Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez blends talent and service

By Jun Velasco

A NEW set of officials under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has just taken their oaths of office. Many of us don’t give a damn any more, courtesy of the kind of do-nothing and corrupt officials we have had for decades.

Many are blaming the government for their (officials’) ineptness and/or corrupt practices but nobody does anything about it. Worse, they (the governed) have become part of mis-government because it is more profitable to do so.

That adage, “we are as good or as bad as our government” is an inescapable fact.

But there’s hope, a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.  Our long years in darkness have forced us to light a candle if we are to survive. This is why we look up to the advent of our new officials as an occasion for hope. It should be better this way than not to work at something good for our own good.

Otherwise, we lead hopeless, worthless lives. It is important that we watch them, our officials work, and remind them that they have a covenant with us, their constituents, and God.

Hope and work for the best.

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We had a long chat with Dagupan City Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, she who bloody “murdered” our kin, former Councilor Vlad Mata, in the last elections. An avid supporter and fan of Speaker Joe de Venecia and Mayor Al Fernandez, Belen has found her best loved role as a successful business executive and political leader.

Listening to Belen, a former councilor, gave us new vistas in the city’s rise as a metropolis-in-the-making and as a responsive and  modernizing  LGU, thanks to the combination of forces that have recently dawned on us, with the election of  De Venecia, Al Fernandez and their  Team Unity council allies led by Belen.

Gifted with business acumen as shown by the business empire she has built in Northern Luzon, Belen could tell by her finger tips if this or that store will be successful. We advise those intending to start their business to consult her, a walking business encyclopedia.

 She has a conservative view of the future of business in the Philippines as a whole, but in Dagupan’s and Northern Luzon’s cases, she is optimistic.  Her faith in the Speaker and Mayor Al is boundless and considers Dagupenos and Filipinos as a whole fortunate to have leaders like them.

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The people of Pangasinan’s Second District voted for both Governor Amado Espino and Congressman Victor Agbayani.

They gave both overwhelming margins in the last elections 

They didn’t allow any of them to lose and made them both winners.  Up to now Spines’ allies and supporters haven’t gotten over their election ecstasy for having vanquished a legend, vowing to make their idol a successful governor so that he would stay put for as long as they want, ala Agbayani style.

Spines, whose sense of history is profound, will try not miscalculate his steps in the political game  and  make up for what he missed in his military career and end up a  well remembered leader of Pangasinan.

Good luck, sir Spines.

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We felicitated durable couple Kuya Duarding and Juling Gutierrez on their golden wedding anniversary yesterday.

They typify what we always say about the message of the two doves that are released during wedding rites.

 When one dove leaves, the other dies. We don’t want to be literal about it, but those who know the Gutierrez love story will attest to our item.  Theirs is love made in heaven, a perfect material for the TV series, “Magpakailanman.”

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Notes: Beloved daughter Kharmina’s passion for imparting character education and Christian values to children has given birth to a tutorial school, Dynamind Tutorial School at the De Vera Building – beside Giorgios – on Arellano Street in Dagupan City.

A graduate of Miriam College, Kharmina is a natural for tutorial work. Her best friends are little children and yet have remained single in her late 20’s. Try her curriculum and watch your kids grow as super and whiz kids.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/think-about-it/)

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