Think about it
Lingayen cityhood still realizable
By Jun Velasco
IT’S most unfair for Local Gov’t Sec. Jesse Robredo to douse the Lingayen folk’s feverish drive for cityhood lumping it with the inferior towns.
The last frontier of the country’s capital town that’s not been elevated to city status and birthplace of former Pres. Fidel Ramos is considered a late bloomer but is now over qualified in terms of population and income.
Its high jump to the circle of well- developed towns draws from the climate of accelerated growth in the province under the new provincial leadership.
With the triumvirate of Mayor Ernesto “Jonas” C. Castaneda, Congressman Pol Bataoil, and Governor Amado T. Espino, the cityhood damper of Robredo should be easily neutralized.
* * *
We got assurance from the new Dagupan City Warden, Col. Vic Oreiro that the nauseating stink from the waste and refuse coming from the city jail is now a thing of the past.
Known for his well-decorated stints on jail management in Metro Manila’s penology centers. Col. Vic Oreiro would find his new job here like the proverbial walk in the park. He is concurrently BJMP provincial administrator in Western Pangasinan.
* * *
Reports about a grudging (akin to grudge) peace between mayor Benjie Lim and the Sangguniang Panlungsod led by his mall business rival Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez will surely give them bloody noses.
It’s a natural spin of our democratic system. Meanwhile, the city as a whole is the happy beneficiary in the conflict. Mabuhay ang demokrasya!
Whatever happened to Benjie Lim’s Metro Dagupan idea? With his election as vice mayors’ league president, Roy Macanlalay might outspace the city by courting another city, San Carlos, to form the Metro Binalatongan and tapping the 3rd district towns. As in the fashionable bank mergers, the merging of LGUs may not be a bad idea at all.
* * *
Conversations with President Aquino’s relatives confirm that their place of origin is Mangaldan, Pangasinan. Does this mean huge development packages for Mayor Hermie Aquino Romero? Sana, Hermie sighs, but P’noy is not the trapo type of politician. Walang pabopaborito sa kanya. Sayang, pareng Hermie, ginto na naging bato pa.
But no regrets at all, says Hermie, because we have a leader who is not corrupt and is loved by all. We can’t ask for more.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
