By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

DAGUPAN Mayor Brian Lim was dealt with an unforgettable lesson in politics that he never learned from his father, the politically astute Mayor BSL. He goes down in the city’s political history as the first (and hopefully the last) mayor that gave the city its first reenacted budget when he could have just easily avoided it like all mayors before him did.

Blame it on his unchecked hubris, living the fantasy of “what are we in power for!” in every way as his barkada wanted him to believe. And it looks like, believe, he did.

The worst part about this fiasco was, it was all simply about administrative affairs that merely required staff work. It was not even about a conflict in policies or advocacies affecting his constituents. It was not as if he could not justify plans and programs. He just refused to justify anything.

He refused to comply with the city councilors’ direction and reminders that there are rules of the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Budget and Management that must be observed. Alas, he mistook these as an affront to his authority as the all-powerful, do-anything mayor.

Unfortunately for him, he became too comfortable kowtowing to his barkada’s whims, they who are drunk with the power of the office. Who would have known that this was what his touted “Shared responsibility” was really all about… sharing of political spoils.

He always heard the voices: “Hwag kang makinig sa kanila… wala naman silang choice but to approve whatever you submit… nagawa mo na yan last year… hwag kang pa-uto sa kanila… mga bwisit na yan!”

On the other hand, am I actually giving his barkada too much credit for all his governance troubles? Is it possible that it’s the other way around between him and his barkada? I seriously doubt that.

Anyway, he has the barkada to blame for leaving him holding the bag if that suits him.

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HERE’S THE RUB. Not only did Mayor Brian fail to get his fingers on the city budget for his reelection campaign, but he now comes across as being an incompetent manager.

 And if come-backing Belen Fernandez succeeds in ousting him next month, he will see her operate with an adjusted 2022 annual budget to cover the remaining six months – approved by the new sanggunian.

 The Local Government Code is silent about further limitations in the timetable for approving an annual budget, but lawyers in the know say, it could be interpreted to mean that everything is possible to help governance. Sure, the then ex-Mayor Brian could go to court to stop it but out of hubris again… this time hurt ego. Talo na naman!  

 If, on the other hand, he is able to keep his post but the sanggunian is still manned by Team Belen-BK, he will have to be extra-creative to still get his annual budget approved finally, belatedly.

 Perhaps, he can win the sanggunian to his side if he decides to govern without the barkada. Can he do that?? I seriously doubt it.

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E-SABONG & DRUGS ARE COUSINS. The news about a mother in Bulacan violently attacked  last week by her e-sabong addict neighbor, desperately in need of cash for his gambling addiction is proof that e-sabong is, indeed, equally dangerous as drug addiction.

Drug addiction of a family member starts with in-house robbery, a situation that the rest in the family are aware of but are unable to stop it unless it is reported to the police.  I know of a family that had given up on the drug addict son and allowed the law authorities to take him in, and never bailed him out. That was truly heartbreaking for the parents.

Both drugs and e-sabong provide personal leisure, pleasure and entertainment. The only thing that sets them apart is drug-trading is illegal, while e-sabong is legit.

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E-SABONG IS DEADLIER. Robbery is the only recourse to maintain an addict’s regular supply of the dope.  It’s usually only in the act of robbing or thieving that murder or homicide happens because of resistance by the victims. Drug addicts scrounge for petty cash for a chance to tide him over with one session.

 This urgent need for cash is no different in the case of e-sabong addiction. The only difference is, the dire need for cash in e-sabong is for huge cash… to cover overnight debts.

 We’ve not heard of drug addicts committing suicide… they just die inadvertently from overdose… or left to die from stress and hunger.

 However, e-sabong addicts see suicide as the instant solution to their dilemma if they know they have no other means to pay their hundreds of thousands of debts overnight. They know too well that if they fail to settle their debts, they would be kidnapped to be tortured until they die. Hence, suicide is the no-brainer painless solution.

 It is in this regard that civic and religious sectors should hold mayors accountable for issuing permits for the operation of betting terminals in their towns/cities, encouraging even people that have less in life to gamble with the false hope of earning thousands in return overnight.

 Between jueteng and e-sabong, imagine what life is for a corrupt mayor.

 But so far, neither civic, business of the religious sector in our towns and cities have shown the least concern to how these impact on families.  Perhaps discussing politics and the campaign sorties are better issues than dealing with gambling. 

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LOOK AT YOUR FIRE EXTINGUISHER WITH KINDNESS. It’s really hot out there. Hot inside… and we’re screaming for more air-conditioning. Ok, let’s stop there.

Here’s what happened to us at The PUNCH office last year’s summer.  We were doing our usual press work when I initially saw a little smoke coming out of from one of our two AC units.  Before I knew it, the smoke burst into a small fire… then quickly spread to engulf the whole unit.

Thank God for the fire extinguisher that we had in the middle of the office, the same extinguisher I always thought was useless over the years. I picked it up, quickly read the operating instruction, pulled the level and… boom! The fire was out!

Thank God, no real damage to our operations… we still managed to put out our issue at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Morale of our story: Keep a close watch of your AC unit… allow it some time to cool down especially if your unit is positioned directly under the blazing summer sun. And  yes, take a good look at your fire extinguisher. Remember never to take it for granted again and, above all, thank God for the blessing, that you never had a reason to use it at all!

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BBM’s UNITY VISION. It’s no secret that VP Leni’s pink force is largely motivated by the cry to stop BBM from becoming president. BBM is of course, aware of this so I wonder why and how BBM red force can actually believe the unity vision if he wins. 

 Can a BBM presidency unite a polarized people divided by political hatred stirred by past and present painful history that impacted on generations?

 Have our people become so naïve?

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