Punchline
A crisis summit
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE signs are ominous and these are written all over the world’s wall of resistance and denial!
Between the destruction of properties and lives wrought by super typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas and the unprecedented toll on lives caused by the arctic chill in USA, there are many new hard lessons to be learned as there are many extremely deadly disasters waiting to befall the province.
Our local government unit officials can no longer fold their arms and simply expect the usual typhoons to hit the province every year. Out there are a series of far disastrous calamities that many cannot possibly predict today and in the near future.
It is possible that tsunamis will now accompany typhoons. Severe liquefaction in many areas to accompany earthquakes. Massive erosion of floods and river banks to accompany floods. And worse, spread of contagious diseases and deaths to follow each calamity.
Guv Spines must lose no time in calling for a crisis summit of all local Disaster, Risk Reduction and Management Councils. They must throw out the templates they crafted two years ago and draw new strategies with lessons and experiences culled from the two most recent major calamities that hit earth!
We are no longer facing “normal” calamities as it were. We stand to lose hundreds if not thousands of lives if our government fails to respond effectively to meet exigencies that entail for deadly consequences.
The untold wrath of climate change is here. Let’s face it.
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A BIG WINNER? The Decorp is clearly in a bind.
Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez has decided she will not meet with Decorp, as requested, on her directive seeking the termination of the service contract of the city government for the electric meter installed at the MC Adore hotel building, She doesn’t think further discussion is needed to simply disconnect the meter since both terms for the service contract and laws prescribed are clearly defined. I agree.
Tsk-tsk. Decorp obviously thought it can still distance itself from the electric meter controversy by hoping to deftly make her resolve the legal impasse instead during the requested meeting. But Mayor Belen won’t bite.
As of this writing, Decorp has not disconnected the meter. And perhaps it will not comply until it is forced to, meaning by a lawsuit from the city government that is imminent.
Will Mayor Belen sue? Paging Fire Player Atty. Gonz Duque, Atty. Ope Reyna and businessman Manny Roy, the mayor’s trusted advisers! They need to draw various possible scenarios to help her decide on the action to be taken and the timing of it all. But they must move fast because businessman Antonio Cabangon Chua, the bank’s owner, may have already launched a counter-offensive to keep her on the defensive mode.
If not correctly handled, Mr. Cabangon Chua’ could end up the big winner – keeping a huge profit from his obscenely cheap acquisition of the MC Adore while operating his Citystate Bank freely without complying with the city’s ordinances and using the city government’s properties without responsibility. Oh and yes, possibly without paying the business taxes due the city.
Agay lay swerte tu met la!
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MAJOR PR OFFENSIVE. Just as I had predicted, Mr. Cabangon Chua is preparing for a major media offensive against the city government over the MC Adore and Citystate Bank affairs.
While everyone was happily celebrating Christmas and New Year, he reportedly quietly acquired the franchise of DWPR, a local radio station on the AM band, to add to his media arsenal. (I cannot but believe his allies boasting about it).
Apparently, his recently installed DWIZ FM in Dagupan and the A-team assigned to it are not making a dent to make him look good. The issues surrounding his controversial acquisition of the MC Adore and the failure of his Citystate Bank to fully legitimize its operations in Dagupan City remain unresolved. (In fact, what big boss Cabangon Chua may not know is that his A-Team has only succeeded in turning away some potential allies because of its adopted “attack-dog” public affairs program format. Caba-baeng tan bastos kuno!
Will DWPR do the job for him where DWIZ is failing? Will the political and profit agenda of the owner at the expense of unsuspecting Dagupeños win pubic support?
Perhaps Mr. Cabangon Chua should also consider publishing a newspaper, too, in the province in order to cast an even wider net. His A-Team should be able to handle this as well! So, what’s another addition to a field of 22 newspapers in Pangasinan? The more the merrier, indeed!
Between 2 radio stations, a newspaper and a phalanx of lawyers, the effort to make Mr. Cabangon Chua look like a real ambassador of goodwill in no time could be a cinch. On the other hand, his arrogant A-Team could just lose it all for him.
So bring it on, Mr. Cabangon Chua! Enjoy the PR war that you started in a city that only wanted fairness and respect for its legitimate interests.
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BELEN’S CHOICES. Meanwhile, I believe the Belen administration only has two choices in the face of a major media offensive against the city government: To dig in for a dirty protracted PR war for control over the city, or to quickly surrender the city forever to a man like Mr. Cabangon Chua!
For whatever it’s worth, The PUNCH will support with the cause of Dagupan City and its people should Mayor Belen decide to dig in! The city needs to be protected at all costs. But if for any reason she chooses to surrender, we’ll still stay the course for the city… libel case or no libel case.
Along the way, hard decisions have to be made to protect public and private interests. Obviously, Mr. Cabangon Chua has made his decision for his company’s profit interests, a legitimate choice. And so have we. Actually, it’s hardly a difficult decision to make. We are even ready to pay the price. (We’ve been sued already for reporting on that darn electric meter).
As I am certain there are thousands who will stand up to be counted for the city and Mayor Belen, Mr. Cabangon Chua might yet meet his Waterloo in Dagupan.
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BRIAN’S FOLLY. I can understand the adamance of Dagupan Vice Mayor Brian Lim to stop the continuing legislative inquiry on specific corruption issues I raised.
It’s called self-preservation. It’s a natural reaction by anyone in politics.
Unfortunately for him, the momentum to fight and stop graft and corruption in government has already overtaken his self-serving posture.
If there’s a lesson to be learned by him and his ilk, it is to know that there is no such thing as having full control over any and all situations for either worthy or criminal purpose. There is only One we all know that has full control, and that for sure is not him or his mayor-father.
It’s time to let the chips fall where they may. So to the members of Councilor Joey Tamayo’s committee, God speed!
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