Unfinished business

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

AS we end the year, getting ready for the next, I drew up a list of what I believe are pending public issues, or the “unfinished business” in the province and in Dagupan City that I would like to see resolved, accomplished and achieved.  Let’s see if you agree.

In Dagupan City:

1. The continued operation of the Citystate Savings Bank in Dagupan City without the required building and business permits; and, unauthorized use of the city government’s electric meter by the bank.
2. The filing of criminal and administrative cases against erring Dagupan city officials involved in illegal activities, i.e., payroll padding, TDC racket, misuse of market collections.
3. Major revamp in the city hall’s departments.
4. The continued investigation of reported anomalies by the city council’s Blue Ribbon committee.
5. The war vs. illegal drugs.
6. Development of fishing industry.
7. Upgrading of technology in city schools.
8. Dredging of rivers.
9. Establishment of bigger development funds for the police and education sectors.
10.  Preparing families for calamities.

In the province:

1. The war vs. illegal drugs.
2. Dredging of rivers.
3. The resumption of the work and development of the tourism zone in Lingayen.
4. The disarming of private armies.
5. The campaign vs. illegal logging and dynamite fishing.
6. The promotion of Pangasinan products.
7. The expansion of coverage of PhilHealth.
8. Preparedness for calamities
9. Establishment of bigger development funds for the police and education sectors.
10. Modernization of provincial high schools.
11.  Continued development of agricultural sector.

Agree or disagree?

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THE CHALLENGES. The year 2013 has been both a challenging and fruitful year for The PUNCH.

Sustaining the reportage and coverage of the rush sale of the MC Adore hotel by the Lim administration, in particular, and the local elections were particularly daunting as these involved personalities who are important to us, being close friends and some relatives.

It has always been difficult reporting the events as they happened because we knew that the truth would inevitably make us lose friendships.

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THE HITS. We noted that when we continuously reported discovered anomalies engineered by the Lim administration, then Mayor Benjie Lim spread the lie that The PUNCH was already owned by then Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez. It was a ploy to discredit our reports. Admittedly, the lie created doubts in many minds. Only our consistency in reporting anomalies backed by documents reassured our readers that we remain independent to this day.

We also took a serious hit when we reported the “demise” of Mr. Lim on the eve of the elections based on what we believed was a credible report from a reliable source close to the mayor. While we promptly published a clarification issued by the mayor’s son, then Councilor Brian Lim, the former mayor’s real situation, however, continues to be a guarded secret of the family to this day.  And without any known medical bulletin issued about his state since he was rushed to the Makati Medical Center, we are unable to update the province of his health.

Then, soon after Ms. Belen Fernandez assumed office as the duly elected city mayor, we diligently reported her efforts in instituting reforms in the city hall. Readers, however, soon became wary of our reports when it was observed that Mayor Fernandez was not acting promptly on reported corruption cases involving past and present city hall employees. Some readers wondered whether our reports were simply aimed at image-building for the mayor. Still others have began to believe that The PUNCH was simply in the habit of making mountains out of mole hills because our reports are deemed not crucial enough to merit prompt action by the city hall.

But in fact, The PUNCH took a hit last November for reporting a legitimate story on the operations of the Citystate Savings bank in August. All eight names in our editorial box were cited in the libel complaint, a situation without precedent in the country’s history of libel cases filed.  Nonetheless, we regard the case as a compliment to our work since the complainant (behind the bank) is businessman Antonio Cabangon Chua, he who owns the DWIZ-AM, Business Mirror, Pilipino Mirror, Philippine Weekly Graphic, (and in Dagupan) DWIZ-FM, Eternal Gardens, the Orchids Hotel, the Warehouse, the Fortune Insurance, etc.  It never occurred to us that we could make a terrible impact on his business empire to merit his and his lawyers’ attention.

Fortunately, we are not short of lawyer friends in Metro Manila as well who believe in us.  We are grateful to the Roque-Butuyan & Associates for agreeing to defend our case pro-bono even without the benefit of a background on the case.  We, the PUNCH family, are comforted by their confidence in our acquittal in the end, a sentiment shared by all those who matter in the national media known to us, including many of those employed by the Cabangon Chua media group (secretly, of course)! They agree that it’s nothing but an attempt at harassment and to intimidate us into silence. Their professional advice? We should continue to do what we do best!

Even the electoral contest between Guv Spines and former Alaminos Cty Mayor Nani Braganza was surprisingly a bruising one.  Both are friends of The PUNCH and reporting their separate engagements with media, replete with charges and counter-charges, had to be done carefully in their true political context.

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THE REWARDS. Through all these and many other challenges, we feel deeply rewarded by manifestations of encouragement from our readers to our weekly reports and articles written by our distinguished columnists. 

Equally important to us is our realization that the number of national advertisers filling our pages have increased, and the range of support from our regular advertisers tell us we are on the right track.

Yes, we feel their unstinting support and we are truly grateful.  To them, we say – Salamat ya balbaleg ed paninisia yo.

They all made The PUNCH possible throughout the year!  We can only pray for their continued faith and support for what we know we do best – to report the truth because “Nothing is to be reverenced more than the Truth – Socrates.”

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PUNCHLINE’s FINAL SALVO.

To our news subjects: Continue to count on our firm policy of fairness with our own tested advocacy for “right of reply”.

To our detractors: Continue to do your worst. It inspires us to do our best!

To our kabaleyans here and elsewhere:  Continue to prompt our duly elected officials to give all Pangasinenses a reason to be proud of their truly transparent and accountable government.

Finally, we reserve our wish for a more and very prosperous 2014 to our loyal readers, believers and advertisers!

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