By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE arrogance of the 7 epaLiFes in Dagupan City is endless. They maintain that not even the national government can compel them to accept a well-funded project for the benefit of Dagupeños unless and until their self-serving political terms and conditions are met.

I even begin to wonder if they know what they’re doing.
Their pretentious resolution cannot even be considered “in compliance” with the DOH’s requirement for the implementation of the project because their resolution did not care to authorize Mayor Belen Fernandez to sign a memorandum of agreement with DOH, the main purpose of the required resolution.  That escaped their polluted mindset.

It only mentioned their “acquiescence” briefly then shamelessly elaborated on their lengthy manifestations which in essence conveyed that that it doesn’t matter to them if the planned Mother and Child Hospital is scrapped if the DOH and the city government refuse to adopt their counterproposal to the site of the facility.

Their counter-proposal: To have the MCH built on untenable, ill-founded sites that don’t meet the physical requirements of the project and objectives of the city government. The latest is the small area vacated by the LTO office.

Their self-serving objection to DOH proposal:  The venue that DOH  chose will make Mayor Belen Fernandez and her family rich…not them! Tsk tsk. Given the context of their farcical and ridiculous argument, they would not object to the construction of the facility if it were in a place that would make them rich… without donating any land! But since they will not benefit at all given their new conditions, they’re telling Dagupeños that they might not as well have the MCH in the city.

Gosh, the 7 epaLiFes  still can’t get over the fact that they didn’t, and still cannot get the millions  they demand from the city government for doing nothing.

Read this condition: “WHEREAS, this acquiescence to the construction of the Maternity  and Children’s Hospital is subject to the condition that the said hospital to be erected on property owned and controlled by the City Government and not on any property owned and donated by the family of the incumbent local chief executive, or any public official within the fourth civil degree or affinity or consanguinity for ethical and legal reasons cited; otherwise this resolution shall be deemed nugatory for failure to comply with the condition set forth.”

The irony of their arrogance and misguided arguments is they want it known to all that that the project was a brainchild of the late Mayor Benjie Lim and the fund was allocated during their boss Brian Lim’s term. Yet through it all, they belabor their resistance with their imposition of impossible terms citing their names.

Ok, let’s do as they wish – Blame ex-Mayor Brian Lim, too, for refusing to have the MCH in the city.
So, for refusing to allow the DOH to construct a Mother-Child Hospital in the city, for refusing to consider the plight of mothers and children in the city, let the unprecedented political arrogance of Brian Lim and the 7 epaLiFes’ (Red Erfe-Mejia, Alfie Fernandez, Dada Reyna-Macalanda, Alvin Coquia, Celia Chua-Lim, Irene Lim-Acosta and Marilou Fernandez) live in infamy, for this generation and the next.

*               *               *               *

CLOSE FRIENDS IN POLITICS. The brouhaha over the shouting incident between Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Miguel Zubiri during a suspension in their session’s proceedings led to many misinterpretations about  it.  In fact, it was hardly a simple trivial issue.

Here’s the true context. Sen. Cayetano was concerned about the rights of the new Taguig residents from Makati City. He wants the EMBO residents to be able to exercise their right of suffrage, to be able to vote for their representatives in both the city council and Congress, a right that was not defined in the Supreme Court ruling on the territorial dispute between the two cities. 

He wanted his resolution rushed in the face of the approaching filing of candidacies period.

He won the support of everyone earlier except Sen. Zubiri who was not accessible.  When he stood up for the sponsorship, Zubiri was in his room and rushed to the session hall. His first reaction was dismissive in a loud retort and asked for postponement.

Cayetano was surprised by Zubiri’s reaction since there was nothing controversial about his resolution and explained that any postponement could derail its passage since it was going to be their last day in session.   

That’s when emotions ran high, the kind that could only happen between close friends who always found reasons to accommodate each other to show support.   At the same time, it was this close relationship that enabled them to promptly reconcile and apologize to each other. 

Background: Sen. Zubiri is Makati Mayor Abby Binay’s ally in the senate over the territorial dispute and Sen. Cayetano was leading the debate for Taguig City. Also, Cayetano was among those who voted for Zubiri’s ouster as senate president and was replaced by Sen. Chiz Escudero.  All three were once part of the group of young, active reformists at the House of Representatives before they became senators.

*               *               *               *

NO FEAR. Just as we expected, the provincial ordinance requiring motorcycle riders and tricycle drivers to wear reflectorized vests at night is being ignored across the province.

The initial strict enforcement during the first week created awareness about the ordinance.  After recording some 800 arrests, the ordinance has since been completely ignored by both riders and the police.
There could not possibly be any strict enforcement of that ordinance like the enforcement of the helmet law because there are no uniformed police personnel deployed to enforce the two laws along the town’s main highways and inside major barangays where motorcycles and tricycles are visible and riding irresponsibly.

We are seeing motorcycle riders and tricycle drivers riding no fear of police enforcement of helmet law and reflectorized vests in Pangasinan. Paging Sangguniang Panlalawigan!

*               *               *               *

TRUE PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE. There is something politically unusual happening in Calsaio town!

The Caramat-Macanlalay partnership that started with the late Mayor Mamilyn Carmat is being sustained.  It can only mean that Mayor Kevin Macanlalay, who became her successor after her death, is ready to give way to Mamilyn’s son, Patrick, in 2025.

This is the kind of politics that will hasten economic progress at will, the kind that will make residents of other towns and cities deeply envious.

Could there be other similar political situations in the province? Count out Dagupan City.

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments