Legal quagmire 

By Ermin Garcia Jr. 

HERE we go again… and again!

It appears Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim is keen on doing a rerun of the process that accompanied the passage of the city’s 2011 budget. The 2012 budget, like last year, will again hang in the balance at the expense of the city hall employees and the city by preventing department heads to appear at the budget hearings.

I note, too, that Mr. Lim, for all his bright ideas in development, is overly preoccupied with the process on how things should be done in the city.  For him, nothing is more important than to demonstrate that things can only happen according to his personal whims and dictates. But to his own chagrin, it is this predilection that finds him and his initiatives landing in contentious legal quagmire.

If only he would forego his inclination to sidestep the city council, to stop resorting to illegal measures to gain support for his plans, he might still leave the legacy to be the best mayor yet.

Why he insists on accomplishing things contrary to law, is beyond me and many others who believe in him. The only explanation I can surmise is his refusal to give up on illegal profits to be made from his “novel” projects.

For instance, why did he have to launch the city’s river cruise project through the backdoor without any prior bidding as required by law and without budget support from the city council when the project could have been launched above board without a hitch?

And why did he have to nix a public bidding for the needs of his feeding program for the city’s kids?

Why does he refuse today to lift his gag order on the city hall’s department heads, preventing the latter from answering any and all questions about the city government’s projects and activities? The law provides that to uphold the check-and-balance policy in governance, the executive department must submit to inquiries from the legislative branch, but why does he refuse to do so?

Maamot kayo, Mayor!

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GUILTY AS CHARGED? Still more questions. Why does Mr. Lim refuse to call in the NBI to investigate the discovered sale of alleged fake waivers and permits that bear his and city administrator’s alleged forged signatures? I would think he would be the first one to call in the NBI since primary suspects would likely be Dagupenos and his authority has been undermined.  

If the mayor won’t do it, I certainly hope the city council will if only to put the enterprising souls with criminal connections to the city hall out of business.  

If Mr. Lim refuses to act against those who freely, easily and boldly forge signatures of mayors and administrators in fake claims, waivers and permits, God knows whose property will be lost next to these criminals.  

It behooves upon the office the mayor and the city council to identify and prosecute those responsible behind those fake waivers and permits.  

Fraud and conspiracy are concerns for the NBI, not the police’s SOCO! 

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To date, Messrs. Lim and Mata have also refused to order the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the homeowners who served the fake waivers and permits. Worse, by refusing to order the demolition of the illegal structures built and facilitated by the fake permits and waivers, one cannot help but think that they are the syndicate’s protectors.

Why no action? Could they be behind the land-grabbing syndicate operating at the beach?

In sharp contrast, City Engineer Virginia Rosario acted swiftly on those who used fake waivers using the authority of her office but the office of the city mayor remained muted the whole time.

Quoting our fire-player Gonz Duque, would his claim “there’s a rule in law and evidence, that if you don’t respond to a criticism, the presumption is you are guilty as charged,” apply to the duo?  I sure hope not.

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SUBSTANCE NOT PERSONALITIES.  Pinoys, who don’t have to worry about earning for the day, are finding the proceedings of the Corona impeachment trial at the senate as another entertaining radio-TV tele-novela.  

For most, the game is to deduce who are for or against the Chief Justice’s impeachment after each day’s proceedings.  Yet, they cannot possibly discern this merely from observing how the senator-judges ask questions. The “Sabi ko na nga ba, eh!”…”Cuan ko la et” deduction only serves to expose one’s bias and little else because nothing is conclusive until the trial is over.  

In the first place, the senator-judges are expected to ask questions to clarify issues brought before them by either prosecution or the defense panel so asking questions don’t add up to anything. Some may but most don’t ask questions for the benefit of either panel but for themselves.  

This impeachment proceeding is akin to en banc hearings of the Supreme Court. One can never correctly predict which justice favors one position or the other from the questions propounded until the decision is rendered. Not a few litigants walked away utterly disappointed to realize that their expectations from the hearings were not reflected in the final decision. The same will be true for the impeachment trial. 

It would be instructive, therefore, to simply listen to responses of witnesses and the ruling of the presiding officer instead of focusing on the trial personalities. This way, one is further enlightened on the issues that either prosecution or defense panel is inclined to be silent on.   

The more facts and truthful accounts are kept away from the trial and the more deviation there are from the rules of evidence and court proceedings, the more the decision of the senator-judges will become suspect.  

So, to keep one’s sanity, my advice is – restrain all biases. Simply listen and learn and be enlightened on issues, not personalities, and look forward to surprises at the end of the trial. That should be more fun!

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PREPARING FOR THE WORST. We are four months away from the traditional rainy season, and if I may offer this unsolicited advice to the province’s local government units, they must now plan contingencies for expected flooding in their respective communities.

I have no doubt that relief and rescue operations system have been developed in many communities but the missing component has always been – how to minimize damage to the communities and what to do with rescued and evacuated residents!

Here’s a checklist that might come handy.  All quarrying activities must be closely regulated if not completely stopped.  Work on normally clogged drainage in barangays should already begin. Rivers should be dredged and residents whose houses are situated near rivers that almost always overflow should already be warned.

Preparations for evacuees should include stocking and warehousing of relief goods, beddings, cooking facilities, preparing designated evacuation centers to provide running water for evacuees, medical services and communication plans for evacuees, etc.

Damage to and loss of lives can be greatly minimized with effective planning.

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