Punchline
The ink blot
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
SOMETHING just doesn’t add up.
For years, The PUNCH shared the Dagupenõs’ appreciation by reporting the glowing accomplishments of Mayor Belen Fernandez’s administration in our pages, from health and sanitation to education, from child care to senior citizens’ welfare, from peace and order to disaster preparedness and response, from livelihood to planning the city’s economic development, etc., mostly unprecedented, if I may add.
And, nobody can deny that the policy of transparency and accountability that her administration pursues relentlessly, particularly in the management of the city’s finances, resulted in numerous benefits to the residents.
But why the damning issue of illegal fish pens doesn’t go away and appears like an ink blot in her otherwise graft-free governance is puzzling to many Dagupeños, including this corner.
* * * * *
CONFLICTING STATEMENTS. The recent official statements and conflicting reports about the existence (and non-existence?) of illegal fish pens in Dagupan City speak volumes about the city’s continuing dilemma and embarrassment.
In our July 24 issue, our “Gone by 1st week of August” page 1 story quoted City Agriculturist Emma Molina that “The City Agriculture Office has finally identified the remaining twenty illegal fish pens and cages that will be dismantled by Task Force Bantay Ilog by the first week of August… that the city government can finally demolish the fish pens whom owners earlier claimed to be located in titled lands but washed away by the river. Upon verification, the areas could not be claimed as titled, and therefore are now subject to immediate demolition… So far, the city has dismantled 111 illegal fish pens, with total size of 6.97 hectares, from January to July 22, 2016.”
Now comes an item from the city hall: “Aside from enforcing a “no fish pen policy”, the city will soon implement plastic, debris and fishnet recovery program….”
Last week, Manila Times reported on its interview with Mayor Belen. She “admitted the existence of illegal fish pens in some villages…,” that she “clarified that the number has been reduced to less than 100 after she ordered the demolition of 508 illegal fish pens…,” that she and Molina said “illegal fish pen operations exist in the rivers spanning the villages of Pugaro, Carael, Calmay, Bonuan and Lucao….”
The mayor also reportedly said “she recently met with fish pen owners, who assured her that they will dismantle their structures after harvesting the fishes… “.
Can you see the glaring inconsistencies in the city hall’s claims?
I take it that it’s Mayor Belen who’s being candid about the situation, that her administration has failed to enforce the iron-clad ordinance that bans fish pens, that there are still illegal fish pens polluting our rivers, that they still allow illegal fish pen owners to continue to operate until their stocks are harvested – the never-ending arrangement with the illegal fish pen owners for over 3 years now.
So what was Molina up to? Lying and covering up for herself? No wonder she has consistently refused to take my call or reply to my text messages asking for updates on the city’s efforts to clean and clear the city’s rivers.
* * * * *
POLITICAL DETERGENT. The questions that come to mind are: 1) How did the illegal fish pens grow to another 500 plus in 2015 after Molina announced that all the illegal fish pens have been removed before the end of 2014? 2) Why are illegal fish pen owners always offered the compromise to harvest before they are demolished even knowing that these same offenders restock every time they are given a reprieve? 3) Why is Molina allowed to lie all these years?
Mayor Belen ought to know that the unscrupulous fish pen owners sheepishly invoke this “harvest first, then demolition kuno” arrangement with her, with the insinuation that they are “untouchables” and “protected” by city hall officials. This has led many to believe that some city officials already have pecuniary interests in the profitable operations of the polluting fish pens.
On a pertinent issue, my attention was called by fish cage owners to the ordinance banning fish pens – it does not provide for penalties for violations of the ordinance! (Councilor Jigs Seen has a lot of explaining to do since he has not admitted to an oversight or unintended omission of the penalty provision. Was it intentional and deliberate on his part to protect his friends in the fish pen racket?). Consequently, the city has not earned any from the rampant violations and for demolition costs.
Surely, the ink blot will not go away and will be fodder for the opposition in the 2019 elections unless Mayor Belen washes it away soon with a strong political detergent called political will. Not even the donation of bancas to “displaced” pen operators will remove the ink blot for as long as the fish pens remain in the city’s river system.
So for her sake and for the city’s benefit, I pray she would choose to finally say STOP, and begin to really protect the city’s river over illegal profits for the unscrupulous businessmen (and some city officials). But first, fire Molina before someone draws a fish pen racket matrix!
* * * * *
P2-M BOUNTY. President Duterte just raised a red flag for the attention of the police nationwide after offering a P2-M bounty for the head of a drug lord!
In this case, the Pangasinan police and PDEA have to closely watch and monitor the movements of persons who have been identified as drug lords in their watch lists. There is a big chance that competing drug lords will take the bounty offer as an opportunity to make an easy P2-M by simply doing what they want to do – to kill competition and still blame the police in the process by making it appear that the ‘cardboard- rubout’ was perpetrated by police vigilantes or scalawags.
So, it’s going to be a ‘win-win’ for the meanest, most powerful and wealthier drug lord and a bad proposition for the smaller drug operators.
Unfortunately for the PDEA and the police, it will be what they call – tabla, talo! Tabla because they will have less drug lords to worry about, Talo because each drug lord that will be eliminated will be labeled as extra-judicial killing by the Commission on Human Rights and blamed on the government.
The win-win for our law enforcers is to capture the drug lords alive before others get to them for the bounty!
* * * * *
NOISE-POLLUTING MOTORCYCLES. Here’s a possible ‘hitting-three-birds-with-one-stone’ situation particularly for police stations in cities (Dagupan-San Carlos-Urdaneta-Alaminos).
These cities have the largest population of motorcycle riders and tricycles which explains why we see more checkpoints in these areas. The riders are flagged down 1) to check on their identities and 2) search for unlicensed guns and illegal drugs.
They should add a third task: 3) check on the noise pollution of the motorcycles.
Units that removed silencing mufflers and installed loud mufflers should be detained at the police station and should only be released if the owner installs a prescribed muffler to silence the earsplitting noise of the engine right at the police station.
Surely, our police have heard how irritated President Duterte was with motorcycles that emit attention-seeking noise from speeding motorcycles. We have many of these especially at night. I recall our fire player Gonz calling the attention of the police at one time but to his consternation, his cause was largely ignored.
But now, there is PDU30 who hates noise pollution from motorcycles, like he hates blaring videokes at night because these disturb communities.
Will the police heed his concern? Communities hope so!
(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
