. The city is definitely moving at such an unprecedented frenetic pace.
Without a doubt, the full credit goes to Mayor Nani Braganza. His youthful energy and vision serve him well. He’s not content walking, he’s running.
But he should be warned that his rush to build a magic kingdom can easily be spoiled and crushed by an unimaginative staff who can’t appreciate nor relate to the vision.
The recent experience of our Eva Visperas and Ding Micua (with Yoly Fuertes) in the hands of Mayor Nani’s new administrator, a Col. Wilmer Panabang, is a recipe for certain failure in communicating the vision. (Read Eva’s Business Log this issue).
Perhaps, it’s time for Mayor Nani to pause and take the opportunity to look behind him and see who and how many of his staff are falling far behind, or are now dragging his efforts to a halt.
Time to walk. Don’t run.
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VICE-GUV AND STL. Vice Governor Oca Lambino should give his plug for Small Town Lottery a rest, if not a complete stop.
His latest endorsement was definitely out of sync and proved to be more of an embarrassment to him than anything else. His contention that STL will stop jueteng operations goes against what the PNP said it discovered about the new modus operandi of the guerilla jueteng operations.
Even without any STL operating in the province, many of the arrested “Kabos” have reportedly admitted that the front they use to lure bettors unwittingly to jueteng or to escape arrest is to claim that they are collecting bets for STL and/or EZ-2!
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