Punchline
From uniform to “civies”
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
IF Governor Spines and Sta. Barbara Mayor Rey V appear to be what they promised their constituents, then I think we shall have found a redeeming value for the military and police training of our men in uniform amid the series of scandals that have tainted their ranks.
Between the Garci generals and colonels who knowingly took part in the 2004 election fraud and the Arroyo generals who absconded with millions of funds intended for supplies and equipment, I must say the likes of Guv. Spines and Mayor Rey make for good antidotes to the corruption that Senators Ping Lacson, Raffy Biazon, Sonny Trillanes and Gringo Honasan bewail to this day.
If the two gentlemen will prove to be the best among the no-nonsense executives in our country, then they shall have also found a new career niche for newly retired military and police officers who are compulsorily retired at age 56!
Hopefully, our active police and military officers can soon look forward to a more challenging phase in their career by hanging their uniforms and don smart “civies” as they campaign for a mandate to serve in another capacity. All because the two have proven that their education and training in our military and police institutions have prepared them fully for civilian governance.
But until then, this remains to be seen.
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MISGUIDED METROSTATE. Finally, MetroState Realty Corporation found its tongue but not after its bluff was called by the Fernandez administration.
For the past 8 months, the Siapno cousins, Mark and Alex, became elusive and avoided media, particularly The PUNCH, refusing to issue any statement or reaction to then Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez’s allegations of irregularity that attended the bidding for the tourism complex building.
But as weeks passed, I soon realized they and my then favorite mayor Benjie Lim were actually following a script that would guarantee smooth sailing for their planned project crafted as a “sweetheart deal”. It was the usual “No talk, no mistake”, to stonewall any attempt by The PUNCH at ferreting out the truth about their controversial deal. All the talking was left to former city administrator (now the newly appointed provincial administrator) and former city legal officer Geraldine Baniqued aided by then chief onor-onor Teofilo Guadiz III, another relative of the Siapno cousins. Together, they arrogantly mounted their own version of a coup, sneering at those who dared to stop them, foremost of whom was VM Alvin (now the city administrator).
In a desperate attempt to beat the legal process, the company tried to openly defy the Fernandez administration by posting a sign claiming to have been issued various permits to construct the building in question. What gall!
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Finally talking through its project manager Ariel Ancheta, MetroState’s response to the padlocking of the company’s construction site was irrelevant as it was impertinent.
The arguments it raised would have been considered valid if it were applied to the debate on the legality of the project months ago, but the stoppage order was for the company’s failure to secure its building permit, not on the legal issues raised by VM Alvin. By not addressing the permit issue, it’s evident that the company realizes it is not standing on firm legal grounds and would rather simply confuse the issue. (It will be recalled that MetroState’s own off-and-on ally depending on the “weather”, ex-councilor Guadiz had declared the construction as illegal because it had no building permit!).
But wait, there’s another piece of information that I believe is leading us to another phase in the MetrsoState saga. The company reportedly has a new president, namely one Karen Monzon, vice Mark Siapno. If true, then a reorganization must have taken place quietly and immediately when the controversy started to take a turn for the worst. If true, then there is more reason for the city government to look into the business of that company.
The plot thickens, indeed. But I don’t expect the Siapno cousins to speak out anytime soon.
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SAVING THE PANGASINAN DIALECT. The directive of Guv Spines requiring the use of Pangasinan dialect among provincial employees received a lot of support, particularly among the elders, and the thousands of romantic baby-boomers (including myself) who refuse to see the dialect they grew up with to just fade away.
But how do you compel people to speak and write in the dialect that was never formally taught to be written or spoken properly in any school in the province? It was never and still is not even taught as an elective subject in any school.
The first obstacle is the national policy of the government on our national language vis-a-vis the use of English as the primary medium for instruction in classrooms. This alone will make the effort to keep Pangasinan as a dialect alive practically futile. Sure, school children in the province can be expected to speak Pangasinan but to write in Pangasinan? Not a chance.
I wish the Espino directive would accomplish more than just merely giving a renaissance ring to his administration. As I see it, the directive to speak the dialect seeks to achieve nothing but to picture the dawning of a new political era. The fact is, Pangasinan as a dialect is fast fading away and nothing but an official declaration making it the dialect to be used in official communications in the province can perhaps help it.
In my view, unless an institute, not merely a council, is created by the Espino administration for the purpose, we can all kiss our dialect goodbye in the next 5 generations.
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PUNCH IS 51 YEARS OLD, AND GROWING. This month marks the PUNCH’ s 51st year of continued service to Pangasinenses and we at the PUNCH do have a lot to thank for at this stage of its life.
We have since realized our vision and mission to reach out to and link Pangasinenses wherever they may be to their roots, thanks to the advent of the internet. Today, your PUNCH is being read regularly practically in all major cities across the globe. In fact, the PUNCH readers have more than quadrupled owing to the easy access to our online service.
As one balikbayan happily narrated to us, his relatives in the province were awed by his familiarity with the events and political developments in the province despite his long absence. In fact, he realized he knew more than his friends who live here but do not have access to the print copies or the internet.
And to our pleasant surprise, readers’ reactions and comments are growing by the day. Pangasinenses everywhere who want to be a part of the province’s development through their ideas and critical views, more than just being a contributor to the province’s economy through their regular remittances. Our elected and appointed officials can certainly learn from their constituents here and overseas through PUNCH’s Online Forum.
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/)
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