By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

I managed to watch Dagupan Mayor Belen Fernandez’s interview on DZRD’s “Ikaw ang Bida” last Friday and, frankly, I cannot but commiserate with her.

Listening to her detail all the problems in the city that resulted from failed governance of the Brian Lim administration, and the need to correct these urgently, it became obvious to me that Mr. Lim never went into a legacy mode as he ended his first term, as most re-electionists are wont to do.  Perhaps, he was certain of a reelection and didn’t find the need of kind of legacy to boost his campaign, and that focusing on fund-raising from the racketeering of his barkada deserved the highest priority.

Well, Mr. Lim and his barkada lost in their reelection bid… worse, they lost all opportunities to leave a legacy that their families and friends could be proud of sana.

All that will be remembered today was how his administration and his barkada exploited the financial gains from his one term occupancy of the city hall.  They will be long remembered for 1) Reopening the city’s rivers to illegal fish pens, never mind that there is a city ordinance that bans it. 2) Milking the market vendors of their daily earnings for “protection”. 3) Shelving the W2W project for the opportunity to gain from contracting haulers for the daily transport of garbage to a sanitary landfill. 4) Extending the ‘baratilyo’ beyond fiesta, Bangus Festival for the daily rentals. 5) Uncontrolled delivery of alien bangus to the city, among others.

The worst part of Mr. Lim’s failed governance, in spite of his being a former World president of Jaycees, was he left crumbs of the re-enacted budget for the remaining six months of the 2022 for the city’s operations.

While Mayor Belen is intent on restoring order in the city asap, I’m afraid, however, that her being tolerant and overly patient is what the opportunistic racketeers and her political detractors will continue to exploit. They are still out there to make sure she doesn’t find out more about the other racketeering in the past that remain to this day, and if she does, they are confident she can be talked into being “understanding and forgiving.”

It’s time Mayor Belen already considers showing her fangs, kamay na bakal, so she can set the house in order in no time. In fact, I had hoped she would do that on her first day as she promised that under her watch, there will be no corruption, meaning tapos na mga racket!

So to the disappoint of many of her supporters, she has not terminated and filed charges against those who abused their positions during the Lim administration. But as she indicated during her radio interview last Friday, she will do it like she said she would.

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TROLLS ARE TRACKED. The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office was right in its decision to file charges against the woman who dared post a fake news about her “kidnapping” to scare and create a climate of fear in the province.  

This should teach those who think social media is where they can invent stories and pass them off as facts.

To the dummies who are ignorant about the use of social media, they ought to know that the use of internet leaves footprints that cannot be erased. You can delete your trolling messages but the fact that you posted and deleted your messages, are the footprints that will lead authorities to your doorstep. 

And the cyber libel law provides for penalties, from imprisonment to fines, twice in gravity compared to the usual libel law applied to print and broadcast media. 

And in case they doubt the capabilities of the PNP, NBI, and NTC to track activities of pea-brained trolls, think again! Advanced technology is one economic activity that cannot be claimed as exclusive to a country alone. It is easily shared by and among countries.

So, to the happy-go-lucky trolls out there, your days are already numbered. You have been tracked.

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EpaLiFes NO MORE? I see a light at the tunnel for the majority councilors at the Dagupan Sanggunian.

The decision of the LiFe councilors to join Mayor Belen at the Newly Elected Officials (NEO) forum organized by the DILG presented a good opportunity to come face to face with both their politics and duties as public officials.

It was the first time that they came face-to-face since they were both elected. Hopefully, that forum finally broke down the walls that the majority decided to have from day one of their regular session in July.

And, hopefully, both the executive and legislative will finally see their positions as opportunities to work as a team for the sole interests of their constituents, not theirs.

But by this, I don’t mean that check-and-balances should be thrown out the window. It should be ever-present in governance but without the political motive.

I pray the end of EpaLiFe is here, and a new fresh beginning for LiFe for mature, positive governance is setting in.

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WHO’S PROTECTING WHO? The usually outspoken provincial board presided by VG Mark Lambino is suddenly muted on the P2.5-billion shabu operations neutralized by PDEA last month.

Curiously, even Pozorrubio Mayor Kelvin Chan was never called to clarify and explain before the Provincial Sanggunian how an illegal drug operation of that magnitude could have taken roots in his town.  Yet, the same board was quick to call out PSU president Dexter Buted on an internal issue involving employees. Not even the town police chief or the barangay chief was called to account. Why??

The P2.5 billion drug bust was a major illegal drug operation affecting lives of millions of families … and no one is made to account? 

The invitation to call P/Col.  Jeff Fanged, newly designated PPPO chief who was not in Pangasinan when the discovery of the illegal drug operation was made, could not be remotely considered as an “expression of serious concern” by the provincial board members. Tsk-tsk!

So, who is protecting who? Is the decision to shelve calls for accountability in that disturbing development influenced by the silence of Guv Mon-mon himself on the issue? 

Or do they consider the war on drugs as their lowest priority today? Bahala na mga pamilya sa buhay nila?

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NOT THE END OF ‘SHORTAGES ‘RACKET. Let’s hope that the decision of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to have DA and Sugar Regulatory Agency officials charged before the Ombusdman for their involvement in the faked sugar shortage and attempted importation finally sends a strong message to the connections of unscrupulous traders.

They will be left holding the bag because the businessmen will not lift a finger for the incriminated government officials lest they incriminate themselves.

You can be sure, this won’t be the last attempt to pass off a shortage of a commodity, and the evidence are in warehouses.

So, will the NBI pursue the case and investigating the traders to do justice for the damned officials?

The public must see to it that the investigated officials are, indeed, charged and meted their due sentence.

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QUESTION TO DAGUPAN POSO: Why do you allow food street vendors to park their mobile stalls on major streets like A.B. Fernandez Ave.? May “parking fee” sila? Check out a vendor close to the PNB branch near Quintos Bridge.

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