Punchline
White paper worth reading
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
I received a white paper that took issues with the campaign of Dagupan Vice Mayor Brian Lim for the mayoralty. (It’s not about Li-Fe per se).
I was pleasantly surprised that the material took careful note of sequence of events and facts to establish the credibility of the document. I’d say it was not the usual white paper I occasionally get that reeks with venom and lies to malign the character of targeted villains.
It’s obviously the product of a collaboration among persons who were aware of the core issues and the historical sequence. To that extent, I must say that white paper is credible.
The white paper billed itself a “Let the truths prevail!… The Truth… The whole Truth… and nothing but the Truth.” It carried the line: “Truth is bitter… but the fruit is sweet.” Compelling.
It discussed: 1) The imposing MC Adore Building: Dagupan’s ex-future City Hall! 2) A sanitary landfill deal that is absolutely ‘unsanitary’. 3) There’s magic in MetroPlaza and finally, 4) Two reasons why some people seek elective positions.
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MC ADORE AND CITY HALL. It cited then Mayor Liberato Reyna as the first mayor who first raised the need and the possibility of building a new city hall. That would be around 1960s.
And as the paper pointed out, the vision was to have it in Tapuac area.
That vision was obviously shared by then Mayor Benjie Lim when he decided to make the city buy the foreclosed MC Adore Hotel. I do recall that BSL was emphatic about transforming it into a city hall that will house government agencies to make it a revenue earning cent for the city as well.
Fast forward: BSL sold it to Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua’s company. It raised questions on propriety, authority and suspected arrangements. Then it discussed the sale of MC Adore as an election issue today.
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SANITARY LANDFILL? It laid the premise why the city had to scout for a site for a sanitary landfill. It admitted the vision of BSL, then the newly elected city mayor, was correct
Midway, it named characters who helped make the deal for the land in San Jacinto and subsequently as seller to the city, the conflict with the Department of Agrarian Reform and the haste with which the city council approved the buying price of P16-M.
The paper hinted of conspiracy.
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METRO PLAZA VS. MARKET the paper established the context describing it as the site of the Magsaysay Park. Then it was followed by BSL’s vision to further develop and improve the economic activities in the city, hence, the need to expand the city’s market facilities at the time.
It cited the events, from the fire that gut the building in the vicinity, and the subsequently led to the surprise occupation of the area by Metro Plaza. The only factor I thought was missing was the approved lease period and rate that I knew was disadvantageous to the city.
Then it concluded with the fact: small market vendors lost the big economic opportunities.
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TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT? The final chapter was a discourse on the varying profiles of politicians and asked whether Dagupeños can tell what they see in their candidates today. It also spoke of alternatives being availed of by outgoing officials.
Plainly, it described character and motives of candidates seeking public office. In doing so, it sought to validate even as it concluded that the term of BSL as mayor was far from being beneficial to the city.
The conclusion: Given its information, it said “Dagupeños cannot be fooled or deceived all the time. They have awakened!”
I was only disappointed that the white paper chose not to discuss the “flooding” in the city, an issue that the Belen-haters bandy in social media. Another white paper forthcoming? Hehe.
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OBSTRUCTION POLICY. It appears to me at this stage that the fate of the wannabe senators of the LP-Otso Diretso team in Pangasinan is doomed. And as it should be.
For a while, I was hopeful that the LPs would make an ideal team of fiscalizers with a vision of its own. But that was wishful thinking. I sensed that all 8… actually now 6 (Mar Roxas and Bam Aquino have quieted down) demonstrated that their core strength lies in being despicable obstructionists.
The only few times that they keep their traps shut was when President Duterte had nothing to say for the day. They are reacting mostly to words and statements.
God forbid that if one of them gets lucky to be in the senate and join Riza Hontiveros (and Leila de Lima?) talking nonsense. I dread hearing another voice added to them who can’t see anything right about what the Duterte government is doing.
It seems they are the type who will have nightmares for days if they should find themselves praising any government initiative that benefitted a sector. Their posturing cannot even come close to being nationalists and patriotic.
(A little bird told me that they trooped to Archbishop Soc’s residence for a pray-over during their tour in the province last week. Good luck! Was Fr. Robert Reyes running behind them?).
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WANTED AT THE SENATE. Speaking of senator-wannabes who will do good for the country, I’m hoping Pangasinan will back Pia Cayetano, Raffy Alunan, Willie Ong and Glenn Chong. They are certainly not your traditional politicians… they all have individual advocacies that matter to us all.
Cayetano’s agenda is for welfare of women and children, seniors and athletes. Alunan is for good governance, transparency and accountability in all government agencies. Ong is for health and welfare of the underprivileged. Chong is for meaningful electoral reforms to end cheating once and for all.
Truly deserving to be returned to the senate is Sen. Cynthia Villar. Not Grace Poe who has not supported the government, particularly the granting of special powers to the president to establish order in EDSA, yet she complains about the daily gridlock. She also wanted social media to be regulated. Her committee hearings never resulted in anything positive for the country. Quite a disappointment.
I only recommend Inang Mahal (Gina de Venecia), Abono (Conrado Estrella III) and One Philippines (Art Lomibao). Clearly, all seriously represent marginalized sectors.
I welcome other suggestions except a suggestion to consider supporting Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla!!
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PANGASINENSES’ DILEMMA. I join thousand others in bracing ourselves for the implementation of the MMDA ban on provincial buses to enter EDSA beginning June 1.
This policy will definitely affect thousands of Pangasinenses who need to travel to Metro Manila for many reasons and can only afford to commute via Five Star, Victory Liner, Dagupan Bus and Solid North.
It will not only add at least an hour of travel time but spend more on fares.
I hope our congressmen can speak out for our daily, weekly commuters to Metro Manila!
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