By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

A video taken of a part of the proceedings of the joint committee hearing of the Dagupan sanggunian last Wednesday was shared with me by a friend who attended it – for my entertainment.

The video opened with Councilors Alvin Coquia, Alfie Fernandez and Red Erfe-Mejia seated at the front table. It was Mr. Erfe-Mejia who was doing a monologue while the two just sat there looking bored, like waiting for him to sing a song.

At first, I couldn’t understand why Mr. Erfe-Mejia appeared trying very hard to convince himself and his two EpaLiFe colleagues and their unseen audience that they “are sincere public servants” who want only the best for their constituents. I only began to suspect something was afoot when he kept repeating “we are here to serve.”

I finally caught on when he started to talk about a news report in a “tabloid”! Then he called out our managing editor’s name, Ding Micua.  Aah… one plus one equals The PUNCH!  It was about the news report submitted by Ding to me and which I edited and headlined,  “LiFe councilors vote vs. lower boatmen’s fees”.

Of course, they were upset! They didn’t think The PUNCH will bring out the ugly truth about their childish antics, voting against the proposed ordinance, certified urgent by  Mayor Belen Fernandez as one solid bloc in one helluva show of force – to show for the nth time that they, the EpaLiFe councilors, are the powerful political bosses to reckon with in the city. Ok, sige na nga… kayo na!

But that’s exactly what The PUNCH reported. They voted as one in rejecting the proposed ordinance. But why are they now upset with us? They suddenly couldn’t handle the truth?

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CONSISTENTLY WRONG. It was obvious Mr. Erfe-Mejia thought he and his EpaLiFe barkada delivered the coup de gráce to the likes of Councilor Jigs Seen and his four  colleagues in the minority, when they defeated the latter’s attempt to pass the ordinance. What he and his ilk realized too late was the fact that their power tripping was at the cost of the plight of the boatmen, not of their enemies in the city council!

I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to celebrate after the voting for what they thought was another victorious march avenging their boss Brian’s humiliating defeat at the polls.   What a bunch of political nincompoops who think work in the council is all about barkadahan!

They can call The PUNCH a “tabloid” or by any disparaging word, that’s their privilege being EpaLifes but what they cannot do is to dispute the truth as reported, not even in a grandstanding fashion. (Mr. Erfe-Mejia couldn’t even say “Sunday Punch.”)

Apparently, the extent of damage to their integrity as public servants dawned on them only after reading The PUNCH’s news account of their arrogance.  No wonder, Mr. Erfe-Mejia was literally pleading, on behalf of his cohorts, for understanding, citing their committee hearing as proof of their sincerity. (He must think of the audience as pea-brain).

Well, one stupid mistake is often followed by another.

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BRAND NEW BOOBOOS.  After they voted against the measure in a previous session, they did another first of a kind booboo in the city council. What council on earth will hold a committee hearing on a measure that they declared dead on arrival? Isip-isIp!

Did Mr. Erfe-Mejia and his ilk think they could reverse their fate by unilaterally making themselves the sponsor, voting unanimously for it via the committee hearing? Really? Well, that didn’t happen. Did they think they can simply do like learners do – just to shout: “Erase… erase… delete… delete” and everything else disappears?

This time, one stupid mistake was followed by another… and another. Their conspiracy to hide the truth about their most recent idiotic display of power didn’t fly as planned. They proceeded to discredit the minority councilors for absenting themselves in the hearing, forgetting again that a public hearing, as correctly pointed out by veteran legislator Seen, on any measure certified urgent by the mayor is not necessary! Boom!

Wow! What we have here is a clear case of  “ignorance of the law excuses no one”… from looking stupid.

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GRADE 7 OFFICERS ARE BETTER. The new majority in the sanggunian, led by Councilors Dada Macalanda and Red Erfe-Mejia, has a serious credibility and integrity problem, and it gets worse with each passing session.  

Their problems stem from their hypocritical hubris that exposes their shallow grasp of  parliamentary proceedings and the basic laws under the Local Government Code.

Paramihan, payabangan, palakasan ng boses are all they can think of like most barkadas do. Legislative work? They’d rather just wear their campaign uniforms during a session, shut up and let Messrs. Erfe-Mejia, Fernandez and Coquia do all the talking for all. ‘All for one, one for all’ is what EpaLiFe is about !! 

Gosh, I’m sure officers of any Grade 7 class have more self-respect. They can act and think better than their elders in the city council.

Here’s our deal to the EpaLiFes in the majority (Councilors Librada, Redford, Alvin, Marilou, Alfie, Celia and Irene): Outdo the previous majority with grand proposals, arguments and proactive measures to make those who voted for you and INC that endorsed you, immensely proud of you and The PUNCH will join them in celebrating you! Yours is the opportunity today to prove yourselves as mature statesmen.

Until then, you are just EpaLiFes!

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NO ONE’S WORRIED? The Pangasinan PNP perhaps undeservedly, found itself in an embarrassing situation with PDEA’s discovery of a major packaging and distribution center of P2.5 billion worth of shabu right smack in the middle of the province! Worse, it has some explaining to do!

How, indeed, could such an operation escape the eyes of trained police officers?

Also, Guv Mon-mon cannot simply turn his head the other way and pretend it didn’t happen under his watch because it did! We’ve not read nor heard any statement from him.  Will he launch a top-to-bottom investigation? What assurance can he give his constituents that there can be no such major illegal drug operation in Pangasinan from hereon?

So far, we’ve not heard of any repercussions as a result of that find. Nothing in the barangay, police station, sangguinan and mayor’s office.  Shouldn’t some heads roll?

The discovery of more than 300 kilos of shabu is an indication of how much work need to be done by all in Pangasinan to protect our families. Is anybody listening? Isn’t anyone gravely concerned?

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