Punchline
Waging war with numbers
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WE don’t know much about the province’s new PNP OIC-provincial director, P/Sr. Supt. Belli Tamayo, except that he, like his predecessor, P/Sr. Supt. Reynaldo Biay, has roots in Pangasinan and he’s a former police chief in Sultan Kudarat and now, serving as chief of the Personnel and Human Resources Development Division of Police Regional Office in a concurrent capacity.
But if his statements before the provincial board serve him right, I say, Pangasinan is again in good hands. At the outset, it’s obvious he has no qualms serving under Guv Spines, and that immediately puts him on a good stead with the LGU, confident of support to be able to accomplish his mission albeit on a temporary capacity.
What I thought different and right (?) about him is his mindset that human resource is critical and the accomplishment of mission by objective in numbers is the way to go, particularly in the campaign vs. illegal drugs, providing answers to ‘how many,’ ‘how much,’ ‘how soon,’ ‘how far,’ and ‘when.’
Numbers are an exact science so setting an objective accompanied by numbers provides everyone a common barometer for measuring success or failure. This means, we do have something to work with finally in this war vs. illegal drugs that Guv Spines declared, not just about timely motherhood statements.
So, Mr. Tamayo, go for it! And to Guv Spines and BM Pogi, let’s do it! Let’s kick some drug-ass, finally!
And, start showing tangible results by numbers.
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BALON DAGUPAN TEAM. It really looks like the Balon Dagupan Team is making waves.
City Administrator Farah Decano is leaving for Bangkok soon to attend a planning session of APEC on capacity building of local government units, specifically “Strengthening Government’s Role in Promoting Business Planning to Mitigate against Disasters.”
What is significant about it is the little known fact that Atty. Decano has been “pre-identified participant” by the Australian Department of foreign Affairs and Trade. In other words, her knowledge about the issue has preceded her in international circles.
Atty. Decano’s international and national exposure in governance issues is lifting the image of the city government further, a qualification that Mr. Vlad Mata, the former city administrator under the discredited Lim administration can hardly measure up to. If you recall, Mr. Mata even figured prominently in the discovered anomalous sale of premium beachfronts in Tondaligan. Shame, shame!
Mayor Belen should be credited for tapping the right and honest professionals to help her run the city.
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ABOUT POLITICAL WILL. The coastal towns and cities in Pangasinan should learn from Sual’s successful management of fish cages.
Mayor Bing Arcinue hit the nail right on the head when he said the bane to Alaminos City became the boon to Sual! Recalling why Alaminos decided to ban fish cages then, it is easy to surmise that the problem was rooted in corruption that could no longer be contained. In time, the city officials no longer had the political will to strictly enforce the ordinance.
Dagupan City suffered from the same situation under the Lim administration but with one difference: the city government flexed its muscle to make sure everyone understood that corruption was the only language that can only be spoken along the corridors of the city hall. The city government conveniently set aside the fishery ordinance and everything about the industry became transactional. Alas, it took the Fernandez administration some time to rein in the corruption. Only perseverance helped her in the end but even then, the job has not been completed to this day.
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OVER- EXTENDED DEADLINES. After months of extending the deadlines since 2013, I’d like to believe that City Agriculturist Emma Molina’s announcement that the final phase of the dismantling of illegal fish pens will finally, finally end on June 15.
If she fails to meet her new deadline again, it will serve to fuel the growing suspicion that corruption still exists under the watch of Mayor Belen, that contrary to what is being claimed, it’s still business as usual for the unscrupulous fish pen operators!
I’m afraid the next ugly question will be: What is in it for Mayor Belen!
I sure hope Ms. Molina will see to it that her boss will not be embarrassed further by another extended deadline. Mayor Belen does not deserve a perception that she is playing footsy with corruption when she is not capable of dipping her fingers into it. So, let’s see what Miss Molina is capable of. Mark the day- June 15!
Meanwhile, cheers to Sual Mayor Arcinue for showing the way!
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DUQUE BROTHERS. Dr. Pingkoy Duque, the younger brother of our Fire Player Gonz Duque, will finally take over the reins of management of the Lyceum Northwestern University from him starting June 1. Gonz will henceforth be the chancellor, a position held previously by their late brother Ado.
Fortunately for the LNU, the two are made of different molds. The university will benefit from the different and distinctive management style of the Duque brothers: one is the swashbuckling, “damn the torpedo” type while the other is the sober, engaging statesman. Their only common denominator is – walang atrasan, walang iwanan!
Meanwhile, you can be sure elder brod Cesar’s business acumen will continue to rub off on the two. We are seeing LNU soaring to greater heights! Congratulations to the Duque brothers. You do your parents proud!
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POSO EXEMPTIONS. Last Friday, our sportsman Jess Garcia left our office after submitting his story only to return within minutes with a commentary.
He found a note from the POSO attached to his illegally parked car in front of building where The PUNCH office is located. It was a friendly reminder that his car is already recorded as having violated the ‘No-Parking’ rule in the area, and that a second offense will already be penalized. Nice touch. And, Jess, sheepishly agreed, it was the right thing to do.
Now comes the rub. Another vehicle was illegally parked behind his car and when he checked if it was also tagged for parking offense, he didn’t’ see any. What he saw was a “NBI” commemorative plate attached to it, which he suspected was the reason for the exemption.
He fumed, not because he got the warning note, but because he sensed it was another case of “palakasan” or intimidation through the use of commemorative plate. A POSO personnel was in the area but the illegally parked “NBI” marked care did not seem to bother him.
Jess’ point is POSO should continue to strictly enforce the city ordinance, and without exemption! I couldn’t agree more.
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