By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE 7epaLiFes fumbled one time-big time. Big time because they always thought they can never go wrong. Well, they did! And one-time, because the consequences are irreversible.

Bottom line: The majority bloc lost its single most important hostage since they marched inside the session hall in their campaign uniforms.

But you really have to hand it to the 7 epaLiFes! They, Councilors Dada Reyna, Red Erfe-Mejia, Celia Lim, Irene Lim, Alfie Fernandez, Alvin Coquia and Malou Fernandez, are all, indeed, united, speaking and acting as one – as a bunch of hypocritical, arrogant, deceitful, irreverent, greedy, condescending, contemptuous, boastful, egotistic and  plain stupid – as they purport to be the city’s “honorable public servants”.

Listening and watching them act and talk for the past 13 months is almost surreal, but they’re real. That they actually believe they sound and appear credible as righteous politicians is disgusting, to say the least.

There was Red Erfe-Mejia who reportedly had the gumption and temerity to play the victim card with his – “Pambabastos sa akin ang pagpasa ng resolution at ordinance.” I thought I had already seen the worst about him, I was wrong.

Obviously, his definition and context of the word pambabastos is self-conceit, nothing about others. He didn’t think it was pambabastos when he led the walk-out of his fellow epaLiFes while the city mayor was addressing them. In his book, it was not pambabastos when he called for sham public hearings, even compelling the presence of the city mayor, knowing his committee will never endorse the budget regardless of testimonies submitted. It never occurred to him that what he did to Dagupeños  was pambabastos when he orchestrated the blocking of the annual budget, and instead passed an “inoperable budget” to force the Fernandez administration to work with a reenacted budget.

In my book, Mr. Erfe-Mejia, ikaw ang nang babastos sa Dagupan and that fact should never be forgotten by Dagupeños!

Then, there was majority leader Dada Reyna reading a script  during her Bombo Radyo interview. She was trying so hard to sound and look truly disheartened as she read the instances when the minority violated the process that the minority followed to pass the annual budget. One can forgive the script’s self-serving statements that have no legal basis whatsoever, invoking the “Implementing Rules and Regulations” that her cabal crafted. But to lie that the budget was never discussed without a care about the truth glaring back at her was the height of their hypocrisy. Then, she topped it by invoking her group’s “integrity” as the group’s assurance to Dagupeños that they have the best of intentions for the Dagupeños! Yuck!

That’s how low they see and think of Dagupeños –  a gullible bunch who will believe anything  s__t they dish out.

In my book, Ms. Reyna, that was a very cheap stunt not worthy of the legacy of the highly respected Reyna family name.

By the way, Councilors Erfe-Mejia, Alvin Coquia and Malou Fernandez were invited by The PUNCH for an interview in our office, but they declined saying: “Pagkumpleto na kami!”

Beat their kind of unity! All the way to the end of their political lives. Dapat lang!

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CONG. MARK IS NO PUSHOVER. It looks like Gov. Mon-mon Guico et al., they who scripted the public hearing on the seawall project at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan found themselves alone suffering from a foot-in-mouth disease after their target, Cong. Mark Cojuangco refused to be cowed.

After zeroing and berating the DWPH for its failure to follow the established procedures to implement an infra project, the hearing concluded that the unnamed ‘project initiator’ violated rules and laws, so the project must be stopped.

But Cong. Cojuangco is no pushover.

In an interview with our associate editor Eva Visperas, he minced no words in citing the relevant facts surrounding the project, refuting the boys and girls at the SP: 

1. It’s not true that Gov. Mon-mon didn’t know anything about the project. He showed pictures to The PUNCH that show him and the governor together when they discussed the project.
2. It’s not true that he was the project initiator. He only inherited the project from his predecessor (whom he didn’t name).
3. It’s not he but DPWH, that must account for the processing of the administrative requirements, clearances and permits. His task as congressman is to select the project.  Boom!

But like the astute politician that he is, he left the door wide open to give Guv Mon-Mon a chance to correct himself on the seawall project. Cong Mark merely said – “He was misinformed…” 

If Guv Mon-Mon was indeed misinformed, heads must roll. Those who sought to break the Aguila Alyansa, must think of the governor as plain gullible. Tsk-tsk.

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WHO’S AFRAID OF SARA? Most if not all of  the senators and congressmen were clearly intimidated by what she had shown to all: She was a clear favorite among all the veep bets; and her chummy-chummy relationship with PBBM was just as clear. So when she asked for confidential/intel funds for her two offices (OVP and DepEd), it was approved without question, never mind that her request was unprecedented.

Then all hell broke loose when she could not account for the P125-M confidential funds endorsed to her by PBBM, she did it in 11 days. Most everyone in the streets of Dagupan who claim to know and understand the issue, were one in saying – “VP Sara must account.”

That the issue aggravated the ongoing “conflict” between her and Speaker Martin Romualdez was anti-climactic. Mr. Romualdez was smart to take the moral high grounds and provided the alibi to strip VP Sara of her “intel/confi” funds, a move that was shared by Senate President Miguel Zubiri.

Meanwhile, her lieutenants in Dagupan City were quick to do damage control to score brownie points for VP Sara during the distribution of TUPAD benefits last Wednesday. They told the audience that the beneficiaries could have received more but Congress decided to withdraw her “intel/confi” funds!

Leave it to politicians to see an opportunity in any crisis.

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