Punchline
They are going down. . . down!
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
Something really rotten must have happened to the “transaction” for the planned P84- million Magsaysay Park Tourism Complex. Judging from his recent actuations, I cannot but sense a sense of desperation on the part of my favorite mayor Benjie Lim.
It appears that he is bent on starting the construction in the park obviously to beat the Comelec deadline even without a building permit, the go-signal from the bidding committee and the formal endorsement of the city council granting him the authority to enter into what I deem as an irregular contract with MetroState Realty Corporation.
If Mr. Benjie pursues the clearly anomalous project at this stage, he knows a complaint will be filed before the ombudsman not only against him but the “traitorous” councilors (and yes, members of the bidding committee too) for violation of the anti-graft and corruption law!
What this tells me, therefore, is that he is hell-bent on dragging everyone who promised to “deliver” but eventually reneged on their word, to go down with him. All the way down.
(Go Benjie go! This might just be your opportunity to finally redeem yourself by getting them out of the way… but with you in tow! Ugh.).
****
There is only one way for the onor-onors now to save their skins from certain conviction by the Sandiganbayan.
They have no recourse but to be proactive in stopping Mr. Benjie in his tracks before it’s too late. To be passive and simply allow my favorite mayor to do his worst can only end in tragedy for them.
The onor-onors already went on record that they were endorsing the anomalous project hence, their part in the conspiracy cannot be denied. For this, my favorite mayor got them by the b’s!
However, the caveat clearly stated in the adopted resolution may very well be their ticket to freedom, and one has to give the enterprising councilors credit for being cunning as well. The resolution as passed said the authority granted the mayor can only be effective if the (comic) committee report endorsing the project is owned and signed by its author, Absentee-Onor-onor Jojo Guadiz, and attached to the minutes of the December 19, 2007 special session. (In case you haven’t noticed, all resolutions pertaining to “special projects” of the mayor and the councilors are never included in the agenda of regular sessions. These are all approved during special sessions.
It appears the onor-onors knew something was afoot when Guadiz made a play with his committee report. They must have realized too that the report was so blatantly flawed that the rest of the gang doubted that their absentee colleague would still own up to it, no matter what the “understanding” was.
Well, true enough, Absentee Guadiz turned yellow and backed down on his own legal “eloquence”. To the relief of the gang in the city council, Absentee Guadiz made himself scarce so he can’t be coerced to sign his blood on a manuscript full of his gobbledygook. They are off the hook for now-at least this is what they think.
But my favorite mayor won’t budge easily. He’s collecting the IOUs as agreed upon. Obviously, he is now invoking a ten-day rule in government which states that inaction by an agency or the council within 10 days will result in automatic approval.
Hmmm…. looks like the s_ _ t will soon hit the fan!
***
BSL IS BOXED-IN. On the election fever, I’m now afraid for my favorite mayor.
All the political shadow-boxing that Mayor Benjie has been doing the past 14 months did nothing but to box himself in his little corner in the city.
Either way he decides today, my favorite mayor will have to reckon with formidable foes – and spend he must to win, if he can win. What was originally known to be a shoo-in for his third and last term as city mayor in Dagupan, there will now be former Mayor Al Fernandez and Belen Fernandez who will give him a run for his money. In the district race, he will definitely now have to put his money where his mouth is because Speaker Joe de V has so far called his bluff.
My favorite mayor sorely miscalculated the political savvy of House Speaker Joe de V. Tsk-tsk. After being taunted for months and weeks, the speaker quietly made his moves to see to it that his new nemesis can no longer play with him.
At the rate things are going, my favorite mayor might just decide to retire and lick his wounds in China where he can be promised bigger profits for his efforts.
***
FREE ZONE A COP-OUT. So, it’s a free zone in Pangasinan! This means what Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino got from Lakas nominating him earlier as the party’s official candidate was a mere “pakunsuelo”. It surely had the mark of another vintage “win-win” solution for the party so I cannot help but suspect that it was another De Venecia (and FVR?) play that tripped Lambino.
But in my book, any declaration of “free zone” smacks of a cop-out on the part of the party leadership. It means, the leaders refuse to decide and leave it to protagonists to settle the issue among themselves.
“Free zone” means “Let the last man standing be the party’s official winner!”
***
THE NEW DAVID. If you still have not given the biblical David a face in contemporary times, then take a close look at Cong. Alan Cayetano.
For daring to take up the cause of truth and justice, he is now facing a slew of unwarranted charges and complaints that FG Mike Arroyo initiated. “Goliath” wants modern David to be disbarred as a lawyer, evicted as congressman, jailed for libel, disqualified as a candidate and lose in the vote counting by fielding a fake “Peter Cayetano.”
Our young David to day needs all the prayers he can get to overcome the might of the evil Jose “Goliath” Pidal. Well, I am praying…I hope you are too!
***
SHAMING THE PUBLIC OFFICIALS. Here’s a timely suggestion for The PUNCH by our overseas reader Jess Delfin.
He correctly noted that “these incompetent and corrupt city officials are just waiting for the interest of the public to wane then its back to business as usual. It’s unfortunate but it’s true that the Pinoy has such a short term memory of the excesses of their government officials.” He suggested that “in order for the people not to forget about the issues concerning Dagupan and most especially the city leadership’s performance you include in the front page information to track the number of days of inaction of the city leaders? In this way, YOUR PAPER CAN KEEP THE ISSUES ALIVE.”
His example: “30 DAYS (in bold, uppercase) has passed and there has been no proof of the towing contract between the mayor and the towing company. Another good example is the councilor who can not (or does not want to) account for the expenditures of the Pistay Dayat festival. The missing steel bars explanation, etc.”
“I hope shaming and embarrassing these corrupt politicians could make them accountable to the people.”
Consider that done, Mr. Delfin. Watch out for it. And thank you!
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/)
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