Punchline
There is no one else
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WE are just entering two weeks of the new year and already, the hired guns riding in tandem already claimed their first victim.
It doesn’t seem like the provincial government is alarmed by it all. The provincial board has not even made the provincial PNP command account for its shortcomings and its plans to deal with the alarming situation.
Without a doubt, the police do not have the logistical resources to effectively fight the underworld. Our cops need all the help from our communities particularly in intelligence gathering. Assets need to be paid, operatives need to be highly mobilized and yet they never have enough of such resources.
The Espino administration and the provincial board can no longer sit idly by and wait for the next victim to be identified, as they silently pray it would not be one among them or their relatives. They must take stock of what the provincial government can extend to make the police more effective and responsive.
On the other hand, the provincial PNP command must stop hiding behind its sugar-coated statistics. They must face the problem head on, and admit to their inadequacy particularly in terms of logistics so an effective solution can be found in tandem with the provincial government.
The stark reality is before us. Hired guns are taking out their targets in the province with impunity. There is no Superman and no NCIS stars to stop and detect the killers. There’s just our elected officials in the provincial government and the police to protect Pangasinenses.
There’s no one else.
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THE TALE OF BONUAN BINLOC. Something is very wrong about Barangay Bonuan Binloc.
It is the area where fake waivers and permits over ownership and use of public land proliferated. It is also known as the lair of druglords and pushers in the city.
I, therefore, find the refusal of Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim to hold Kapitan Pedro Gonzales and the rest of the barangay officials accountable as most unusual.
Mr. Lim should have, at the very least, called in the NBI to conduct an investigation into the claimed fake waivers and permits that bear his name. On top of the persons to be investigated should be the barangay officials. But he didn’t, or he has not indicated he would! It simply is not conceivable that “fake” waivers and permits could proliferate in a barangay without its top brass knowing about it (Tidbits about the latest scandal between and among family clans do not escape them).
Then, the city never heard Mr. Lim warn the barangay’s officials of the continued rampant sale and distribution of illegal drugs in the community. Instead, he simply chose to warn and promised to reward “reformed recidivists” and turned his back on his duty to make the barangay officials, particularly the kapitan, accountable for the illegal activities in their barangay just as the law mandates.
Why are Kapitan Gonzales and his officials regarded like sacred cows by the city hall? Is Mr. Lim afraid of a possible payback if he pushes Kapitan Gonzales too far? Does Mr. Gonzales know something about Mr. Lim that the latter cannot afford to let the public know?
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DAONGAN TO BE PRIVATIZED. Finally, the permanent status of the Daongan ed Dawel for the Dagupan River Cruise will be determined assuming the plan of Mayor Lim to have it privatized will materialize. The question or the problem is: How?
The constructed facility sits on public land owned by the city government. It was built without the benefit of an authority from the sanggunian panlungsod and there was no prior bidding conducted for the construction as mandated by law. So for all intents and purposes, the facility is an illegal structure being operated by the city government without any appropriated budget.
For it to be privatized, I surmise that the sanggunian must at the very least formally acknowledge the existence of the illegal facility then simply establish a lease rate and period for its use. Simple as it may sound, the solution will naturally be an indictment of the city hall and the council since it will be made to appear that both tolerated a contractor to build a structure without permission from the city government. (Of course, we all know it was a brainchild and an initiative of Mr. Lim on the sly).
What certainly can no longer happen is for the city hall (the office of the city mayor and the engineering office) to hold a post-bidding (if there is such a thing) for the completed facility for purposes of paying the still unidentified contractor for the cost of the construction. I hope Mayor Lim has finally conceded that his claimed “value engineering” concept cannot apply under existing laws.
The Daongan project is undoubtedly an admirable initiative so it’s such a shame that its presence had to be complicated and turned controversial all because Mr. Lim chose not to observe and comply with laws pertinent to its establishment as a tourism attraction for the city. In my book, it’s called hubris and ego-tripping just to demonstrate who’s boss. Needless and shameful. Tsk-tsk.
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FROM UNUSUAL TO REGULAR OCCURRENCE. The four cities in Pangasinan, and yes, the provincial government, can consider themselves lucky, that is if they will take advantage and learn from the study on the impact of climate change on the economic development of four other cities, namely Baguio, Cebu, Davao and Iloilo.
The Worldwide Fund (WWF)-Philippines and BPI Foundation recently published its study entitled “Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impact” subtitled as “Vulnerability Assessment of Four Philippine Cities.”
Given this study, the city officials at the helm of the Pangasinan cities can no longer ever claim to be in the dark and not know where to start its medium and long-term development plans to prepare for the onslaught of climate change. Surely, they will find some commonality with one of the studied cities and identify directions that they can apply initially.
The country’s experiences, and the province’s own, tell us that continued procrastination in identifying risks and solutions will be fatal to a community that could have survived but didn’t because of procrastination and indifference on our elected officials.
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For their quick reference, the study took an in-depth, “city-specific view” and presented the methodology that was used, the scope of the assessment, analyses, scenario-building, adaptive capacity and integration and assessment. The study took note of each city’s “socio-economic sensitivity”—its population, housing, source of income, educational facilities, businesses, water supply and even crime solution efficiency. It also attempts “to look 30 years into the future” and it discourages traditional planning and instead encourages “out-of-the-box” thinking.
(I am told our local government officials and non-government organizations may request for a soft copy of the study by sending an e-mail to kkp@wwf.org.ph.)
In our December 25, 2011 issue, we also mentioned the availability of information on geohazard via YouTube, courtesy of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. The basic material is instructive and should guide our public officials where to look and what to look for.
As Sen. Alan Cayetano correctly summed up today’s climate phenomenon: “What we considered as unusual before is now a regular occurrence that can no longer be ignored.”
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