Saboteurs

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THERE are strong indications that there are efforts to sabotage the remaining days of the Lim administration in Dagupan City under the watch of Vice Mayor (and mayor-elect) Belen Fernandez.

The attempt to completely destroy the Daongan ed Dawel as a tourist attraction is perhaps only one of several plotted but fortunately foiled in time.  One can only wonder what other evil designs the plotters have in mind, from hereon till end of 2013 and the end of Mayor Belen’s first term in 2016!

What the plotters, obviously Lim loyalists who not only refuse to accept their unforeseen exit but the sudden end of their access to undeserved favors and benefits, do not seem to realize is that their actions are seriously damaging whatever good legacy is left by the Lim administration.

There was even an attempt to raze the auditor’s office to the ground, fortunately, that, too, was quickly discovered.

Since no one is acting as spokesman of the Lim camp giving directions to help in the transition, it’s clearly to each its own in the Lim’s camp, a situation that I am certain Mayor Lim would not allow under any circumstances if he were around. (It appears that the only activity being controlled and continued is the payroll for some of the Lim administration’s media lapdogs to continue spinning more lies about the Fernandez initiatives and defending lies spread by the Lim administration).

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LEADERSHIP VACUUM. One can only deduce today that the criminal acts of a number of Lim loyalists is largely caused by the leadership vacuum in the Lim camp.

The decision of the Lim family to keep the mayor’s state of health (?) a deep secret is not helping any.  It’s been 26 days as of this writing since Mr. Lim disappeared, and 22 days since Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez was mandated by law to take over the reins of the city in an acting capacity, and still no one has laid claim to have seen or spoken to the mayor.  Even son-councilor Brian has not issued any statement since May 15.

Without a doubt, the presence of Mayor Lim around the city is sorely missed particularly by his supporters yet nobody really knows anything about his condition except to cling to the latest rumor that he has recovered and is now in the US recuperating and resting.  (Could it be possible for any one to recover quickly from a massive stroke that reportedly required 3 brain surgeries and then travel 13 hours by air?) Perhaps the Dagupeños in the US can help validate this information.

The mayor’s family may not be aware of it but their continued silence and the absence of any definite account of his situation by the Lim family is only helping fuel morbid speculations about him.

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MAKE MATA ACCOUNTABLE. Where is city administrator Vlad Mata?

Amid the string of irregularities being uncovered at the city hall, it appears that only the mid level officials of Mayor Lim are being made to account. I certainly cannot understand why through it all, the presence and accountability of Mr. Mata has not been raised.

If there’s anyone besides Mr. Lim who knew everything about the city’s affairs, that can only be Mr. Mata (and possibly loyal sidekick Mr. Tony Uy).  Why hasn’t he been made to account and even to explain, at the very least, the status of all the projects initiated by Mr. Lim before the latter suffered a stroke and disappeared?

If Mayor-elect Belen expects to leave a legacy of honest governance, she must know that demonstrating her own transparency and accountability is not and will never be enough.  Her leadership must extend to demonstrating her capability make others account and suffer consequences for their acts inimical to the interests of the city.

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GOODBYE CALASIAO PUTO? The Calasiao puto industry is slowly dying and it would appear that the Macanlalay administration couldn’t care less because the town’s economy is booming without it.

Between the Robinson’s Place, the Coca-Cola Plant and the row of restaurants and car distributorships lining up its highway, the puto industry’s impact on the local economy would, indeed, hardly be felt. It’s all about the revenues.

But the Macanlalay administration is being shortsighted to believe that malls and display rooms are all that’s needed to secure the character of the town and its community.

The puto industry is a big part of Calasiao’s economic history and community tradition.  For decades, families would partake of Calasiao’s tradition by taking home bags of puto from a bilao covered with fresh banana leaves, for special family celebrations.

Ironically, the death of the industry would not be cause by a perceived diminished popularity but because people’s access to it has been extremely limited, thanks to the long overdue reopening of the Villamil Bridge that connects the town to Malasiqui and San Carlos, the link to Metro-Manila via Camiling route.

The Macanlalay administration will only have itself to blame if the fame Calasiao puto will finally just be remembered as a part of a glorious past of the community all because it failed to secure the reopening of the bridge while in office for two terms.

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BOGUS ELECTION. It is now becoming more evident that there’s more than meets the eye in what is now known to be the illegal sale of the MC Adore property of the Lim administration to Amb. Antonio Cabangon-Chua’s holding company!

A number of discredited media practitioners who were in the payroll of the Lim city hall scheduled a “General Assembly and Election of Officers” of “Pangasinan Press Club” (read this) at the  “Sanggunian Panglungsod Session Hall of Dagupan City”! How nice! Can it be more “independent” than that? LOL!

And who would call the meeting? Read this again: an overstaying president of the Federation of Provincial Press Clubs of the Philippines who has no legal personality to call the meeting of a duly organized club! (Note:  PPC president is Gonz Duque, not Allan Sison, a disc jockey who suddenly styles himself as a “journalist”).

And the group’s press release (by Orly Navarro) boasts of the expected presence of Manila journalists, all of whom, you guessed it, are under the employ of Mr. Cabangon-Chua. What significance will their attendance make?  To make sure “200 media practitioners” in Pangasinan get an “envelope” from the Cabangon-Chua empire?  And what’s this? PPC has now 200 members?? I guess that includes all the janitors, messengers, drivers, ad solicitors, , etc. of the fly-by-night media operators.

I just wonder why Mr. Cabangon-Chua thinks that a bunch of discredited local media practitioners can deodorize and legitimize the illegal sale of MC Adore. They tried to prop up a corrupt Lim administration, and they failed miserably. Can they fare any better defending an illegal business transaction?  The gang must have already laughed all the way to the bank with its “P500k grant” from Mr. Cabangon-Chua whom they secretly despise to be gullible. Poor Mr. Cabangon-Chua!

The distinguished ambassador Cabangon-Chua would be better off engaging the services of the best lawyers in his stable to secure his hold on his cheap acquisition, and still keep his respectability.  Acquiring a kennel of shameless lapdogs won’t do the trick, that’s for sure particularly if it’s name is Pangasinan Pitpit Club!

Lest the group gives the impression that The PUNCH is part of it, let it be known that we will never be a party to a bogus group that exists to attack and defend business interests and promote political agenda of corrupt politicos.

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