Punchline
Unheralded hometown heroes
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WE have another reason to celebrate being Pangasinenses.
Santy Barnachea of Umingan is again the new cycling king of the country! As the captain of the East Pangasinan Team that saw action in the national bikefest LBC Ronda Pilipinas Tour, he demonstrated the mettle common to Pangasinan marathon cyclists, the passion to be a champion in Pangasinan’s name.
Between Santy and cycling greats Rufino Gabot of Laoac, Mamerto Eden of Mapandan, Edmundo de Guzman of Lingayen, Gonzalo Recodos of Laoac, Jess Garcia of Mangaldan (now PUNCH columnist), Teodorico Rimarim of Basista, Samson Etrata of Binalonan, Samson Carino of Mangaldan, Modesto Bonzo of Sual, Jacinto Sicam of San Manuel, Romeo Bonzo of Sual, Ruben Carino of Mangaldan, Pepito Calip of Binalonan, Bernardo Llentada of San Nicolas, Arnel Quirimit of Pozorrubio who collectively won 19 national laurels for the province, is proof enough that cycling is a niche sport for Pangasinenses. No other province can lay claim to this feat!
In case Guv Spines has overlooked this fact, the provincial government can bank on this unequalled sports achievement as another tourism come-on and icon: Pangasinan, home of Philippine cycling champions! It’s something we cannot claim for other sports, not basketball, not track and field, not boxing, shooting, etc.
No less than a museum honoring these forgotten hometown heroes in the capitol will make all Pangasinenses mighty proud. When each one won, each made sure that he proclaimed himself as the cyclist from Pangasinan. Scenes depicting their well-fought battles across thousands of miles of roads across Luzon and the country would not only make interesting trivia for all generations of Pangasinenses but visitors will surely be awed by what all the honor and prestige that our cyclists had won for the province.
The documentation of the cycling feats of our heroic cyclists should be on the list of “MUSTS” for the work laid out by the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission for itself. Paging Commissioner Gonz Duque!
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In the Philippines, it must be told that winning a national cycling tour is 90% honor for the cyclist and his home province and 10% prize money.
Recall that when our 3-time champion Jess Garcia was reaping honors, his prize money at the time was P5,000! That certainly could not have earned him the status of affluence ala Manny Pacquiao today but Jess and the rest of the champs became household names and icons in their own right.
Fortunately for Santy and future champs, the prize money these days now reached the P1M mark, what with the expensive equipment and resources needed to win a major tour these days.
Still, Santy is known as the new champ from Pangasinan, not as the guy who won P1M, a pittance compared to what PBA cagers earn these days!
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LESSONS FROM PGMA. I was not at all surprised to learn that Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim again went into panic mode by reviving his 2010 gag order to city hall officials. This time his order was more explicit. He specifically prohibits them even from entertaining phone calls from any councilor.
It appears today that a gag order can now be expected from him each time he is caught dipping his arm and fingers inside the city’s cookie jar. The timely expose of the PUNCH of his latest set of shady projects, the Daongan ed Dawel and ‘Kankungan ed Dawel ‘ scam deals, obviously had that effect. For all his hemming and hawing about what could have been, he cannot legally justify today the unwarranted shortcuts he resorted to in order to wrangle a whopping P11 million from the city for a P2 million facility.
Consequently, he had no choice but to weave a yarn that only he could hope to pass off as reasonable and justifiable. So before anyone in city hall begins speculating on how his story would end and complicate things for him further, he needs that gag order to keep his alibi intact, or so he thinks.
My only regret in all these controversies and scandals is that a promising and truly worthy project like the river cruise is caught in the crossfire, all because of Mr. Lim’s “enterprising” agenda. He had the opportunity to regale the city and the sanggunian and win a hefty budget for its full development annually, but he bungled it.
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TAN-G-A? Is the mayor “tanga” (lifting from BSL’s vocabulary) to believe that the precedent set by former President Arroyo with her gag order will save him further public scrutiny and possible incrimination by city hall officials in all the reported scam deals in his city hall? It seems that way. If he cares to read the writing on the wall, the gag order of Mrs. Arroyo in her heydays cannot even save her and her husband today from possible prosecution. Their accounts of corruption are well-documented, pretty much the same for Mr. Lim’s foray into the public funds. Moreover, Mr. Lim ought to learn by now that the same people who were ordered by PGMA not to talk and squeal are now slowly coming out to indict her and her husband.
So here’s an unsolicited advice from one tanga to the other – The only way out of more possible prosecution and public humiliation is to finally stop acting like you are above the law.
Perhaps there’s still a small chance for the city to see a reformed mayor, if it isn’t too late for him yet. I say this because the 2010 Commission on Audit report already shows that Mr. Lim is now criminally and administratively liable for utilizing calamity funds last year without a declaration of state of calamity by the sanggunian.
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CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD? Fortunately for Mr. Lim, the city auditor did not report the scandalous overpricing and anomalous proceedings of the bid and awards committee for the purchase of food items for the city’s feeding program.
As I perused Auditor Ofelia Celi’s published 2010 report, there was no mention whatsoever, not even a hint of the anomalous transactions by city hall officials despite the preponderance of evidence supported by public documents. I find this ironic since I don’t recall seeing her signature appear in any of the incriminating documents that point to a gross violation of the “Government Procurement Reform Act.” Because she didn’t report it makes her appear as part of the cover-up conspiracy to defraud the government.
Copies of the incriminating evidence are already in the custody of one who is prepared to file the case against the city officials who took part in the conspiracy. When that case is filed, Ms. Celi will have a lot of explaining to do to clear herself.
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WAITING FOR AN OFFER? Like many city hall watchers, I, too, wonder why the city councilors in the majority have not made good on their well-publicized promise (threat?) to file a case against Mayor Lim et al. for the illegal use of calamity funds and the anomalous transaction for the feeding program. It will be recalled that Councilor Alfie Fernandez, speaking for his colleagues, earlier gave the assurance in response to the dare of the mayor’s son, Councilor Brian.
Insiders in the majority lament that the promise to file could not be made because while all the eight councilors in the majority had agreed to act “all-for-one, one-for-all” on the issue of filing charges against Mayor Lim and other officials, there is one councilor who refuses to stand by her palabra de onor. Councilor Maybelyn Fernandez is reportedly the only councilor who continues to delay affixing her signature on the supposedly prepared complaint document.
So, what is she waiting for? An offer from city hall? I pray not! Her public image as a diligent and honest legislature has been so far untainted but this sudden reluctance to sign the document may just change all that. In the face of the national mood for meaningful reforms today, Ms. Fernandez’s reluctance is most disappointing as it is totally unexpected of her.
Councilor Maybelyn: are you or are you not for transparency and accountability?
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