Punchline
“So young and so corrupt”
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
Our editorial this week puts the leadership of the Sangguniang Kabataan federation in the province on the spot. Evidently, the organization, supposedly composed of budding political and community leaders, have been paying lip service all along to their primary mandate – to imbibe in the youth the true essence of public service and to prepare them for political leadership.
The SK leaders’ ineptness was unwittingly exposed by provincial election supervisor Reddy Balarbar when he reported that the SK’s constituents in the province are not responding to the country’s call of duty – to register and vote! Curiously, the SK members were visibly at the forefront of the SK and the barangay elections in 2007. They campaigned rabidly for “Register and Vote” among themselves. But, of course, their campaign was surreptitiously funded by candidates aspiring for barangay and SK posts. Not a few have reported that even youngsters vying for SK positions were busy spending their parents’ money in their own election campaign.
Now that the SK positions have been won, seats in town, city and provincial councils have been warmed, what have they done for themselves, their constituents, the province and our country? If we go by Balarbar’s records, the SK leaders sat on their pretty asses trying vainly to look honorable like their elders, and nothing else. Only a handful obviously went out of their way to campaign for a “Register and Vote in 2010”. Was it because there is no money to be had from this particular campaign? No political patrons to work for?
How quickly they have transformed from idealists to traditional politicos. I am reminded of how one young politician in the early 60s was described as “So young and so corrupt”!
No wonder, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel has proposed the abolition of the SK because in his view it failed to accomplish its mandate and instead became a new layer for corruption.
The SK federations across the province should be taken to task for their utter negligence of duty. And it should start in the provincial board where the provincial federation head sits and draws salaries and allowances.
* * * * *
ALVIN F. VS. BJMP. Finally, Dagupan city hall has stated its final position on the fate of the District Jail facility in Bonuan Gueset, by the beachfront. I won’t say it’s like seeing light at the end of the tunnel but hopefully, literally a plug at the end of the jail’s pipe that regularly pisses out the facility’s wastes to the beach water, to stop the pollution of the Lingayen Gulf.
I’m glad that City Administrator and former Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez finally said what the people have been waiting for him to say. The city council already decided the facility has to go, but Alvin’s recent statement was more emphatic in that the city wants it out and leaves it to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to decide and spend for the relocation, outside of Dagupan! Three cheers!
The city council can do no less now than immediately to adopt a resolution that will echo the city administrator’s (meaning the city mayor’s) decision to stop the pollution once and for all by booting it out.
The environmental time bomb continues to tick away, let’s not tarry.
* * * * *
JDV FOR GUV? What’s this buzz about indefatigable Joe de V contemplating to become governor? It’s not a bad idea. His ideas for development are novel and most proved to be viable. But with his Manay Gina blowing hot on the seat that he will vacate, can he juggle two campaigns and ensure a dual win?
To this, I hear Guv Spines telling pundits: “Bring it on!”
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
