DISRESPECTUL TOWN. Nice town hall, beautiful plaza, robust economic activity in the market but, sadly a tattered flag swaying up there on a flagpole in front of the seat of local government of Malasiqui town.

That’s what I saw when I drove through the town on Feb. 6 on my way to my favorite prayer haven in Barangay Nancapian.

I regularly visit this town not for work but for moments of solitude in a place where there is peace and quiet.

Suddenly my attention was focused on a torn flag raised on a pole in front of the town hall. I felt a pinch in my heart.

It’s not just a sign of neglect. It’s a clear sign of disrespect.

How long has this worn out flag been left in that place? Are all the officials and employees led by Mayor Armand Domantay so busy that they had totally forgotten that the flag that symbolizes our country and the sacrifices of our forebears?

I could only sigh as I drove straight to the road leading to Nancapian where I saw another flag in front of the Malasiqui Community Hospital also raised on a pole in its torn condition.

It’s so disheartening.

Mayor naman, magkano ba ang isang bandila para hindi agad makabili ng pamalit sa gutay-gutay na watawat dyan sa bayan nyo? Akala ko ba nagmamahal kayo sa bayan, eh ano ito? Kung napalitan nyo na by the time this edition came out, eh di salamat! Pero kung hindi pa rin hanggang ngayon, sagad to the bones naman na pambabastos yan!—Tita Roces

 

A SORDID SCRIPT — It may have been simply a matter of coincidence that former Congressman Mark Cojuangco was in Lingayen and listened to Gov. Amado Espino Jr.’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Ash Wednesday but his presence created some stir. The rally of his supporters in Bayambang and the aborted rally in Bugallon town were interpreted by many in the capitol as part of a grand script, all meant to embarrass the provincial executive and downplay the gains made by his administration for the past more than eight years.

For how can one not suspect these moves as a political ploy since Cojuangco, out of delicadeza as a gubernatorial candidate against the governor’s son, should have discerned and kept his distance away from that event at the capitol, as a matter of delicadeza.

The rally in Bayambang staged principally by those opposed to the transfer of the Bayambang Central Elementary School to a new site who are known backers of Cojuangco, and the aborted rally in Bugallon were timed at the same time that the governor was delivering his SOPA, in a bid to draw the attention of TV and steal the limelight away from the provincial chief executive’s report.

There was even a report of a plot to put the governor in greater embarrassment by arranging for a warrant of arrest to be served after the Ombudsman affirmed his indictment and those of two high officials of his administration after delivering his SOPA. But no warrant could be served because the governor had not received a copy of the decision.

If such a script was true as detailed to us, then Pangasinan should brace itself for an early full-blown political war between the Espinos and Cojuangcos. – Leonardo Micua

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