Punchline
More “value engineering“ projects
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THERE is hope for the influential and affluent to amass more illegal wealth in Dagupan City via Mayor Benjie Lim’s touted “value engineering”.
The recently discovered massive land grabbing of premium beachfront at the Tondaligan Park tells us what “right connections” can do for them. Who would imagine that millions worth of beachfront on public land can actually be had for nearly a song by being on the “good side” of the barangay chairman and, of course, the top honcho of the city itself.
Curiously, the ritzy squatters don’t even feel compelled to present documents to prove their ownership of the land they claim to have been legally purchased. They arrogantly refuse to name “original owners” of the land and, worse, they never had to bother with mundane requirements for ordinary mortals like building permits from the city engineering office. It would appear from the refusal of the beachfront “owners” to comply with demands to present documents that the “package” from the city hall included “protection” from demolition. Expect the city hall to play deaf and dumb on the scandal while refusing to issue a “Demolish them” order.
Obviously backed by guarantees from the city hall, something already proven during the first term of Mayor Benjie Lim, the affluent squatters confidently went about transforming their “guest houses” into “resorts of sorts” without fear of being sued or their “resorts’” being demolished. (The PUNCH has copies of separate certifications signed by Barangay Kapitan Pedro Gonzales and Mayor Lim in June 2007 before they left their posts, interposing “no objection” with the desire of one “Romeo Rubis” to have his house “installed with electrical connection by Decorp.”).
When Messers. Lim and Gonzales returned to their posts last year, a new batch of “landowners” have surfaced since. Indeed, “What are we in power for?” is a truism in this part of the world.
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SOMEONE’S BUSINESS. There’s more. The “value engineering” brand is also making headway in the city’s December fiesta celebration.
In both “Baratillo” and Tindaay Labi launched by the city hall, the city council and the rest of the city hall departments are kept in the dark as to who is managing the twin events, and more importantly who pockets the revenues.
Technically, since the city council was not asked to pass a resolution suspending effects of traffic ordinance to give way to fiesta affairs, it can be legally claimed that the operation of the two events is none of the city’s business.
The question that begs an answer, therefore, is: Who gave the authority to close and occupy the streets for commercial purposes? Was it mayor, the city administrator? The chief of police? Or the head of the Public Order and Safety Office? Whoever it was should be charged and arrested promptly for issuing illegal orders and abuse of power and discretion. At the very least, there is something in it for the BIR.
However, I have no doubt that the inquiry planned by the city council will not result in anything conclusive since no department head will show up, much less admit to knowledge of anything illegal. In such a situation, what will the city council likely do? Based on the council’s past reactions to reports of corruption, my calculated guess is – the city council will end up doing nothing.
You have to hand it to Mr. Lim who masterfully applies his “value engineering” to the hilt, thumbing his nose at the councilors each time.
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PAINTING THE TOWN RED. I note with serious dismay how Mayor Benjie Lim manages to continue taunting the majority members in the sanggunian with such regularity and impunity and still get results.
It would appear that that Mr. Lim already got them all figured out which explains why he dares to go on the offensive each time, even admitting to all his abuses., a.k.a. “value engineering”. What hubris!
Recall the period in 2010 when the members of the majority in the city council lambasted Mr. Lim for illegally disbursing calamity funds without a declaration of a state of calamity. The mayor’s illegal act was even described in the city auditor’s annual report. As Mr. Lim might have foretold, no one dared make him legally accountable which presumably was why his office never bothered to deny the subsequent discovery by the majority councilors of the overpayment of food commodities used for Mr. Lim’s feeding program for malnourished kids.
Recall how Mr. Lim casually admitted to irregularities that accompanied the construction of the Daongan ed Dawel and the aborted “Kangungan” restaurant. As he had correctly predicted so far, the sanggunian as a body did not hold him accountable as well.
Now comes the discovery of a new wave of real estate scandal at the Tondaligan Park. With official documents presented by the Dagupan Electric Corporation that bear signatures of Mr. Lim and City Administrator Vlad Mata indicating a collusion with barangay officials to allow wealthy families to squat on public land, I am certain that Mr. Lim will shrug it off and regard this is simply as another expose that will remain a mere “allegation” for which no one in the city hall will be again held liable by the sanggunian.
Between his tight grip on his department heads’ necks, his deliberate rebuff of the intimidated councilors in the majority, and the effects of his gag order, Mr. Lim is literally painting the town red at the people’s expense.
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THE ONOR-ONORS AND THE MIGHTY 8. Councilors Brian Lim, Red Erfe Mejia, Guillermo Vallejos and Chester Gonzales concededly form the minority that keeps the spirit of onor-onors in the sanggunian alive. They unabashedly demonstrate this so there’s absolutely no hope in seeing them redeem themselves by standing up for the right when confronted with anomalies in the city hall.
The councilors in the majority, on the other hand, namely: Maybelyn Fernandez, Jess Canto, Alvin Coquia, Alfie Fernandez, Dada Reyna, Karlos Reyna, Chito Samson and Jig Seen, initially inspired Dagupenos with the hope that collectively they would blunt any and all attempts at corruption inside city hall. Yes, they did not disappoint their voters with their seemingly vigilant watch. They exposed whatever it was they saw. But 16 months later today, for reasons only known to them, all the hue and cry about scandals and unabated corruption in the city was about all that they could serve their constituents. They could not get themselves to think legacy and act accordingly. Is it possible that they actually fear the wrath of Mr. Lim (and his son Brian)?
My unsolicited advice to the “Mighty Eight”: If you honestly don’t have the gumption to make Mr. Lim and his ilk accountable for all the anomalies that have their fingerprints, you are better off keeping silent and just forever hold your tongue. By simply alerting the public of anomalies and yet refuse to hold city officials concerned accountable merely expose your own weaknesses and that doesn’t make you any better than the onor-onors in your midst.
For a while, I thought legacy was there for the “Mighty Eight” to claim but I guess I was wrong about them after all. Kaskasian met lay Dagupan!
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SAFETY FACTOR. If Guv Spines is keen on making the province a top beach destination in the region and in Central Luzon, he must ask the provincial board to adopt an ordinance requiring beach resort owners and barangays hosting beach affairs to employ trained, Red Cross certified lifeguards on a fulltime basis. The same should be required of establishments that offer swimming pools for recreation.
The presence of these lifeguards from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily gives an assurance that safety of visitors is a serious concern of the provincial government in its efforts to promote tourism.
The yearly reports of deaths in the province’s beaches should end if we want visitors to troop to our beaches and resorts.
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