Punchline
Guv Spines’ “staggered” option
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE decision of Guv Spines to endorse the “staggered payment scheme” as “recommended” by the Liga ng mga Barangay led by his brother, is clearly an indication that the controversial ordinance increasing the real property tax in the province by as much as 300 per cent is taking a heavy toll on his standing among his political allies on the ground.
Evidently the “staggered” option is a damage control resorted to as a compromise to break the momentum of a brewing revolt among landowners. While a staggered payment still does not erase the tax obligation created by the ordinance, it will nonetheless provide some relief to land and farm owners to save and plan for the additional financial burden.
For this, Guv Spines should still be credited for his ability, belated as it may be, to rise above his defensive posture and begin to be more circumspect in his assessment of the impact of the new RPT rates. The Guv was definitely ill-advised to remain intransigent in the face of flaks he was getting at the onset instead of seeing an opportunity to convert a crisis into a cause or advocacy that could have projected him early on as the sensitive, sensible and caring political leader. That rare opportunity was lost.
But all is not really lost yet. Once the provincial board approves his recommendation for a five-year (not a three-year period scheme as recommended by the Liga) scheme which I don’t doubt will pass, he will most certainly recoup the valued lost goodwill.
This new development would be like hitting a home run with all bases loaded! Or in Pacquiao’s context, a knockdown on the 10th round!
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NURTURING MOTHER. The world celebrated Mother’s Day last week and I regret having failed to share this story about a woman who found sheer happiness and purpose in life on simply being a nurturing mother to her children.
There once lived a young mother who singlehandedly fed, bathed, dressed, raised and tutored her five children while her husband toiled to make ends meet for her and the children. She cooked and baked and kept a close circle of friends in between dropping off and picking up her kids in school until they were off to college. She kept her children thinking about their father’s love for them whenever he would not be anywhere near to be seen or heard.
She grieved quietly when her youngest of the brood drowned one day just six days off her 12th birthday at the tender age of 12. She could only find consolation in the thought God still blessed her with four children to nurture, and a caring husband to keep her steady.
Two years later, she rushed to the hospital to be by her husband’s side who was then bleeding to death shortly after he was shot in his office by a politician for his work.
All too sudden, she found herself alone to fend for her 4 children with nary an experience in business, to give them roof over their heads, food to eat, and to make certain they completed their college education. But her family was blessed with friends and relatives who came forward to help her. She kept her faith and the good Lord watched over her. She kept all her children emotionally secure as they went through difficulties.
Four decades later, the years of emotional and physical stress of nurturing finally took a toll on her frail aging body. She was told she could only live longer if she regularly undergoes treatment with a dialysis machine, a condition that would further batter her body in return for a limited quality time to be with her children. She bravely suffered the pains to stay alive for as long she could simply be consoled in her selfless thought that she had to be there for her children who will always need a mother’s nurturing.
Through those painful years and by her serene example all her life, her children learned the value of filial kinship, the very core of what her children share today.
She died 6 years ago and her memory as a great nurturing loving mother lives on in her surviving children. Her ashes are now entombed in the family’s estate at the Mt. Zion Memorial Park where her epitaph reads: “Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds proclaim her praise. Proverbs 31:31.”
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IGNORED ISSUES IN RH BILL. The debate on the Reproductive Health Bill is turning ugly and ultra-emotional. This is most unfortunate because emotions cloud objectivity.
Ironically, the wailing and whining from both pros and antis are about contentious issues that are neither here nor there. It’s really all about jurisdiction, territory and authority. The debate has been reduced to: Who is crossing the line? The church or the government?
Since the abortion issue has moral and legal dimensions, both church and government are shouting themselves hoarse to make their positions known on what is a morality issue and what is strictly a government concern,
But wait, beyond the awful din of protests and denials, both are actually saying the same thing – to ban abortion! Yes, the bill categorically states that abortion is illegal. So, if they are on the same side, what are they arguing about?
Are the use of contraceptives a moral issue or a medical and social issue? Should sexual reproduction be taken in the context of the Christian bible or a critical factor in managing population? Should a woman’s reproductive system be taken only in the context of a religious marriage and not as medical and social concern? Is it overpopulation or corruption in government that causes poverty?
If only the two groups would settle down and work on their commonalities, the debate can be enriched by defining not only what should be incorporated in the law to guard against abortion, but to define what’s good for the Filipino mother and the family.
From where I sit, I already see a number of provisions in the draft that need to be seriously challenged by all sectors.
One such controversial provision stipulates penalties that will be meted private companies and offices that do not make contraceptives available to their employees. I say, that should be shot down promptly.
Then there is the mandatory sex education in schools that need rethinking if not further revision. Why shouldn’t parents be allowed to exercise the option to determine if their children should sit in on those classroom lectures and demonstrations on sex and pregnancy whether their children are attending private of public schools? Shouldn’t Catholic schools and other sectarian schools be allowed to opt not to offer it as a subject?
That the bill will be passed is given. I have no doubt this government will pass that law. What is not given is how the law will finally take shape, and this is where we are losing out all because of the hysteria surrounding the debate on the bill.
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NOT FORGOTTEN. The 2007-10 Fernandez administration in Dagupan has determined that the city completely lost its claim to the 30-hectare land in Barangay Awai in San Jacinto. The land was bought by the city when Mayor Benjie Lim first assumed power as mayor in 2001 ostensibly for a sanitary landfill.
Now that Mr. Lim is again the mayor, I cannot for the likes of me understand why he is still not being made to explain today how the city lost the land which he caused to buy at an overpriced rate, like it never happened.
The city council should be reminded that it can be accused of being remiss in its duties if it does not seek an inquiry today on the lost P16 million acquisition. Mr. Lim must still be made to account today.
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