By Farah G. Decano

 

SUNDAY Punch’s very able news reporter and columnist Ding Micua wrote last week that there seems to be an ongoing creeping travel plan among provincial officials.  Reportedly, these officials, including department heads and special assistants, have been going out of the country one after the other.  It would seem that this pa-isa-isa strategy is now used to diffuse any similar suspicion that arose a few months ago, when the same writer observed that there have been several group travels to the USA and Japan after the San Miguel Corporation was designated as the contractor for the construction of the Pangasinan Link Expressway Project.

Whether or not their travel funds are sourced illegally cannot instantly be concluded.  After all, it is post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy to make any immediate deduction that, just because the group travels came after the approval of the billions of a loan, therefore the trips abroad must have been sourced from illegal commissions.

Before these provincial officials deem themselves deserving of another out-of-the-country break this year, should they not first initiate plans on how to solve the province’s flood issues in Districts 2, 3, and 4?   Should they not also have schemes to prevent the same issue from occurring in Districts 1 and 5?   Because of the urgency of this problem, there should already be ongoing public consultations on the matter.

Having supervision and control of all localities except Dagupan City, the Pangasinan provincial government officials should tackle this problem head on. Bulacan Provincial Government is doing it.  Why can’t our provincial government officials do the same?  Perhaps, they can initiate meetings with the DPWH, the district representatives, and the LGU officials.  Should they not broach the idea of a comprehensive and systematic anti-flood plan in the province?  Let us hope that there have been initial meetings already being held.

The executive and legislative officials of Dagupan city, whether Maka-Belen or Maka-Lim will certainly cooperate and attend, if invited to this meeting.

Cities and municipalities point to elevations, suctions, installation of dikes, riprapping, and dredging of rivers as remedies to the recurring inundation problem.   Some citizens surmise that the DPWH may only be complying with what politicians ask them to do even if the requests are mere band–aid solutions.  The question is – are these quick fixes part of a bigger, well-integrated, and far-reaching scheme?  Are they logically and systematically programmed?  Which must come first among the options?  What comes next?  While implementing one option, what must be done momentarily? How long should it take for these plans to be implemented?  Where should funds be sourced?  Should some steps in the over-all solution be cemented into law so that they won’t be subjected to whims of succeeding elected officials?

The people of Pangasinan deserve a comprehensive anti-flood plan.   They do not need fridge magnets, key chains, or equivalent tokens from globe-trotting leaders.

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Because of the present political turmoil in Dagupan City, there are suggestions that the Bangus Capital should voluntarily give up its status as an independent component city and allow itself to be subjected to the supervision of the Provincial Government.   This means that city ordinances will require approval of the provincial board.

The city has needs that require effective legislations immediately.  The fact that city legislations will have to be evaluated by a higher body does not necessarily negate the possibility of politicking.  This may even require additional requirements for the enactment of ordinances which will mean added knots to untangle along the way.

Dagupeños take pride that the city ordinances passed upon by their elected officials need not be reviewed by the provincial board.  They likely do not wish to give up this privilege just to get past the mayhem caused by the present set of elected city officials.  Hopefully in 2025, the voters in our city will do better.  Let us cross our fingers.

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