By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

DAGUPAN City Mayor Belen Fernandez never minced words to describe the criminal acts perpetrated by former officials of the Lim administration, from harassment of market vendors, proliferation of illegal fish pens, squandering the scholarship fund of the city, selective distribution of ayuda from the national government, to non-coverage of PhilHealth of indigent families. But she always stopped there. She never named the accountable city officials, just the deeds!

For weeks, she slammed the scholarship committee under the Lim administration for using fake and ghost scholars to access the funds, but she never called out the members of the committee that decided on selection of scholars.

She deplored the mushrooming of the illegal fish pens on her first week as the new mayor, and cited the same again in her First 100 Days but stopped short of naming the owners of illegal fish pens whom she called out some as having more than 5 oversized fish pens and cages.

Most recently, she deplored the disappearance and deletion of computer files that recorded financial transactions of the city government. Still, she did not name the department heads under whose offices the computers were tampered.

Net result? The persons she described or hinted to be liable are not the least concerned. In fact, they exude with confidence that nothing will disrupt what they are enjoying today in spite of all the rants of Mayor Belen. They even thumb their noses at calls in media for them to be made accountable.

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AFRAID TO BE SUED? Her “nameless- tact” made many in local media wonder what she hopes to gain by simply ranting without calling out the nameless scoundrels.  Why is she not making persons accountable? 

Apparently, she’s getting a misguided legal advice from uninformed legal practitioners, that she’s liable to be sued for libel if she names subordinates and their suspected cohorts who are accountable being government officials and employees. The lawyer or friend who says that does not know his/her libel law.

The libel law does not cover official actions of public officials, much less calls for responsibility, accountability and transparency. Government employees can never invoke their positions of power to protect or insulate them from calls for accountability. It is precisely their positions in government that requires them to be transparent and accountable.

But at the rate Mayor Belen is going about exposing the anomalies committed by her predecessor, her lack of transparency by refusing to give more details about her calls for accountability will become her own undoing. The day her errant subordinates no longer take her charges, laments and warnings seriously because of the impression that she does not have what it takes to take drastic actions to correct a wrong, will be the day she will rue following the wrong advice for years.

A statement “Hanggang salita lang yan” to refer to her means it will be all that will be remembered as her legacy. That would be most unfortunate after all her momentous and pivotal accomplishments as a public servant. 

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GUV GUICO ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Who has heard from Guv Mon-mon Guico about his specific plans and or reactions to current events in Pangasinan? I’m sure his first Lady Maan gets them first, then Vice Guv Mark Lambino, then the board members, the provincial administrator next, and last but not the least, his Facebook accounts administrator!

After 140 days as the newly elected governor, he still has not called a press conference to field questions from the local media that know the pulse of his constituents. But a quick visit to the Pangasinan.gov.ph. website only gives posts about 1) His wish to have land terminals in all towns. 2) His having attended the budget hearing but had no statement about it.  3) The executive order he issued about guidelines for observance of UNDAS. 4) His cutting the ribbon of the Dagop Datek exhibit at Casa Real. 5) His meeting with DENR officials about clean-up drive in coastal areas. 6) His attending the Western District Hospital anniversary celebration.  All other posts are activities of provincial departments under his administration.

He still had nothing to say the P2.3 billion shabu drug bust in Pozorrubio, the impact of high prices of sugar and rice in the province, preparations for next calamites after Typhoon Paeng exited, activities to further restore boost economic recovery, his vision for the 2023 provincial budget and his priorities, plans for sports development for the youth and medical activities for seniors, etc.

Methinks our Guv Guico thinks being a governor is no different when being a mayor of Binalonan when he didn’t have to account for anything to his constituents.  No media interviews, no plans and activities needed to keep the government functioning.

Let’s see what he has to offer Pangasinan after 200 days.

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THE EPALIFE WAY. The Dagupan epaLifes are a consistent bunch, doing the unexpected to accomplish their agenda and mission – to destabilize the Belen Fernandez administration – in every opportunity they get!

This time, the epaLifes believed being in Manila to be seen joining the celebration of the Office of the Vice President serves their agenda perfectly.  They decided to be absent during a regular session day when important issues are calendared for discussion and reporting.

They knew their absence will result in the city government’s default in exercising its privilege to choose a contiguous parcel of land as a concession to its lost claim over the 30-hectare land in Barangay Awai in San Jacinto town. Never mind that it was their patron, former Mayor Benjamin Lim’s administration, that ripped off the city in that corruption-ridden deal.

They also know that the regular session will be adjourned leaving the Fernandez administration without recourse to help keep the city police station operating efficiently. Never mind that the city residents will not be able to expect fast and quick response from the police in case of an emergency.  

The seven councilors must be busy checking their social calendar weekly to see when they can abandon their duties and leave Mayor Belen helpless without their intervention.

In case you’ve forgotten, the epaLifes are Councilors Dada Reyna-Macalanda (majority floor leader), Red Erfe-Mejia, Celia Lim, Alfie Fernandez, Alvin Coquia, Marilou Fernandez, and Irene Lim-Acosta.

They certainly don’t give a hoot if Dagupeños get their basic social and health services from the city government or not as long as they think they’ve made Mayor Belen ineffective! 

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