By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE Guico-Parayno feud is turning out to be like the wild forest fire that hit Los Angeles recently. The bush fire was started by Guv Mon-mon Guico and it has since spread like a wild fire and no one can predict how and where it will.

But one thing is apparent, both Mayor Rammy Parayno and Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno are not looking back at burnt bridges. Instead of being defensive knowing that they are up against the forces and resources of the provincial government, they have taken steps to turn the tables on Guv Mon-mon.

As many had wrongly expected that the governor’s initial assault making the provincial board suspend him for six months over a purely administrative matter would do the trick – to provide the governor the leverage for a projected negotiation over the reelection bid of Mayor Rammy and the bid of his wife Maan as a candidate for the city’s next mayor. But it was not to be.

It simply awakened the sleeping dragon in Mayor Rammy. He is fighting back with fire in his eyes and filed administrative and criminal charges against the governor before the Ombudsman! His message was clear: No negotiation for the election of the governor’s wife as his successor.

While Guv Mon-mon was still arguing about the enforcement of the suspension, the mayor was already unrelenting in his offensive stance. This time, he and his cousin VM Jimmy found the occasion to file a complaint against the DILG provincial director whom he accused of violating a Comelec rule with malice, as if he was conspiring to suspend him for the governor’s cause.

As things stand today, the governor is still at it, insisting on the legality of Mayor Rammy’s suspension, even as he now finds himself beleaguered by legal arguments on how to acquit himself of the complaints filed by Mayor Rammy that could find him guilty and disqualify him from holding any government position in the future as a consequence.

For Mayor Rammy, he knows that the worst that could happen to him is to be suspended as mayor for the duration of the campaign period as plotted, which could end in his ignominious defeat in the hands of the wife of the governor, who’s not even a resident of Urdaneta City, or an occasion for a grand celebration defeating a powerful family with full access to provincial resources.

Pass the popcorn!

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CELIA AS OPPOSITION LEADER. As I write this piece, I don’t know if Councilor Celia Chua-Lim finally accepted the invitation of my fellow podcaster Gonz Duque as his guest in our ‘Punching Duo’ podcast this week.  All I know is that I will not be around to even tune in because I have to be out of town for my daughter, Karmina’s, wedding.

I pray Celia, sister of my late good friend Rollie in the 60s, will take the opportunity to announce a new beginning for her group in the opposition, whether for the city’s sake or for election purposes. The motivation is not as relevant as the desire to put definitive words into action as the designated leader of the opposition in this year’s election.

Let’s hear her define what her leadership could be like even as a mere councilor today, setting aside the voices of Red Erfe-Mejia and Alfie Fernandez, that from hereon, there will be changes in the perspectives of the opposition towards Belen Fernandez administration. 

Or am I praying for the impossible?

Meanwhile, it’s time for the city director of the DILG to step into the seemingly endless stand-off between the opposition as the majority and the administration’s allies as the minority that has resulted in early adjournment of past regular sessions without discussing an item in the agenda.

The DILG should threaten the councilors who move and approve motions to adjourn for violating the Local Government Code with suspension of payment of the councilors’ salaries and benefits.

It’s almost criminal for the councilors to continue debating their respective self-importance while completely disregarding their solemn oaths to serve as the city’s public servants.

The failure of the DILG city director to act against the refusal of the sanggunian to perform its functions should be a reason to ask for her recall and replacement. The city deserves a proactive DILG director, not a mere observer.

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THE QUESTIONED GAA. The resolution of the questioned integrity of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (annual budget) by the Supreme Court may either severely impact our country’s poor or lead the nation to a new handle on good governance.

The discussion on the possibilities of how the fate of the GAA will be resolved, has reached the point where a reversal by the Supreme Court is possible. Theoretically, that would mean pushing the national government to work with a reenacted 2024 budget, a budget that conformed with the framework mandated by the constitution – the Department of Education having the highest budget over the Department of Public Works and Highways; a budget for PhilHealth, no scandalous budget for vote-buying  (Akap, etc.) for the 2025 mid-interim elections, no questionable insertions by the bicameral committee, etc.

As one congressman theorized, should the Supreme Court decide to declare the 2025 GAA as illegal, a decision that would be unprecedented for the country and for the legislature and executive department, both Houses of Congress can opt to work for another GAA

God knows how President Marcos Jr. will respond to such a situation.  Fortunately for him that scenario is theoretical for now, but it is worrisome thinking that it can happen because of the weight of evidence of fraud that attended the framing of the bicameral report and the 2025 GAA.

The evidence of a serious irregularity was pointed out – submitting a final report with blank items! Then, the process of how the amounts were finally detailed in the GAA was never known, resulting in unanswered questions: Who did it? When was it done? Who knew about it?

In the past, there were no questions raised about what departments or items were allocated until today because all the figures were pointing to unprecedented levels of corruption benefitting the framers of the GAA.

I join the millions who are praying for the declaration of the 2025 GAA as fraudulent, and, therefore, illegal!

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