Cheers and Boos of 2022
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
CHEERS TO SUCCESSFUL ANTI-COVID CAMPAIGN. Pangasinenses have a reason to feel blessed as a people. It can be said that we survived the pandemic in 2022 with minimal casualties compared to other populated provinces in the country. And we must give credit to where it is due – the provincial government under the Amado Espino III administration, the Provincial Health Office under Dr. Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman, Region 1 Medical Center under Director Dr. Roland Joseph Mejia, the mayors and their local health officers, the hospital staff of provincial hospital and private hospitals and barangay health workers of towns and cities, the officers and men of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office.
For a moment, there was doubt whether the provincial government had the capacity and capabilities to man the rampart to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The panic everywhere was palpable. The decisive actions of Gov Amado Espino III in directing limited government resources to respond to the first-ever health emergency in the country in the 21st century, helped people unite in implementing lockdowns, voluntarily submitting themselves to quarantine and isolation centers.
There was no scarcity of food, and prices were controlled at pre-pandemic levels by traders and businessmen. Bottom line: there was no dramatic surge at any time.
To our frontliners in government service, your sacrifices will never be forgotten. CHEERS!
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BOOS TO P2.3-B SHABU OPS IN POZORRUBIO. The biggest shabu hub and distribution of shabu in the region and in Central Luzon was found in Pangasinan. In Pozorrubio and to be precise, only about 14 kilometers away from Binalonan town and in the Fifth District where newly-elected Gov. Ramon Guico III holds court.
What grated on nerves of Pangasinenses was the muted voice of Guv Guico! He was never heard to have condemned the big time shabu operation in his home jurisdiction nor praised the successful operations of PDEA. Worse, he also never called out the officials and police officers of Pozorrubio to account nor did he ask that they be probed for negligence or possible involvement.
It’s January 1, 2023 and Pangasinenses still have not heard his voice and thoughts about an intensified campaign vs. illegal drugs after the discovery of the P2.3-B shabu operations. His silence is ominous and people are wondering how and why it has come to this.
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CHEERS TO DISCOVERY OF CORRUPTION IN SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. The new administration of Mayor Belen Fernandez in Dagupan City left no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the scandalous anomalies committed in the implementation of the city’s scholarship program by the Brian Lim administration. The discovery of fake, dummy and ghost students was unconscionable at the very least as it was done in the name of the city’s youths.
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BOOS TO THE HOSTAGING OF SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET NO. 1. The decision of the majority members of the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod, led by Councilors Red Erfe-Mejia and Celia Lim, to force the Fernandez administration to yield to their demands that guarantee them financial gains by withholding action on the supplemental budget is despicable and contemptible. It didn’t matter to them that their strategy would seriously impact on lives of many indigent families and their children in the city. (To the credit of the Belen Fernandez administration, it didn’t yield to the majority members’ vile agenda and insatiable greed).
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CHEERS TO THE PROMOTION OF LOCAL ARTS IN PANGASINAN. The constant efforts of Fourth District Rep. Toff de Venecia to organize and host various art exhibits promoting talents of local artists will go a long way in developing our local talents’ confidence in their capabilities and potential in the national and international circles.
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BOOS TO MUTED VOICE OF GUICO ADMINISTRATION IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA. Local media practitioners initially waited with bated breath for Guv Guico III’s engagements with people soon as he assumed his new post. Six months into his administration, he still did not call for a single press conference to articulate, explain and rally his constituents to his vision and plans for the province. He chose to simply show himself in photo ops with various sectors, signing agreements, cutting ribbons in his Facebook account without a hint of what he had in mind in those occasions.
Pangasinan never had a governor who chose to be seen only, not be heard or made to respond to issues. Where did those grand campaign promises come from? Or were these simply crafted by a campaign team and were not even discussed with him?
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CHEERS TO DAGUPAN’S 75TH FOUNDING CELEBRATION. What was nearly completely forgotten was the day Dagupan became a City. The Lim administration apparently never thought of celebrating that momentous day in the life of the city. Fortunately, the Fernandez team (with our columnists Gonz Duque and Rex Catubig) rose to the occasion and crafted plans and events to commemorate the occasion, though belatedly.
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BOOS TO LAME EFFORTS TO DEMOLISH ILLEGAL FISH PENS. After all the brave threats hurled by then candidate Belen Fernandez to the illegal fish pen owners, her administration’s pledge to demolish illegal fish pens only accounted for no more than 50, after six months. And there are more than a thousand operating around the island barangays and along river tributaries, that not only continue to pollute the city’s rivers but aggravate flooding in the city’s streets. One caretaker who lost his fish pen laments that the Fernandez administration is protecting some “friendly” owners, and his owner was not a favored one.
Indeed, judging by the number of accomplishments of the Bantay Ilog Task Force, it is evident that the Fernandez administration is no longer standing by her campaign promise. It seems the illegal fish pens are here to stay, making her administration guilty of failing to enforce the city ordinance like her predecessor.
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AND THE WINNER IS… We have to hand it to the 7 epaLiFe members, comprising the majority in Dagupan City’s majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod. They not only succeeded in depriving Dagupeños of the health and education benefits from the city government but never wavered in their mission to discredit the Belen Fernandez administration by derailing and sabotaging her plans and programs.
The 7 epaLiFes, led by Councilors Red Erfe-Mejia and Celia Lim, mother of ex-Mayor Brian and wife of the late ex-Mayor Benjie, didn’t even flinch with each reported scandalous anomaly committed by the administration of their boss, Mayor Brian. They acted completely detached from the corruption that accompanied the scholarship program, the proliferation of illegal fish pens, the anomalous transactions from overcharging to full payment of defective CCTV units and undelivered motorboats. They even displayed arrogance and brazenness when they banned Sunday PUNCH (represented by our Managing Editor Leonardo Micua) from their scripted committee hearings.
They shrugged off warnings from the DILG like these never reached them. They saw no need for decorum and ethical practices when debating with members of the minority. They feel justified when clipping powers of the minority contrary to rules mandated by the Local Government Code with chutzpah. And thought it all, the legal team of the Fernandez administration appeared daunted and could not offer any move to counter the tactical challenges hurled by the 7 epaLiFes.
Indeed, they are quite the bunch they project themselves without any thought of repercussions to their political careers.
That was in 2022. They accomplished their mission without much of a resistance. Will they remain the same or worse in 2023?
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