Punchline
Time to call in the NBI
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
IT’S been two years since the suspected widespread land-grabbing of premium beachfronts in Dagupan City was reported in our pages, and nothing has been heard of it since the Lim administration said it launched an investigation of its own.
Initial findings pointed to mere payments of minimal tax declarations as proofs of ownership of the beachfronts easily valued at more than P20 million.
In the middle of the controversy was the claim that the signatures of then Mayor Benjie Lim and then city administrator Vlad Mata in certificates, that aided in the overnight-ownership of the beachfronts owned by the government, were forged.
Then Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, she who reported the racket to the local media, had suggested that the National Bureau of Investigation be invited to investigate the claimed forgeries and suspected fraudulent claim of ownership. It was quickly blunted by then Councilor Brian Lim, who claimed that it was not necessary since his father, the mayor, had already ordered the investigation.
Looking back, the claimed investigation obviously, never took place. It was but a ploy to nip the growing public outcry over the suspected conspiracy and corruption involving the occupants of the city hall. The suggested NBI investigation was blocked to ensure the cover-up. And the cover-up remains to this day.
Now that then VM Belen is now the mayor, she is now in a position to direct a truly exhaustive investigation of the racket, from the claimed forgeries to the suspected conspiracy. The former city assessor and the barangay chairman of Bonuan Binloc should be investigated to determine their roles in what appears to be a well-knit conspiracy. Vice Mayor Brian should also be investigated for lying to the city council and misleading Dagupeños into believing that an investigation was being done when there was none.
And curiously, the Dagupan Electric Corp. has not terminated its services to the business establishments whose documents showing ownership of the beachfront were found to be spurious. Decorp has not also made public its own final report on the actions it promised to take against the suspected land-grabbers.
The ball is now in Mayor Belen’s court! What will she do for Balon Dagupan? Abangan!
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OFFICIAL BUSINESS KUNO. Dagupeños may wake up one day to find out that their beloved city has made it again to the Guinness Book of World Records.
For what? As the only city in the world with a legislative body that has the most number of adjourned sessions over a 12-month period due to lack of quorum!
Vice Mayor Brian Lim will hold the distinction, nay the notoriety, of leading a bunch of elected councilors that gets paid by the people for not doing their job as legislators. Special mention should go to the councilors with the most number of absences marked as “Official Business.”
Unknown to the Dagupeños, the vice mayor and a number of the city councilors have been filing leaves of absence on the pretext of “Official Business” in order to get paid for their absences. (In fairness to the city’s councilors, the situation is not unique to the city sanggunian. It’s happening everywhere but that’s another story).
Don’t you wish the city council would adopt a paraphrased version of the PMA cadets’ honor code that reads: “We, the honorable councilors, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us those who do.”
Will those in favor, say “Aye?” Hmm…“The Sound of Silence” is back with a vengeance!
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ENDING THE DROWNING. Here’s a red flag alert for Guv Spines who is keen on promoting Pangasinan as the best and safest place to live in.
There is one accident again waiting to happen in our beaches and resorts this summer. Someone (and maybe more) will likely drown again, as it has always happened every year in the past.
Regular reports of local visitors drowning in Pangasinan beaches or resorts continue to make news in national and local media. This is already beginning to give the public the impression that our beaches are not safe.
It’s easy to blame the victims for their fate, being reckless or drunk but in fact it is the responsibility of the local government to make sure that nobody drowns and when it does, attempts to resuscitate victims are quickly done by trained persons.
In fact, beyond the training, local government units should begin employing and paying persons qualified as lifeguards with specific duties and duty time. In matters of life and death situations, volunteers cannot be made accountable but paid personnel can and should be. The responsibility to keep people safe is no easy task, which is why policemen and firemen are paid salaries. So should lifeguards.
Here’s a suggestion to Guv Spines. Strive for ZERO-drowning beginning this year. He can start by employing lifeguards who can be trained by PNRC, designating a fisherman’s motorized boat to be on standby for an emergency run by the lifeguard. These basic resources must be made available in our beachfronts the whole summer (and on weekends).
With these in place, the country will know that beaches in Pangasinan are not only fun but safe because it is the only province that maintains lifeguards in all its beaches to make sure that fun never ends.
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VICTIMS. I cannot over-emphasize the need to keep our beaches safe, and stop the drowning.
Our family was a victim. The youngest in our brood, Karina, who was then turning 11 in six days, drowned at the “Blue Beach” (now known as Tondaligan) in Dagupan on high noon of Nov. 1. She was not alone. Our visitor, a young teacher from the Visayas drowned with her.
The family had arranged for a picnic that day to welcome home our sister Josie who was back from schooling in Manila with a friend. We chose a spot some 20 meters away from the shoreline that had a small shanty. (It’s the area now occupied by the District Jail). The waves were about four feet high so no one dared to swim and everyone was content simply wading knee-high deep. No one suspected the under current to be dangerous until Karina started to cry and shouted for help. She was being pushed out to the sea even as our visitor who was with her, tried to pull her back. I ran to them believing I could help pull them back, forgetting that I didn’t know how to swim. Within seconds, we were separated when a huge wave came upon us, and I, too, was pushed out to the deep. I tried to stay afloat on my back but deep inside I knew I was going to drown since there were no lifeguards then. Before I could end my final prayer, fishermen on a bamboo raft arrived and plucked me out. (I later found out that the fishermen took some time to decide how to rescue us since bancas were no match to the huge waves.).
My sister who remained floating, face down, was easily retrieved while retrieving our visitor under water took time. Crude attempts to revive them were made and were soon given up for dead. No one knew how to resuscitate victims of drowning.
My above recommendations, therefore, for safe Pangasinan beaches are borne out of my own and our family’s tragic experience on that fateful day in 1963.
Today, one can only blame local governments each time someone or a group drowns in one of our fine beaches simply because they were not there for us.
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