By Gonzalo Duque

 

A lot of things have been happening in Dagupan City lately.

The determination of Mayor Belen Fernandez to bring the contractors of the former Lim administration to court is a case in point.

It is good that today, the Sangguniang Panlungsod is composed of the allies of Mayor Belen, making the process of accountability easier to reach.

My good friend, Ermin, will now have a sigh of relief because he has been urging Mayor Belen to bring the alleged culprits to court for their felonies.

An example of this is the long-delayed project related to the construction of the new city hall building.

I understand that this particular project started during the Brian Lim administration, but was delayed due to the change of the administration, forcing the contractor to suspend its work, resulting to some work slippage.

The slippage was charged to the contractor.

In another project, which is the Malimgas Public Market, the contractor abandoned the project as soon as Mayor Belen assumed office on July 1, 2022.

The contractor may have been allowed to draw all his P20-million contract without any certificate of completion for his project.

And when Mayor Belen started to run after the contractor, the later declared bankruptcy.

In another project, then Mayor Brian Lim awarded a contract to his brother in-law, JV Acosta of Calasiao.

The said project was the construction of a flood gate and a pumping out station  near Rizal Street.

This project was supposed to mitigate flooding on Rizal Street and the downtown area, but it was never used after its supposed completion.

There were more projects in the list charged to City Hall.

Right now, the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on laws, ordinances and judiciary, chaired by Atty. Councilor Joey Tamayo has promised to expedite the matter of accountability, and as of this writing, has sent notices to the affected contractors for them to account for their failed projects.

We just hope and pray that we will soon see the dawning of a new day in Dagupan City.

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The trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is now in limbo.

The recent findings of the Commission on Audit relative to Sara’s confidential funds has been given a clearance.

Among the Articles of Impeachment charging Sara of betrayal of public trust and graft, and corruption pertains to the issue of confidential funds.

The confidential funds have been repeatedly mentioned as the ultimate issue against her.

But with the clearance given by COA, this will become moot and academic. 

The problem with those seeking the conviction of Sara is the fact that the more they attack her, the more our countrymen see the motive behind their orchestrated attempt to get rid of her during the 2028 presidential election.

Be careful, folks. You might be removing a vice president into the embrace of the Filipino people.

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Congratulations to ex-Mayor Jose ‘Bogs’ Esteves of Milpitas City.

A library in Milpitas City will be named after him in a ceremony to be held on July 19, 2025, in Milpitas City.

Even after his stint as long-time mayor of Milpitas City, the Dagupan-born Bogs Esteves has not stopped helping our Filipino community in serving their various concerns, especially in leading the Dagupan City Association of Northern California.

Congratulations, ex-Mayor Bogs.

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