Punchline
VM Brian Lim’s boycott and threat
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WELL, it does look like that the city will have to wait another 75 long days before the Dagupan sanggunian members finally yank their heads out of the Bonuan beach sand. Until then, the city councilors will continue to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. We will still have wise monkeys continue holding fort at the city hall.
It took some 75 days for a draft resolution by Councilor Joey Netu Tamayo to be filed to call for the creation of a special committee to investigate cases of corruption in the city government. For the past two weeks, that resolution never had a chance to life. The reso was not calendared for first reading two weeks ago which would have been a mere routine. When it was finally included in the agenda last week, the whole minority team led by VM Brian Lim and Minority Leader Red Erfe-Mejia decided to boycott the session while some members of the majority also did not think the agenda was important enough to merit their presence. The only councilors who responded to the roll call were Councilors Alfie Fernandez, Jigs Seen, Marvin Fabia and Tamayo.
Where were Majority Leader Maybelyn Fernandez, Karlos Reyna and Jake Reyes? Not keen on eliminating corruption in their midst?
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BRIAN’S THREAT. But here’s a recent development that should make people stop wondering about VM Lim’s present disposition.
VM Brian Lim was heard to have threatened to expose alleged cases of corruption committed under the Al Fernandez administration if Netu’s resolution is approved by the body. Duh? Mr. Lim was either ill-advised or still simply immature to believe that blackmailing the situation with his version of “expose” of corruption at this stage will effectively stymie the move to investigate him and his cohorts.
Far from it, Mr. Lim. we say to you – Bring it on! If you dare threaten or blackmail the city, just make sure you have the goods all sewed up or any future threat from you will make you the laughing stock of the city.
I don’t believe the Belen Fernandez administration will be cowed by threats of such nature. She surely cannot invoke her campaign pledge to adhere to transparency and accountability if she and her partymates succumb to Mr. Lim’s off-the-cuff blackmail, he who is being complained about his own unacceptable conduct.
There is only one way to deal with obvious empty threats and blackmail – the majority councilors should call the bluff without thinking!
If there are reasons for the officials of Mayor Al (or himself) to be held accountable for violations of anti-graft and corruption law, let them (or him) be charged based on credible testimonies of witnesses and evidentiary documents. Then let them prove Mr. Lim wrong. I am sure the same committee proposed by Councilor Netu will be up to the challenge to get to the truth.
Meantime, it’d be interesting to watch Councilors Jess Canto and Alvin Coquia (both majority councilors during the Al Fernandez administration) if they will join Mr. Lim in the blackmail. Will they sink lower or redeem themselves?
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WHAT LIQUIDATION? Moving on, City Accountant Tessie Manaois had informed The PUNCH that VM Lim, Councilors Erfe-Mejia and Guillermo Vallejos have submitted their liquidation report for all monies received from the city hall. Fine.
Let the public know how these funds were liquidated, i.e., how these were spent and who received the funds. Submission is one thing, explaining how the funds were accounted for is another. Local media should have access to these documents so they can peruse these and determine if the claims are legitimate or incredible.
Ms. Manaois must help promote transparency by providing copies of the liquidation reports to any media practitioner who requests for them. Yes, The PUNCH will need copies as well.
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WHAT HAPPENED? Readers are beginning to wonder if the Belen Fernandez administration is, indeed, determined to rid the city of scalawags and make responsible employees and officials accountable as the mayor promised.
One called last week, wondering why not a single city hall employee has been charged before the Ombudsman in her first 100 days in office in spite of presence of proofs of malfeasance gathered by her office. The reader cited the need for some to account for the missing Dawel cruise boats. Still another wondered if the supervisors who certified fake accomplishment reports of non-existent employees will be booked, while another asked if I knew whether the city will let Jose Mariano Cuña off the hook for refusing to return the P16-M after failing to transfer the title of the 30-hecrtare lot in San Jacinto to the city.
Perhaps, City Legal Officer George Mejia can explain.
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WHERE’S THE WAR? We haven’t had the chance to catch up with Guv Spines to ask him about his touted and much publicized all-out war vs. illegal drugs.
Nothing has been heard of the campaign since the local media went to town with it. Is the province still working on a “drug-free Pangasinan”? Or has Guv Spines taken the position that the druglords cannot be beat? Is the lull due to failure of the provincial police command to deliver? Is PDEA’s regional office refusing to collaborate with the Capitol? Is the information that some public officials, fiscals and police chiefs are protectors of druglords posing a problem?
Questions and more speculations arise each time there is complete silence in the frontlines. Perhaps, VG Ferdie Calimlim can update the province on this, he being the chairman of the Provincial Anti Drug Abuse Coordinating Council.
What say you, VG Ferdie?
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EMBARRASING GUV SPINES. In this week’s issue, we have a story (see page 6) about Fire Player Gonz Duque filing a contempt charge against several poseurs in the Pangasinan Press Club, Inc.
The filing of contempt charge is routine when parties involved in an arbitration case defy the court’s order. So when the group of Mr. Orlando Navarro et al. (claiming to be the legit officers of the PPCI after holding an unsanctioned election) knowingly defied the court’s status quo ante order, meaning to maintain that Duque et al. are today’s legitimate officers, until a decision has been reached by the court, the filing was inevitable.
However, what I found disturbing was the attempt of the Navarro group to hoodwink the public by making Guv Spines induct his group into office while the case remains pending in court. Did they think for a while that an oathtaking before a governor can summarily dismiss a court order? Only simpletons can think that.
What was inexcusable was the bad faith and attempt of the group to drag the governor into the legal fray. Obviously, the Guv unwittingly agreed to the group’s request to be installed, not realizing that he was being used to serve the group’s intra-political agenda inside PPCI. If the Guv was apprised of the legal implications of their move (which I seriously doubt), and Guv Spines still agreed to “install” them, then he may be made to explain to the court as well why he conspired to defy the court. Why did they risk that to happen to the Guv?
Indeed, that’s some chutzpah to embarrass Guv Spines the way they did. Tsk-tsk.
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REST IN PEACE. The PUNCH family sincerely condoles with the family of Raffy Villamil who succumbed to his ailment last week. It will be recalled that the soft-spoken Raffy was quick to take the challenge to run in 2000 for a councilor seat with a reform platform in Dagupan against all odds. Raffy, along with Alice Fernandez, Ping Coquia and myself, fought a good fight but lost, with our heads high. Until he took up residence in USA, he played regularly with the Bossings band in Dagupan.
At presstime, his remains lie in Las Vegas. USA. He was 63.
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