Punchline
The long 75 days
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
FINALLY after 75 days, a resolution was filed seeking to create a special committee that would investigate in aid of legislation reported irregularities in the city hall to the extent of establishing accountabilities of local officials.
After 75 days of incessant reminders to the city councilors that anomalies were committed and responsible officials need to be made accountable, one councilor, Atty. Joey Netu Tamayo finally determined there is, indeed, need for the investigation and inquiries in aid of legislation.
After 75 days of burying their heads in the sand, to avoid seeing evil, hearing evil and speaking evil, Mr. Tamayo, and not one of the reelected councilors from whom much was expected, decided he and his colleagues can no longer bury their heads any deeper, and there was nowhere else to hide their butts’ hypocrisy,
All’s well? Not quite. His proposal still has to be approved by the council. What is reassuring is the reported response of VM Brian Lim to our call – he will not oppose the proposal. Coming from him, it is a welcome gesture since he knows he is one of those complained about. Are we seeing a new, humble Marc Brian? Let’s see.
* * * * *
But whether or not the proposed “Blue Ribbon Committee” will be created or not, nothing should get in the way of convening a committee hearing to process a complaint that impacts on the enforcement of an ordinance or on the integrity of a city official, including a councilor. There are standing committees that have jurisdiction over the complaints I filed last week through this corner.
And while the council’s rules today state that the council has no power to cite persons in contempt, it can certainly make recommendations to the executive branch to sanction an erring official as determined by a committee hearing.
Nonetheless, let’s see how far Mr. Tamayo and his colleagues will carry the ball for reforms.
Let’s hope it will not take another 75 days for the investigations to begin. Let’s see who will invoke technicalities to block the amendment or the committee hearings. They will be suspected of belonging to the conspiracy that benefitted from the irregularities being complained of. Those who will oppose and delay the creation of the committee will never hear the end of if from their constituents. If those opposed don’t have the moral courage to find their peers and other officials accountable, the people will find them accountable for failing to act for the city’s interests.
It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.
* * * * *
SK’s OWN UNDOING. The law postponing the election of the sanggunian kabataan next month is not only timely but the best piece of legislation yet by the 16th Congress.
It was obvious that that majority of the SK chapters in the country had failed to live up to the expectation and vision of the men and women who crafted the law. Fortunately, Congress could no longer stomach the non-stop anomalies being committed with impunity by many SK officials.
The worsening level of corruption in the ranks of SK must have alarmed today’s elders on the heels of the public outcry against the pork barrel. The writing on the wall says today’s SK members will not likely learn from today’s lessons unless they are stopped in their tracks today. Many SK leaders not only learned how to earn kickbacks and get away with it but their members showed no concern over their leader’s contemptible illegal acts.
Records also show that many present (and past) SK chairmen are part-time officials since most study outside of their communities, who never participated in floor deliberations, voted according to the whims of their relatives’ political padrinos. But you can bet they never failed to collect their salaries and many spent the budgets allocated to them like nobody’s business. The belief that the young can be trained as future leaders through SK will now be just a passing fantasy.
* * * * *
IDEALISM. I am sure the failure of the SK today is not entirely the young’s fault but their elders. Idealism is almost always inherent in the young. In fact, when there was no SK, the country produced many young community and national leaders who have distinguished themselves in public service.
These young leaders who started out as sheer volunteers in community services did not expect remunerations for their services but a mere public acknowledgment was enough motivation to continue their involvement. Note how the likes of Efren Peñaflorida earned CNN’s Hero of the year in 2009. The late Jesse Robredo became a folk hero for local governance. He started as a dedicated young community worker, not as an SK leader. Yes, they did it without SK branding!
With the SK in limbo, we can expect more dynamic young leaders to surface because the idealist, dedicated and committed leaders will persist. Meanwhile, the SK leaders who are relatives of politicos, today now have the chance to prove their true mettle as youth leaders without their titles and allowances.
* * * * *
BTF’S POLITICAL WILL. The “almost” completed but failed dismantling of all the illegal fish pens every week is like a sore thumb sticking out in the Fernandez administration.
I have no doubt that Mayor Belen Fernandez is dead serious about the clearing of the rivers of pollutants but City Agriculturist Emma Molina’s incompetence is getting in the way. She cannot even accurately account for and remove the pens she allowed to be constructed in the first place in gross violation of the city’s ordinance.
Her intervention for the illegal fish open owners who claim parts of the river as their properties is even suspect. Curiously, these same claimants didn’t contest then Mayor Benjie Lim’s contention that they could not claim ownership over parts of the river. In this particular case, former Mayor Lim was right when he promptly denied them their claims. His position was for the ‘owners’ to prove in court that they have the right, not the city government proving otherwise. (Note: The claimants got their way just the same but for the wrong reason and purpose: Mr. Lim declared the rivers “open for business” before the start of the election campaign period for obvious reasons.
Now for reasons only known to Ms. Molina, she recommended to Mayor Belen that the claims be given due course. By doing this, the burden of proof whether the claims are with basis or not has been shifted to the city.
I’m even more disappointed that City Legal Officer George Mejia did not advise the mayor to stand up to the claimants. And because he has not decided on the claims, some 40 illegal fish pens are untouchable, continuously polluting the city’s rivers.
Mayor Belen’s political will is earnestly awaited. Damn the torpedoes Mayor, dismantle all fish pens! Let the fish pen owners bring their claims to the courts. Your job is to protect the rights of the city, not the affluent enterprising fish pen owners’.
* * * * *
LOST INTEREST? This corner echoes the concern of Dangerous Drugs Board chairman Bebot Villar about the seeming sudden lost interest of the provincial government to make Pangasinan “Drug-free’! Since the candle-lighting ceremony with students to mark the launch of the province-wide campaign vs. illegal drugs, no other activity or executive directive to tighten the noose for the campaign has been noted.
Has Guv Spines decided to raise the white flag even before he could even aim and fire the second shot at the drug lords? His passive mode today is a case for serious concern noting how he came out with guns-a blazing some weeks ago, and the Pangasinenses readily rallied behind his vision!
Where are we on our campaign, Guv?
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
