By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

OUR frontpage drone photo shows a small area of continued operations of more than thousands of illegal fish pens in and around the city’s island barangays! I bet only a few are aware that the continued operations of these point to the massive corruption and pollution in the city. (Note: The photo is a screenshot by PUNCH grabbed from a video posted on Facebook by a friend who wanted to show he has a drone that does wonders, hence, his permission to use our screenshot).

Curiously, these completely unregulated illegal fish pens have not been cited as one of the major causes for the overflow of floodwater from the shallow riverbanks. Perhaps the fact that their operations are far away from the prying eyes of most everyone, including media, few are aware that these illegal fish pens are the major sources of massive siltation in the city’s rivers and tributaries.

What’s also a forgotten fact is that the illegal fish pens proliferated and were protected soon as then Mayor Brian Lim won the election and assumed office. He inherited a clean river that was free of illegal fish pens, made possible by the persistent efforts of his predecessor, Belen Fernandez.

However, to the puzzlement of many, the return of Mayor Belen to her post in 2022 did not lead to the banishment of the illegal fish pens in spite of her earlier declaration during the campaign that she would clean and clear rivers again.

For reasons only known to her and her close aides, the ‘Bantay Ilog’ team was apparently ordered only to do token demolitions of the illegal fish pens. As some of the few operators whose fish pens were demolished, swear to this day, Mayor Belen’s ‘Bantay Ilog’ only targeted owners not considered as her political allies or friends of her close aides. Worse, they maintain that owners and operators of illegal fish pens that belong to the INC sect were exempted from coverage of her order to demolish illegal fish pens.

I doubted those claims until I came across the drone photo showing and proving the unverified claims appear to be, indeed, true.

Mangaldan Mayor Bonafe de Vera-Parayno was right in rejecting pleas of fish pen owners to operate to keep the rivers clean. Her accountability rests with her efforts to keep it that way.

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A MAYOR’S ACCOUNTABILITY. There are more illegal fish pens operating today than when Mayor Belen first acted against the illegal fish pens in 2017-2019.  Curiously, she never mentioned the need to intensify her campaign vs. illegal fish pens to prevent another massive flooding in the city. 

Perhaps, she thinks the ongoing construction of elevation of drainage system and roads will leave the illegal fish pens out of the picture. Not anymore with more Dagupeños aware of the continued illegal operations of owners openly flouting the city’s ordinance banning fish pen operations.

The return of regular presence of delivery cargo trucks along the De Venecia Expressway junction, unloading thousands of bags of commercial feeds for delivery to the island barangays is enough indication of the volume of pollution being thrown to the city’s rivers daily.

The impact of the shallow river bed is evident from the Quintos Bridge. I refer to the daily counterflow from the sea preventing the normal flow of water from upstream.

Consequently, the level of water of the Pantal River remains high even on a low tide.  So, wonder no more why flooding occurs when there is no rain but merely a high tide.

While business establishments, residents, students are made to suffer during high tide, the owners of illegal fish pens only worry about security of their illegal operations while doing banking online.

In this regard, Mayor Belen must know that for as long as the illegal fish pens are tolerated, she cannot escape accountability for the constant losses being suffered by residents.

 Fortunately for ex-Mayor Brian Lim and his barkada whom his detractors suspect got away with millions, courtesy of business friends who exploited his administration’s greed. But unfortunately, for Mayor Belen, she cannot explain with her usual credible self why the illegal operations of the illegal fish pens continue under her nose. Of course, for sure she can’t be charged for earning from the racketeering (she doesn’t need it) but her accountability as chief executive is clear.

Nobody has been charged in court for the continued illegal operations in violation of the city ordinance.  Mayor Belen’s administration may yet redeem itself by compelling the owners of the illegal structures to pay accumulated daily penalties for their violations since 2019.   Refusal to pay should lead to filing of charges. (I’m assuming, of course, City Legal Officer Aurora Valle knows how to handle such a situation since she has not shown any capability to go after corrupt officials and city personnel).

 This is an opportunity for her to redeem herself as the no-nonsense mayor that Dagupeños once knew.

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WHO CARES FOR THE PEOPLE? Now that Guv Mon-mon is back from his second week-long leave since he assumed his post, can he be expected to hit the ground running this time for a change?

Vice Guv. Mark Lambino, being a loyal soldier that he is, has proven himself to be proactive in running the affairs of the provincial government even in just an acting capacity.  In fact, I don’t believe Guv Mon-mon’s presence was missed when the province was not spared by Typhoon Egay because an acting Guv was seen and felt.

Is the Guv aware that he is the only governor that was not around, did not seek to return from a leave of absence to look after his constituents at the height of a calamity?

However, in the same vein and in fairness to him, may I say that if he was the chief executive of a multinational or a small company, his absence may not be perceived as incompetence but instead a mark of a good manager who knows how and when to delegate his authority to keep the organization working even in his absence.

But Pangasinan is not a private company. His authority emanates from his role as public servant, backed by public trust. In brief, his absence was inexcusable.

But, of course, he can always redeem himself in the weeks and months ahead. Perhaps a vision to minimize losses to farmers during natural calamities can show that he cares about his constituents, or a vision to save towns and cities from severe flooding with a coordinated plan and shared resources with local DRRMC for relief operations… then set up the teams and plans to operationalize his vision.

So far, his mind cannot seem to see beyond infrastructure projects that won’t require further his involvement and presence after launching. (By the way, what’s the Guv’s stake in the dredging of Dagupan’s, a component city, rivers?)

His constituents need to see him, feel him caring for them 24/7. It’s PH governance.

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