By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE unprecedented move of Mayor Belen Fernandez appearing before the committee of finance and appropriations t where the 7 epaLiFes hold sway, to defend the annual budget got an immediate, predictable response! They demanded the presence of the all the department heads in the next committee hearing, again because they obviously believe they got her on a string. (I note, however, that the 7 epaLiFes seem to have already run out of new plots to show who’s the boss).

And, of course, as expected, the mayor put her foot down, again. But after she went against her word – not to appear before the committee – two weeks ago, I’m no longer sure if she will stand her ground this time.  In fact, I won’t be surprised if the 7 epaLiFes are certain she will comply with their latest demand again. After all, didn’t she surprise (?) them with her appearance after her brave words of defiance?

So, expect the 7 epaLiFes next demand: to appears anew before the committee “to clarify questionable budget items… or else the budget will not be passed. “

Given what I’m seeing today, I may have underestimated the capabilities of the 7 epaLiFes in creating chaos, and overestimated Mayor Belen’s capacity to champion good governance. The power-mad 7 epaLiFes appear to have succeeded in making Mayor Belen appear weak by simply remaining unmoved by her incessant threats.

Alas, while the 7 epaLiFes continue to plot and Mayor Belen is vainly trying to appear to be in control, their constituents can only watch in frustration and in utter disappointment because they realize they don’t seem to matter in the equation.

Meanwhile, watch the continued imposition of a reenacted budget this year by the 7 epaLiFes – and continue to get away with it. They are confident that Mayor Belen and her close advisers do not have the moral courage to file multiple cases of violations of the Local Government Code against them after rejecting the proposed 2023 budget, and still blame her for her failure to deliver on her campaign promises.

Whoever advised Mayor Belen to hold back on her constant threats to sue and make Mayor Brian Lim and his team accountable for the series of documented anomalies, are clearly working for the Lim’s interests.

They have damaged her image as a credible leader.

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STILL “NO-TALK-NO MISTAKE”. Thanks to the regional office of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Pangasinan’s salt industry can look forward to a stable growth and development.

It had to take an initiative from an outside office to call attention to a much needed support for the province’s salt industry.

After eight months, it may be too much to expect some initiatives on any issue coming from Guv Mon-mon Guico. He had nothing to say about the rice and onion shortage in the country, how could he be expected to be interested in the lowly salt industry?

But to hear nothing from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan is a cause for serious concern. Is it possible that the SP has been told to adopt the “No-talk-no mistake” policy of the governor’s office so there can be no comparison in performance between them??

Senator Imee Marcos hit the nail on the head when she asked what it is that provincial government is doing about the agriculture industry in Pangasinan.  

Well, it looks like nobody in the provincial government is still taking her casual question to heart. There’s still no talk of how the province can help farmers cope with the increasing costs of fertilizer. Are VG Lambino and board members afraid that any viable recommendation from their end might complicate life for Guv. Guico and his “No talk-no mistake” policy?  

The provincial board is even mum about the ongoing millions worth of “rehabilitation” of the well-cemented stretch of road in Urdaneta City near its boundary with Sta. Barbara. The road digging  is needlessly causing a bottleneck in the area. Could that be an initiative of the governor’s father, Cong. Ramon Guico Jr., hence, “no-talk”?? It’d be interesting to know who the favored contractor is.  

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WHY LGBTIQA+, NOT JUST LGBT? It is quite unfortunate that the separate legitimate concerns and issues of LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) had to be combined with the “IQA+ (intersex, queer, asexual, plus).

Perhaps, the many advocates from the different sectors realize that their numbers separately as “I-Q-A+” won’t have any impact on the public and governance. Or because the individual sectors don’t have credible spokespersons that the public will care to listen to.

So, while the expressed unity of the different sectors’ advocacies may have earned strength and credibility, it is this precisely that weakened the LGBTsector whose legitimate concerns affect millions.

By banding them together, LGBTs are now often labeled themselves as intersex, queers and asexual, which is not the case! Most LGBTs pride themselves as respectable professional citizens, certainly not queers.

From where I sit, the only remaining unsettled issue of LGBTs is public acceptance of their decisions to marry among themselves and earn legal status for their union. LGBTs are standing onequal footing with straights on employment (some even more widely preferred than the straights) because of their skills and competency.

LGBTs are certainly preferred over queers and transgenders.

But with the advocates of the SOGIE law breathing down the necks of senators and congressmen for their endorsement, it’s likely that the LGBTs voice will soon be drowned out. by the “I-Q-A+s”.  Too bad, the LGBTs can’t back for their own causes.

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The PUNCH congratulates and salutes Voltaire Arzadon for the grand legacy – Universidad de Dagupan – he’s leaving behind on his retirement, leaving the future of the university that started as a three-door small computer school, in the able hands of his daughter Dr. Feliza Arzadon-Sua.

His and his wife Loreta’s dedication and commitment to build a university from the late 60s make a classic inspiring story for would be entrepreneurs. The kind of challenges that confronted them throughout could easily make the soft-hearted withdraw after a month, but not the Voltaire-Loreta tandem.

Voltaire’s father was a leading accountancy expert and an icon in Dagupan in the 50s-60s. Voltaire created an icon in Dagupan in Universidad de Dagupan in the 21^st century. It’s the Arzadon brand!

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