DAVID AND GOLIATH. A high school graduate trounced her supposed big time opponents, a former vice mayor, a councilor and a barangay captain, in the hotly contested presidency of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the Bayambang Central School Tuesday in the presence of a dozen policemen to avert possible physical confrontation.

Filipinas Alcantara won handily over her opponents, namely former Vice Mayor Alex Medrano, Municipal Councilor Raymund Camacho and Magsaysay Barangay Captain Avelino Junio.

Medrano, Camacho and Junio did not even make it as board directors unlike Alcantara’s eight other candidates under her slate who made it. There were 15 elected as officers of the board, five of them from faculty, who should also be elected to comprise the school’s PTA officials. In short, in ngoragor to ra!

Aray faculty, man nerbiyos ira ta singa guwardiya sibil ira di madam principal tan supervisor. Wadman met iran duwa!

What made the PTA election in Bayambang Central School different was “it was as if the officers to be elected are town officials due to presence of armed policemen, about six of them carrying long firearms”, said one parent with whom this reporter had a chance to have a quick talk during the election.

The presence of a dozen policemen made me rush to the school as soon as I got the news. To see is to believe. Mairap lay manisyan tampol ed kuno tan kuwanda! 

The feisty Alcantara and her group are vigorously fighting over the alleged controversial transfer of the school from Barangay Poblacion to Bical for more than a year now. She and her group earned the ire of local and provincial officials for their battle cry.

The fight for the school location was brought before the court by the Department of Education.

“We will continue our fight,” Alcantara said as she does not lose hope they would one day return to their original school site.

Saludo ak ed saray atateng ya binmoto, ag ira ataktakot anggan laban na David versus Goliaths!  Pero Madam Filipinas, always keep your feet on the ground ha?—TITA ROCES

EXPENSIVE SATELLITE MARKET. Remember the Aluling Bridge in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur across the Abra River that leads to Mountain Province, dubbed as the ‘longest bridge’ in the Philippines, since it took more than 3 decades to complete, started by the Marcos administration and finished only in 2013 during Pnoy’s administration.

Well, we may be looking at a similar case in Sison town, whose satellite market was started in 2007 but remains unfinished and unoccupied to date. The satellite market, intended to replace a town market, was funded by the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Nobody remembers how much was spent for it but what is known is that the satellite market was carved out from below the level of a provincial road where it is located.

Was it the fault of the contractor who built it or the person who directed its construction? Many are asking today.

Since it was not leveled with the road, the town officials obviously thought that spending P12 million to level the road with the market would be more economical instead of resorting to some creative engineering solution to make market sustainable for the vendors.

Unaware of the law, they proceeded to excavate and level the road not knowing that provincial roads are not under their jurisdiction. Thus, a cease and desist order was issued.

Newsman Dennis Mojares could be right when he called the satellite market the biggest and the most expensive of its kind in the whole world today. Tsk-tsk. – LEONARDO MICUA

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

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