Punchline
Wishful thinking on Christmas
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
IF only Christmas had a way of changing the past, I would want to see:
- Manny Pacquiao rising from a round 6 knockdown, to go on with an 8th round knock out of Juan Marquez.
- The Catholic Church leaders and legislators happily collaborating to craft a Responsible Parenthood Bill.
- DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo surfacing from the downed plane and being rescued by fishermen.
- Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim making Jose Mariano Cuña return the P16-M to the city after the latter failed to deliver the title to the 30-hectare lot in San Jacinto to the city.
- Guv Spines administration’s eco-tourism projects proceeding unhampered.
- The Judas 9 of Dagupan repentant, returning to the good governance mode.
- The provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley being spared by Typhoon Pablo.
- The trial of Maguindanao massacre nearing its end.
- Investors caught in pyramid scams getting back all their deposits.
10. Pangasinan mayors cancelling jai-alai permits.
I can dream, can’t I? What’s yours?
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE. Thank God for the timely intercession of Judge Emma Torio, the fire sale of MCAdore Hotel by Mayor Benjie was stopped.
And if she proceeds to issue a permanent injunction against the sale of the hotel under the terms defined by the Lim administration, she would leave a legacy as the judge who responded courageously and acted in the best interests of the city.
Earlier this year, Judge Genoveva Maramba did her bit when she upheld the exemption of our schools, colleges and universities from paying oppressive business taxes imposed illegally by the city government. She also adopted stringent measures to protect petitioners in extra-judicial proceedings against abusive newspaper publishers who charge the petitioners excessively for published notices.
Now comes Judge Torio with her own move to make a difference. May their tribe increase!
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BURN THE JUETENG HOUSE. At the rate whistleblower Bugallon Mayor Rod Orduña is making the rounds in both national and local media zeroing only on Guv Spines, one cannot help but indeed suspect that his move is calculated merely to stop Guv Spines in 2013 and not the pernicious evil that is jueteng.
I have not read Mr. Orduña’s affidavit but based on his reported statements to the media, it does not appear that he has named nor identified the operators and protectors, neither has he shown evidence to prove his charge that Guv Spines received close to P900-M in payola. He has not been heard him to say he is willing to tell all, to name the mayors and police chiefs and directors who allegedly were in it with him and Guv Spines.
A case in point is: Why is he challenging only Guv Spines to show his SALN but would not offer to give his own to prove that he has been receiving his share of the payola? It’s his only documented proof that he was indeed the bagman. And why doesn’t Mr. Orduña dare all the other mayors who issued business permits to jai-alai operations to show their own SALNs too to show disparity in their lifestyles if that was the idea?
Tsk-tsk…I’m afraid Mr. Orduña is taking everyone for a ride to nowhere. If he claims he wants jueteng to be stopped completely and make all those promoting it accountable, then he must demonstrate he is prepared the burn the house of jueteng with everyone in it, not just Guv Spines who is seeking reelection against his new political ally.
Lest my position is misunderstood, I have always fought the continued operation of jueteng in the province and have denounced the protection that mayors and chiefs of police provide to the operators. I have long described how jai-alai was introduced to cover-up for jueteng and gave birth to jai-teng. I will wholeheartedly join Mr. Orduña in his crusade if he does exactly what Archbishop Oscar Cruz wants him to do – to name names, places, etc… but he doesn’t seem inclined to do just that. He obviously simply wants Guv Spines stopped in his re-election bid, a move that makes him no different from other trapos who will not hesitate to use a system for their personal aggrandizement.
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Curiously, vice governor wannabe Art Lomibao, a former PNP chief who knew everything about jueteng during his incumbency is eerily silent on Mr. Orduña’s charge. Why hasn’t Mr. Orduña invoked Mr. Lomibao’s “intelligence network” about jueteng payola in the province to bolster his claim? Could it be because his crusade can turn out to be messy implicating others whom he did not wish to implicate?
Mr. Orduña, go ahead burn the jueteng house in Pangasinan and be our hero. But don’t do it like a slimy political eel leading everyone to a political circus where you and the LP bets are the stars, waiting for an opportune time to take over jueteng operations after May 2013, with all the unnamed mayors and police chiefs in tow.
If Mr. Orduña can’t do an honest to goodness crusade, I suggest he zips his mouth because the whole thing can boomerang on him and Messers. Nani Braganza and Lomibao knowing his plunder case before the Ombudsman may not have a leg to stand on. Without implicating everyone in the jueteng network to lend credence to the charge, I don’t see how Guv Spines can be convicted.
Unfortunately for Guv Spines, what I do see is the certainty of Guv Spines being meted a preventive suspension by DILG Sec. Mar Roxas on the mere say-so of Mr. Orduña, a political ally. It’s the “what are we in power for” syndrome for you.
Like I said, the LP is on a “take-no-prisoner” mode that ironically finds its place in the ”Matuwid na daan” reform policy
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LIM DYNASTY. Finally, the truth behind the political manipulations and scheming for the 2013 elections by the Lim family in Dagupan City is finally out. It didn’t really come as a surprise to many because it was the scenario predicted by most who know the father-and-son’s politics.
Mayor Benjie and his son Councilor Brian, eager to cement their vise hold on the city’s funds and assets, shamelessly and unabashedly present themselves as the mayor-vice mayor tandem while they make wife and mother Celia watch their back as a congresswoman for the district.
Relative Mario Lim and business crony Alex Siapno, forever the dummies for the Lim dynasty, allowed their names to be used for “reservation” purposes.
My only lament about the Lim dynasty is that the shrewd Benjie-Brian tandem doesn’t care to humiliate Celia with a second defeat at the polls as long as they get to do what they want.
The Celia Chua I know is of a different mold. Not being the political animal in their mold, I know she is a reluctant candidate cast into the plot as a congressional candidate only because the father and son have no one else to complete the plot. My heart goes out to her as the faithful wife and protective mother but she doesn’t have a chinaman’s chance to pull it off.
Anyone for a Lim dynasty? Yuck!
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To our loyal readers, advertisers and friends, I wish you a peaceful and joyous Christmas!
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