By Ermin Garcia Jr.  

 

SOMETHING uncanny hit home with the revelation of the Municipal l Agriculture Office in San Fabian town – that most of the illegal fish pens in that town were actually owned by businessmen from Dagupan City.

With the unprecedented big number of illegal fish pens that mushroomed in the city since Mayor Brian Lim assumed office, who would have thought that many of the greedy businessmen who are never satiated with illegal profits, expanded their operations in San Fabian. Apparently, these owners believe they have developed a fool-proof formula with the Dagupan City government that they could do the same in San Fabian as well.

It was not clear, however, from the MAO if the town has an ordinance that outlaws illegal fish pen operations.  Because if there is such an ordinance, then one can presume that widespread corruption also took place there as well as it did and still does in Dagupan.

Perhaps the only redeeming act of San Fabian’s previous administration was the decision to dismantle and stop the illegal operation of fish pens before it exited.

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BIG TIME CORRUPTION IN DAGUPAN. Given the surprise revelation in San Fabian, one wonders how the Belen Fernandez administration in Dagupan will deal with the deeply rooted corruption in the fishing sector – from the thousands of illegal fish pen operations to the unregulated daily dumping of alien bangus in the city.  

I would not be surprised if the daily corruption in the aquaculture industry in the city saw at least a million pesos pocketed weekly by city hall operators of the Lim administration. Could they still be operating today  under  the Fernandez administration because the illegal structures are still operating?

The worst thing that Mayor Belen can do is to treat the corrupt businessmen and their city hall connections with kid gloves – to allow them time to harvest before their structures are demolished and for the city government to pay for the costs of the dismantling of their fish pens.

The presence of the illegal fish pens in the city’s river system is prima facie evidence that can jail the owners for blatantly violating the city ordinances of the city. It’d help the city’s efforts to curb corruption in the city if Mayor Belen orders the immediate documentation of the presence and sizes of the structures, identification of owners and their caretakers as basis for filing of criminal cases against them.

It’d be useful also for Mayor Belen to tap the services of the NBI to determine who were in the middle of the syndicate inside the city hall that operated the well-established racketeering system. For the first time, charges were already filed against market marshals for their racketeering.  This should be followed by lining up the corrupt businessmen and city officials engaged in the fishing sector.

The most incriminating giveaway evidence is the decision of Mayor Brian Lim not to appoint a regular City Agriculture Officer, and instead authorized a group to manage the “enforcement” of the city’s ordinances.

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ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE CAPITOL.  I applaud Guv Mon-mon Guico’s declaration how he will govern in the next three years.

He said he will not be a traditional politician that will decide based on political alliances. Instead, he will apply the tested management principle of MBO (Management By Objectives) – applied by successful entrepreneurs – in running the provincial government affairs.  This augurs well for the provincial employees.

MBO as a management tool is effective because performance of officials and staff are measurable and calls for accountability. It will make for a more efficient organization because the lazy, incompetent and inefficient will be moved to the side (possibly terminated with cause) while the competent, dynamic and creative will be rewarded.

Unlike in traditional political organization where employees are promoted or terminated by virtue of their political loyalties with each change in leadership at the top, under the MBO principle, the unproductive employees will only have themselves to blame if they fail to meet the standards and objectives set by the governor.

In a way, it levels the playing field for all officials and employees. You work hard, you are rewarded, you don’t work hard, you will find yourself out of work.

Interesting times ahead!

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SIMILARITY IN STYLE. President BBM is on the move, apparently prompted by pressure to prove the Marcos family’s detractors wrong. It’s a good sign.

His decision to veto the pet bill (law providing for unprecedented series of tax incentives for the Bulacan airport project of Ramon Ang, a major political supporter) of his sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, admittedly the more politically astute among the Marcos heirs, not only surprised but impressed his own detractors. 

“He did that to his sister?” was the common reaction. And to the credit of Sen. Imee, she took the veto on the chin and moved on with “Trabaho lang yan…”

In a way, what PBBM did approximates the no-nonsense approach of PRRD in governance.  The “Walang kai-kaibigan, walang kama-kamaganak.” of then President Cory that went pffft was appropriate in this case.  Remember how PRRD summarily recalled appointments of key allies suspected to have been involved in corruption issues? 

So, it looks like PBBM will not merely sit out the first 100 days. He already called for twice weekly cabinet meetings! Again, something new.

I can only hope that the political opposition will not continue to play the obstructionist role as it did to PRRD. Let PBBM rise and fall on his own account, not what his parents are being hounded for.  

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MORE UNLI FOR SENIORS, YOUTH. Good productive times are instore for the senior citizens, youth and children with the restoration of Mayor Belen’s UnliSerbisyo mantra.

Frankly, I never imagined her losing in 2019 given what she launched for her advocacies for the care and protection of the elders and young. I surmise that a number of those who benefitted from her social programs thought the “pakurong “of the LiFe team was more promising.

The huge turnout for Mayor Belen in 2022 validated my thoughts. Those who turned to Brian in 2019 realized their serious mistake when what they were used to in UnliSerbisyo were no longer being delivered to them.

Ok, let’s see more and better from UnliSerbisyo in the next 3 years.

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