Punchline
The latest joke and lie
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
HAVE you heard the funniest joke and lie going around Dagupan City?
Mayor Benjamin S. Lim is an outstanding mayor, a declaration by a pr marketing group!
From all appearances, Mayor Lim must have played a nasty joke on a group called Superbrand Marketing International (SMI). It’s an organization that touts itself as the body with “a comprehensive distribution and a public relations program (that) has built significant business, marketing opportunities and education for our audiences in the country and worldwide.”
Mr. Lim gave SMI reasons to believe that he is a performing, outstanding mayor of Dagupan, and the public relations and marketing body promptly named him as an outstanding mayor! Ha-ha-ha!
All it took obviously was for his minions to compile clippings of “praise releases” published by his lapdogs housed in his media kennel. Ha-ha-ha!
Mr. Lim must really be so desperate and despondent that he had to plot to prop up his tarnished image as a public official at the expense of even some of his friends at the SMI! Ha-ha-ha!
Poor SMI was taken for a ride.
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SMI, as its name suggests, simply recognizes “super” products whose brands consumers quickly recall. It claims to have research capabilities to know what is a “super” brand but judging from its latest faux pas, it has proven it has no credentials nor the established standards to determine what makes a good public servant, much less an outstanding mayor.
In the case of Mr. Lim, I can surmise how he was chosen the “outstanding” one. Perhaps after reading an album of “achievements” submitted by Mr. Lim, an SMI rep came to Dagupan to verify and was promptly brought to a couple of choo-choo-wari-wa kapitans and friends. They were likely asked: “May mga nagawa ba si Mayor Lim? Ok ba siya?” Auto responses: “Ay madami po…magaling po siya!! Da best po!” Ha-ha-ha!
The poor gullible SMI rep was likely shown copies, too, of local papers (except The PUNCH, of course!) that generously published city hall’s “praise releases.” (Of course, I doubt if the unsuspecting rep had a chance to look closer, because if he did, he would have noticed that all the news items had the same beginning and end, same adjectives, same number of paragraphs! Ha-ha-ha!).
After a hosted heavy lunch, I can imagine how the reassured SMI rep quickly filed his report. “Mayor Benjamin S. Lim is an outstanding mayor!” Ha-ha-ha!
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I am almost certain that among BSL’s reported glowing achievements were:
1. He set up the Daongan ed Dawel, a great tourism come-on but it was silent on the fact that no public bidding was done. 2. He responded quickly during a calamity in 2010 but was silent on the fact that funds were released illegally since there was no declaration of a state of calamity by the city council. 3. He cares for malnourished children and conducted a feeding program for them but was silent on the fact that the city bought the food items overpriced by 80-120%!
4. He had a P10-M Tsunami Hill constructed in an island barangay to save lives but was silent on the fact that it was built against the advice of DILG and DENR; 5. He plans to build a 20-bed lying-in primary hospital for the city’s mothers but was silent on the fact that Mr. Lim wants to spend a whooping P50-M (translation: P2.5-M cost per bed!) and at the expense of an established elementary school that will have to be relocated to give way.
6. He is raising more funds for the city’s development projects by selling MC Adore property but was silent on the fact that the minimum bid price was manipulated to serve the business interests of BSL’s friends. 7. He plans on constructing a sanitary landfill but was silent on the fact that it already acquired a property (overpriced by P9-M) for the purpose and that his business friend who sold the property was never asked to return the money when the title to the land could not be transferred to the city;
8. Under his watch, the city government was allegedly cited by the DILG for “good housekeeping” but was silent on the fact that he is facing two anti-graft and corruption complaints before the Ombudsman etc…etc…
BSL an outstanding mayor? By SMI’s standard perhaps, ha-ha-ha, but not by Dagupeños in the know. Poor SMI… so gullible, so easily hoodwinked. I wonder what the other awardees and the prestigious consumer brands, i.e., Coca-Cola, Tide, Colgate, etc… cited in the past by SMI now think of the citations they received from it. Tsk-tsk. I can only think of one word – CHEAP!
Mr. Lim could have done the city a good deed had he worked on the “Dagupan Bangus” brand certified as a “super brand” instead of promoting a shameless joke and a brazen lie about himself. But it’s the usual “Me First” policy of the city hall under BSL, so no reason to expect it. Tsk-tsk.
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DEPARTMENT HEADS FIRED. Here’s another lesson to be learned by city and town officials from the Ombudsman’s files.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales dismissed from the service three department heads (municipal accountant, treasurer and agriculturist) of Polangui town for the overpriced purchase of 1,315 bottles of fertilizer for P 5,000,000.
The three municipal officials resorted to direct contracting, specifying in the purchase request and purchase order the brand name ‘Young Magic Foliar Fertilizer’ (Another Magic brand… hmmm) and disregarding the required public bidding which gave the fertilizer supplier an opportunity to overcharge the government in the amount of P4,819,187.50.
The Ombudsman determined that the named supplier is not an exclusive dealer or manufacturer of foliar fertilizer that would justify direct negotiation.
The prevailing price of the fertilizer’ in 2004 was only P 125.00 per liter but the three caused the fertilizer to be bought at P 3,800 per liter or a total overprice of P4,819,187.50!
“Aside from the penalty of dismissal from the service, they were meted the accessory penalties of forfeiture of all retirement benefits, excluding accrued leave credits, and with prejudice to reemployment in government service,” the ruling said.
Those who are or were similarly situated can thank their stars that no one has filed cases against them, so far.
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GUV TITO, AN ICON. I had the privilege of seeing Guv Tito Primicias work real up close. He was always animated when talking to town officials and when directing capitol employees. Early on, he already impressed his constituents as the no-nonsense political leader who called a spade a spade. Definitely, Guv Tito is one former governor worth emulating and I hope the Pangasinan Cultural and Historical Commission will not miss out on his legacy. He made a difference for Pangasinan.
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