Punchline
Time to call ‘Malabanan’ specialists
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
LAST week, I dwelt lengthily on the daily pollution of the Lingayen Gulf, courtesy of the Dagupan District Jail by the Tondaligan Beach (Blue Beach), and the seeming indifference of local and national government agencies to the worsening situation.
It does seem that neither the Dagupan City, the provincial government, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are alarmed by it all. Understandably so because each one expects the other to provide the solution while the pollution continues.
Borrowing the words of DOTC Sec. Tony Abaya on the worsening traffic at EDSA in Metro Manila when he said there was no need to be alarmed “because it’s not fatal,”
I hasten to believe that this may very well be the attitude of the local governments and national agencies towards the daily pollution of the Lingayen Gulf.
It’s not fatal, so they think. It’s not fatal because no one has died from it yet?
* * * * *
NIGHT OPERATIONS ON 12/7. But gratefully, the officers at the District Jail suddenly became conscious of the public eye in their direction. They decided to stop the flow of human wastes from the facility to the beach during the daytime when no one can see and smell the stink and stench.
But the District Jail has no choice but keep the wastes flowing out because its septic tank is filled to the brim. The daily volume of wastes of some 700 inmates must be dislodged and deposited elsewhere. Where else, but the Lingayen Gulf!
So the jailers are taking advantage of the dark nights to provide the convenient cover for the continuous outflow, never mind that the residents along Paras St. in Barangay Bonuan Gueset and the Tondaligan Beach continue to bear the impact at night. Perhaps the jailers believe they are already doing the city and the environment a favor by dumping wastes on a 12/7 basis, no longer 24/7! Gee thanks!
It is not at all the solution to the crisis waiting to happen.
* * * * *
MEDIUM-TERM SOLUTION. But there is one medium term solution that can adopted in an instant, yes overnight! It’s about literally simply making the government putting its money where its mouth is.
The management of material wastes needs resources for its proper disposition and it’s no different in this case.
What has to be managed is the facility’s septic tank. It has to be emptied at least once a month, if not twice. It’s a solution that I recall was adopted by the Dagupan City government some years back but was discontinued. The reason for its discontinuance obviously was the refusal of city government to assume the full financial burden any longer.
* * * * *
OPLAN MALABANAN. I checked some ‘Malabanan’ specialists that provide the service and their rates range from P25 k– P30k. It’s an inconsequential amount of money if the benefits are to be measured and compared.
While I believe the city government, which continuously boasts of cash surplus regularly, the Fernandez administration can easily undertake the expense wholly on its own, but it would not be fair to Dagupeños who make the surplus possible. The expense can only be justified to the extent that the city needs to act quickly because the health of its constituents in Tondaligan need to be safeguarded and the profitable tourism industry that the Tondaligan Beach offers must be protected.
In other words, the city government cannot but adopt a medium-term but practical solution while it seeks a long-term solution with other towns in the Fourth District and BJMP. How much the city government should share in the monthly service will have to be determined by negotiation between the city and BJMP initially. Should it be 50:50? 60:40? In whose favor? How long should the arrangement hold?
The solution is there but will our government officials take it quickly for the protection of lives and the environment or will they simply allow the problem to worsen until it becomes fatal?
* * * * *
SAN FABIAN’S OPLAN CLEAN SWEEP. I am heartened by a report that the officialdom of San Fabian town responded positively to the call of its citizens to do an honest-to-goodness cleanup of the town’s popular beach front and surroundings. The officials have been reaping a lot of goodwill on social media for a change.
How long will the commitment last to clean and clear the beach will now depend on the willingness of the community to help in the effort and to continuously monitor the progress of the campaign.
Meanwhile, this corner will continue to stand by to echo future concerns about life in San Fabian, the birthplace of my father.
* * * * *
WINNING THE WAR. The preferred strategy of Guv Spines to win the war vs. illegal drugs syndicates is not to measure the volume of illegal drugs confiscated or count the number of drug personalities arrested by police operatives.
He said he will know if the government is winning the war by the number of convictions of arrested personalities won in the courts.
And towards this direction, Dangerous Drugs Board Chair Antonio Villar Jr. has offered his help by sending a team of legal and police-work experts to Pangasinan to conduct the “Trainor’s Training on Drug Abuse Resistance Education” initially for police operatives assigned to work on illegal drugs.
Both Messrs. Villar and Espino know fully well that many cases filed against arrested drug dealers are lost because of failure of arresting officers to comply with legal processes required by law in effecting the arrest.
Let’s hope the Provincial Anti-Drug Advisory Council, headed by VG Ferdie Calimlim will see to the successful conduct of the seminar for the benefit of our police operatives, and ultimately, thousands of families.
* * * * *
FAKE FB ACCOUNTS. In this week’s issue, our Hilda Austria submitted a story about the Malasiqui National High School teachers working as volunteers in the management of the school’s canteen.
A seeming controversy arose after a derogatory comment about the operation of the canteen was posted on the Facebook account of a ‘Marisel Pelayo’ and which tagged Hilda and other DepEd officials.
But as we looked into it further, we sensed something was not right about the FB post.
There is, indeed, an FB account in Marisel Pelayo’s name, ostensibly from Palawan. Curiously, it had no other meaningful posts other than the MNHS canteen. But the most telling is to see that among Pelayo’s FB “friends” is – voila, Tita Roces! Yes, the fake FB account of our Tita Roces!
You get the drift?
This particular ‘Marisel Pelayo’ FB account is a fake account, and since the person behind it is obviously familiar with the fake account of Tita Roces, the person who has an axe to grind against Dr. Olivia Terrado, MNHS principal, employed the same person behind the fake Tita Roces FB account.
Unfortunately for the real Marisel Pelayo, she is perhaps unaware that her name has been “captured” and she has no way of knowing because she has been “blocked” from accessing that particular FB account.
I guess it’s time to get in the techie experts to trace the “fingerprints” of the person behind the FB fake accounts that are beginning to proliferate in Pangasinan.
(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
