Punchline
The missing P16-M
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
I FIND it rather odd that after our recent two stories on the city auditor’s report pointing out that Dagupan City is not holding the title to the 30 hectare of farm land n Barangay Awai in San Jacinto town after paying P16-M for it (plus P8-M in expenses), not a single soul at the sanggunian has stepped forward with a resolution seeking the return of the money from Mr. Jose Mariano Cuña.
Nobody seems to care what the P16-M can do for Dagupeños once Mr. Cuña returns the city’s money. Is there a need to spell out that P16-M can build at least 25 classrooms, or provide daily feeding for all the undernourished kids in the city for at least 5 years, or provide a hefty sum as capital for a micro-lending project in the city to assist small sari-sari store owners, tricycle and jeepney operators, fisherfolks and market vendors, or to operate a City Botika to serve indigent families, or buy 5 police cars and 10 motorcycles with 2-year gas supply for the police’s quick response, etc.
I gathered that one of the convenient alibis bruited about for not acting against the failure of Mr. Cunña to transfer the title of the farm land to the city is the pending case filed by Mr. Leo Angeles before the Ombudsman vs. former Mayor Benjie Lim on the city’s loss. But that’s specifically for the alleged criminal and administrative violations of the law by Mr. Lim. There was no mention of Mr. Cuña in that case being made to account for a refund, so why is there a suspected cover-up for Mr. Cuña?
Now, more Dagupeños are beginning to ask. Indeed, why oh why don’t our city officials want to move against Mr. Cuña for the return of the city’s precious money?
Akin kasin tuwa?
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SAVING LIVES. Even before local government officials, resort owners and coastal towns could think of rolling out the carpet to welcome the expected thousands of vacationists and tourists, the province already recorded the first drowning victim last week.
The first victim, a foreigner, was being blamed for possibly jumping into the swimming pool intoxicated but nothing was said about the absence of a lifeguard to watch out for everyone that goes into the water. Without fear of being contradicted, I am certain the drowning could have been avoided if there was a trained and strict lifeguard standing by the pool with a hawk’s eye scanning the pool.
This brings me back to the concern I raised here last week. There is absolutely no official effort to keep our resorts and beaches safe. Outside of the Lingayen and Dagupan beaches where there are regular lifeguards on duty borne out simply of a personal initiative of concerned public officials, our towns and cities have not required the presence of trained lifeguards in coastal towns and resort establishments that host swimming pools as an official rule.
It is imperative that all towns and cities adopt an ordinance that requires all resort and beach establishments to employ PNRC-certified lifeguards in the same way that fire extinguishers from accredited suppliers are required before a business permit can be issued to them.
This policy needs a push from Guv Spines if he wants to realize his vision for Pangasinan as a safe and best place to live in.
Until then, I fear that more lives will be lost in the province all because our local governments continue to fail to appreciate the importance of installing safety measures to preserve lives in their communities.
Meanwhile, Dagupan City has taken the lead in holding swimming lessons this summer for kids and not so young teens. Hopefully, this exercise will enable the city to achieve zero-drowning in its beaches and resorts.
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DAMAGED CULTURE? How prepared are kindergarten and primary schools in the province for the implementation of the mother-tongue policy introduced by the Department of Education? How many of our public school teachers have been trained to teach in the Pangasinan, Ilocano and Tagalog languages? How many materials have been prepared and ready for distribution for the next school year?
I seriously doubt the future of our children under the mother-tongue policy.
I still contend that the adoption of the mother-tongue is the most stupid policy yet that has come out of our planners and policymakers in DepEd. Obviously they continue to be in denial, refusing to accept the costly lesson that the policy making Filipino as the medium for instruction in all schools taught the nation. The rate of passers in all government board exams for professionals have been on a fast downspin, making a 50% passing average practically a miracle.
It will be recalled that the baby-boomer generation (postwar), who were drilled in the English language since kindergarten through high school and college, had more or less a consistent passing average of 75-80% in board exams.
So what caused the decline in the country’s literacy? It is the growing disconnect in the system. The classic situation before us is that as we downgraded English as a medium of instruction over the decades, English remains the language that the government uses to measure one’s knowledge through board exams. In the streets, signs and advertisements, sports rules, medical terms are in English. The only sector that has effectively coped with language change policy is the religious sector. Many religious services and activities in the regions are conducted n their respective mother-tongue languages. Alas, nobody takes a test in religion in order to competitive in the global market.
No wonder, the outside world still considers our nation as a Damaged Culture. What can we to do to repair this seemingly irreparable damage now? The answer, I’m afraid, now lies exclusively in the parents’ hands.
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THE PUNCH’S HARVEST. Congratulations to the 2014 ASNA awardees…and to Guv Spines for continuing this program.
Now, please allow me to toot our horn this once. The PUNCH is doubly proud and pleased with the selection of the year’s batch because two of its regular columnists, Sec. Antonio “Bebot” Villar Jr. (Deretsahan) and Atty. Gonz Duque (Playing with Fire) are heralded as among this year’s awardees.
Recognition of their accomplishments and contributions in their respective fields is certainly long overdue and their citation only today certainly does not diminish the significance of their achievements one bit.
Bebot’s and Gonz’s recognition today makes for a total harvest of four ASNA awards for The PUNCH! The first was earned by our columnist Sonny Villafania (Aristos). The second was – never mind.
So who says The PUNCH is not making a difference?
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EXPLORE PANGASINAN. This summer, I urge readers and families to take the occasion to visit and enjoy many of the province’s natural and new man-made touristic attractions, in the western, eastern and northern parts.
Anda, Bani, Bolinao and Sual have much to offer. Hundred Islands remains a top favorite. Bugallon, Lingayen and Binmaley have their own crowd-drawers. Manaoag is a must. San Fabian and Dagupan sand beaches are great. Bayambang’s historical timeline is significant. I can list here more suggestions from readers who can educate us further about their hometowns. Email us at punch.sunday@gmail.com.
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