Playing with Fire
For the nth time, when was Pangasinan founded?
By Gonzalo Duque
OUR super busy publisher-editor Ermin or whomever he has tasked to write last week’s editorial didn’t think that much for saying that the province celebrated its 111th anniversary last December 12.
How could you, pare naman? November l3, l896 was the birthday of the late Speaker Eugenio Perez Sr. Not the founding date of the province.
This is the primordial reason this columnist has been advocating a historical research so that we shall know once and for all the province’s actual discovery, whether by the Spaniards or by the Malays or Indonesians, and whoever.
How in the world are our provincial officials going about their regular chores when they do not know their past, or at least the history of this so-called premier province.
Look, what will Governor Spines bring to our province mates in the US with this uncertainty? His trip, we were told, has the purpose of selling his administration to US-based investors. That’s good. But let’s settle the issue first.
Saan ba tayo nanggaling talaga? Wala tayong pakialam kung saan tayo nangaling, but we should know, we ought to know. That should be our first business before we even think of doing anything. Right?
It’s been months now since we started raising this issue, but it seems the Espino administration has no interest in it. We even intimated that we were willing to lead a trip to Spain to officially undertake this historic study.
Because of this unsettled matter, even our publisher mistook the birthday of Eugenio Perez as Pangasinan’s founding date. How about those years when two Pangasinan revolutionaries Juan de la Cruz and Malong were doing heroic acts for Pangasinan? That was, we believe in the l7th century yet. Eugenio Perez was not born yet then.
Guv’nor Spines, Vice Guv’nor Agabas and board members, please act on this now, pronto. We have heard the dismays of fellow Pangasinenses for not knowing their history. We’ve suggested a meeting with Pangasinan’s known historians such as the well-known author Rosario Cortes who has written a number of Pangasinan historical books, but up to now, nothing has yet come out from her studies on what exact day was the province founded. What about Manong Resty Basa? Can you please shed light on this? Guv’nor Spines, your move, please.
* * * *
Remember the biblical story of King Saul?
We are recalling it here for its cutting relevance. One day, in a fit of anger, David (Goliath’s killer) was on the edge of killing the king because it was known all over Israel that the king wanted to kill him.
But what did David do? Nothing! For shortly thereafter, the king was killed in the battlefield, sparing the God-loving David from bloodying his own hands on a person who wanted to eliminate him. David, you see, once had all the opportunity to do it when he chanced upon the king sleeping. But he did not.
David thought that being king, Saul was the anointed one, and that no one have the right to disturb the set-up. .
This biblical story brings to mind the many abortive acts of many ambitious politicians who have been waylaying to topple President Gloria.
We’ve said several times that Ate Glo (not Ate Glue, as C. de Quiros always pontificated, but Ate Glow) has all the makings of an anointed one. That was our thesis last week.
We even warned that it would be unfortunate for those who are angling at her position as, events have been showing consistently, they would fail.
Mahirap kalabanin ang anointed one, we told you so.
David and King Saul’s story is too vivid to be forgotten.
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/playing-with-fire/ Readers may reach columnist at punch.sunday@gmail.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
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