Playing with Fire
Belen’s round
By Gonzalo Duque
CONTRARY to the view of certain quarters, the appearance of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez and her allies in the city council at the Media in Action forum last Wednesday did the city well.
As expected, the two-man debating team of Mayor Benjie Lim, namely, Councilors Brian Lim and Red Erfe Mejia were no-shows.
So there you go, folks, back to where we were. Laban uli.
Ikaw naman Pare Jun V, huwag ka namang kill joy. This is not yet the time to hang up the globes. It’s but right and democratic that Belen’s camp would have their say, and they made their excellent mark.
Lest we’d be accused of promoting a fight mode, we only wanted to observe a democratic policy in the forum. We therefore set the stage for a wrap-up of the budget rift issues next Wednesday. We are using the space to invite both sides again for the third and hopefully (on this issue) last face-off, ala Pacquiao.
We hope the principal protagonists, Mayor Benjie and Vice Mayor Belen will Marquez 3 Thrilla at Pedritos. Ok ba, Ate Linda?
Ayan, wala ng atrasan yan, mga igan. Ang pikon at asar, talo.
Kaya ikaw Jun V, i-reset muna natin yong proposal mong grand reconciliation Pabawim met nira di Belen a piyan ag ira agrabiyado, agga ontan, agagui, and mind you the Indira Gandhi of Dagupan proved to all that she won’t be a pushover in her tiff with Mayor Benjie. Councilors Chito Samson and Alfie Fernandez said they were accepting the dare of Councilor Brian Lim to bring their charges vs. Mayor Lim to court. In a year’s time, they said, the court will be the next venue of the fight.
Ay anto man, Jun V, manasinger manarawi amoy pangipawil na ulopan tan arowan?
We learned from unimpeachable sources, because we ourself didn’t hear it, that when broadcaster Orly Navarro asked former Speaker Joe de Venecia, who is a known political referee, author of the rainbow coalition, and legendary peacemaker to bring the clashing Dagupan politicians to a head, he, the Speaker, graceful begged off.
Ay, panon totan? Someone tapped our shoulder and whispered, “panon ton mamegley si manong ta political ally toy Belen and known political foe of Benjie? Ay, apple juice, the show must go on!
Abangan ang Round 3. Pinal na yan. Whoever blinks, loses.
* * * *
Something disturbed us while viewing the new seal of Dagupan City. It was recently unveiled, and we congratulate the talents and the stout hearted souls who formulated it.
But here’s the rub, mga agagui. The seal depicts that the city is a center of education. We slapped our wrist and asked, what has Mayor Lim that really promoted education in the city?
If you look around, there’s too much drumbeating for Bangus Festival. Hundreds of thousands were gnashing their teeth last Wednesday because traffic managers blocked all streets to give way to street dancing.
Ni, this should also be addressed to Vice Mayor Belen ha? For the past years, even during the mayorship of Al Fernandez, we already brought up this issue of too much fuss, too much noise, too much gimmickry, pakulo and all that about our Dagupan bangus.
Apring Dawana, president of the fishpond owners and operators of the city, told us that the city could not as yet produce enough bangus for the consumption of Dagupenos! Kulang na kulang pa! The question rises –is the current noisemaking the correct strategy to fully develop the bangus industry in our city?
We have our doubts. Dapat yan, isa o dalawang araw lang and merry making. Ibuhos sana ang pagaasikaso sa bangus in research and experiments, and serious dredging of our rivers, and massive and correct marketing strategies, etcetera.
Sorry, we got carried away. Our orig thesis, by the way, is that hizzoner Benjie should have the elementary courtesy not to project the city as center of learning when his support to education is wanting.
In this connection, we’d rather ask all of you promoters of the bangusfest to reflect on a Confucian reminder, “Give man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”
Dapat yan ang tema ng mabongang bangus festival.
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