Right but not equal

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

IT’S finally happening. Dagupan City is beginning to see a political fissure, a battle of nerves between the mayor and the city council.

Actually, this doesn’t surprise anyone but the hopeless optimists among us (including myself) who had pinned their hopes on the earlier assurances of both Mayor Benjie Lim and Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez that they would ensure close collaboration for the good of the city.  But pundits agree that would be too good to be true.

Aaah, how naive of me to even believe that the two can endure a “honeymoon” even for just 30 days.

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The cracks became evident with the recent combative and defensive stance of Mayor Benjie by issuing an internal memo to department heads not to appear before the city council without his say-so. (Hmmm…Mr. Lim appears to have been a good student of former President Arroyo in her “Art of War vs. Legislators” class).

So when none of the four invited city hall officials showed up, the councilors understandably cried “foul”.

The city council maintains the invitations to department heads are in pursuit of transparency in governance. On the other hand, city hall maintains it is the prerogative of the mayor to demand a prior advice from his subalterns for his own information. And as city information officer Behn Hortaleza puts it, it was meant to put the practice of courtesy between the executive and the legislative branches in proper perspective.

Both are admittedly right but not equal in significance and priority for the city.

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DEFENSIVE BENJIE. Frankly, I don’t see why Mr. Lim should feel defensive about the city council’s prodding for more transparency and swift action on his predecessor’s unfinished business. Since he had just assumed office, the prodding actually highlights the shortcomings of his predecessor and he should, therefore, view it as opportunities to demonstrate that he is true to his billing as “Mr. Clean-Up”!

From where I sit, Mr. Lim’s pride and personal emotions appear to be getting in the way of his desire to leave a great legacy as chief executive, and that’s a shame.

Unless and until Mr. Lim concedes that he, as mayor, is accountable and responsible to the city council as warranted by the local government code, he will have a difficult time getting his bearings to be the charismatic leader and doer that residents expect him to be.

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As a non-paying member of the Society of Unsolicited Advisers, I have a contribution to make: Arrogance in public service never pays, instead, it will have its payback.

Mr. Lim and other like-minded mayors should be gently reminded what the Local Government Code states about their responsibilities as mayors. For purposes of brevity and for lack of valuable space, I’ll simply lift the relevant portions verbatim from Section 444, Article 1, Chapter 3, to wit:

“(i) Determine the guidelines of municipal policies and be responsible to the sangguniang bayan for the program of government;

“(iv) Initiate and propose legislative measures to the sangguniang bayan and, from time to time as the situation may require, provide such information and data needed or requested by said sanggunian in the performance of its legislative functions;” (Underscoring is mine).

This is what our system provides precisely for check-and-balance in governance that our elected and appointed officials cannot ignore whimsically. Not even Mr. Lim’s sentiment that the time spent by department heads before the city council results in time delays in implementation of the programs can hold water in this case.

I am, therefore, saddened that the enormous goodwill and renewed expression of confidence that Mr. Lim earned early on is beginning to erode. His belligerence does not bode well for him at this time when residents are looking up to him for that brilliant leadership that hopefully will pave the way for unprecedented reforms.

But I can also understand why Mr. Lim has difficulty accepting the fact that he is mandated to be responsible to the city council. For six years, he had been used to having an “onor-onor” council in his past two terms. He had a city council in 2001-2007 that was responsible to him, and not the other way around.

Well, things have changed and characters are no longer the same. You can’t win them all, Mr. Lim!

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THE GOOD AND THE BAD COPS. There are rotten eggs and there will be more of their kind in our police ranks.

The recent arrest of P/Supt. Gerardo Macaraeg for extortion via an entrapment operation will certainly not be the last that we will hear of, just as the arrest of P/Supt. Dionicio Borromeo, a bemedalled police officer and former police chief, for his involvement in the operations of a shabu lab in La Union, was.  For sure, there are more of their kind in the city police station and elsewhere risking their careers for a measly sum from extortion or kotong from all sources – illegal drugs, gambling, prostitution, false arrests, etc.

This is symptomatic of the pervading corruption culture that our cops are exposed to going by the illegal activities of their ranking police officers and civilian superiors, many of whom were lucky to get away with it.  So the temptation that they too can be lucky is consuming.

Payola from jueteng and other illegal numbers games have destroyed many police careers, they who joined the police force as idealists and no-nonsense crime busters. They have been taught over the years that it pays to be on-the-take for as long as one is careful until they find out that one can never be too careful when there are still those around them who remain steadfast and loyal to their oaths to serve, and not to steal.

Fortunately, there are still good cops who are simply proud and happy to serve, they are the nemesis of the bad cops.

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