Punchline
Beautiful but deadly
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE beaches of Pangasinan are one of the best in Luzon owing to their fine sand. They should make top tourist destinations not only for local and foreign tourists but alas, they are not because nobody in our local government units seems to know (or to care?) how to develop and promote them.
Beach destinations are patronized because they are primarily safe, clean, accessible and have clean accommodations and restaurants. Unfortunately, very little thought is given to safety and cleanliness by LGUs. We can have 5 star hotels in beach destinations that are poorly administered but these will not be the main come-ons. In such situations, occupancy will never be high unless there is a convention in town. Translation: the beach is still the main attraction.
Tourism development and promotion is serious business. The mere presence of a natural attraction like a beach or a cool climate, and huge billboards will only as reminders for locals but will not entice tourists to visit.
Infrastructure is critical but not as vital as cleanliness and safety factors in and around the destination.
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SENSELESS DEATHS. I am, therefore, saddened each time I get reports of people drowning in our province’s beaches, particularly in Dagupan City.
While word-of-mouth is most effective in promoting destinations, it is just as damaging when people talk about the series of drowning in our beaches, and nobody seems to care to stop it – to stop the drowning.
Karina, the youngest in our brood, drowned in 1963 at age 12, at the Blue Beach, now known as Tondaligan Beach. I, too, almost drowned while attempting to pull her out of the water.
What caused the drowning? She (and eventually I) was swept away by the undertow, a current too strong for anyone to overcome. And I have every reason to believe that this was the main cause for the drowning of the all victims in the area…and more unless the city hall acts to save lives.
This is a deadly hazard known to all Dagupenos yet no administration in the past, and to this day, had the mind to ensure that no lives are lost senselessly while frolicking with family and friends.
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There is a need for the city government to first acknowledge that the beach is treacherous because of its uneven slope and undertow. Until it does, there can be no effective solutions. Continued denial by city hall officials will only lead to more deaths…some of whom may likely be their own relatives and friends.
Yet, if they’d only give it some serious thought, there are simple basic measures that can be adopted to protect lives (and the city’s reputation).
It starts with an honest to goodness survey and study of the slope and undertow not only at the Tondaligan Beach but throughout the whole stretch of city’s beach shoreline. Such an information will also be important for investors to know.
Once the hazardous areas are identified, these must be cordoned off with warnings to bathers and swimmers. In safe areas, colored floaters must be used to indicate swimming areas.
Then, regular (meaning employed) certified lifeguards must be given specific duties and work schedule. They must be equipped with motorized boats for quick response, and other lifesaving devices. (We should forget about designating volunteers as lifeguards, it never worked and will never work since there is no real accountability involved in volunteerism).
These are very basic measures but need a lot of commitment to implement them. Both city hall and the sanggunian must recognize the priority it needs and should seek to allocate funds annually to make Dagupan beach the safest, cleanest and most popular in the region.
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SAVE PANTAL RIVER. The ocular inspection conducted by the sanggunian and the district engineer along the Pantal River stretch should not end with revealing observations and motherhood statements, i.e., total rehabilitation, etc.
Their findings are serious, i.e., unabated dumping of wastes, shallower and narrower channel, illegal extensions of properties, etc., need immediate solutions. Paying lip service merely to the issue today by the mayor’s office and the sanggunian will certainly point to their dereliction of duty once another major flooding hits the city. Wala kayong ginawa pagkatopos ng lahat!
The city hall must do an audit of encroachments along the channel, but must begin to dismantle or remove polluting devices or sources along the river without delay. It has succeeded in demolishing the illegal fish pens, it should finish its mission with the other existing polluting sources.
What is worrisome is the finding that the Magic warehouse of Mayor Benjie in Barangay Malued by the Pantal River is one of those that had extended its premises towards the river. So I strongly doubt if he will act on this problem since he is part of the problem. What will most likely happen is he will merely insist that the culprit for the city’s flooding is not the Pantal River but the De Venecia Highway Extension and the backfilling at the Lucao District. Wanna bet?
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JUST DO IT! The drug problem in Dagupan (and in the province) will never be licked even if the police and city hall sign a memorandum of agreement everyday with whoever and whatever sector in the community.
In the first place, such MOAs signed do not establish accountability on any of the signatories. In case the city hall hasn’t noticed, the recent MOA signing between the police and the Moro leaders residing in Sitio Silongan in Bonuan Binloc, like all MOAs signed in the past, is deemed by Moro signatories as nothing but a publicity stunt, and therefore, not taken seriously. Naglolokohan lang sila!
Above all, I even wonder why the so-called “Muslim leaders” agree to a MOA that literally and specifically named their communities as primary suspected sources for the illegal drug traffic in the city. To my mind, the MOA between the police and the Moro leaders is an affront to the Moro communities, never mind that most of the arrested suspects in the past were traced to their communities.
The kind of MOA that should serve the Moro communities is to have one among the unit leaders of the Moro residents, stating their individual accountability if any of their wards are arrested for drug trafficking. That’s for them to determine but accountability must be established. And if they have enough respect for each one, they would seek to uphold their agreement no matter what the political costs may be. After all, they only have themselves to blame if all Moros in the community are eventually discriminated against and profiled as drug dealers for generations to come. They can protest and rant against the labeling tomorrow but that profiling can only happen because they did nothing today to protect the image of Moros by refusing to make a strong stand against the presence of drug dealers in their midst.
On the part of the police and the city government, I would think the best strategy is not a regular MOA-signing with likely suspects (I find that most ridiculous…only in the Philippines!) but to simply “Talk tough, Act tough” against drug dealers. No quarter given, no quarter asked of anyone. It’s the only language that drug syndicates speak, understand and fear. That means to keep arresting and prosecuting suspects until the illegal drug financier/source is forced to move on to more lucrative and “friendlier” communities outside of the city. (Note: The provision that calls for demolition of houses of suspects only invites legal suits it being illegal).
As Nike aptly puts it: Just do it!
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