By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE endorsement of the whole Unliserbisyo team of Belen Fernandez-Bryan Kua by the Iglesia ni Cristo must have come as a big shock to the LIFE barkada and mother-son team of Celia and Brian Lim.

It will be recalled that son Brian arrogantly warned of a tragic end to both Mayor Belen and VM BK’s push for their reelection.  He aired his “Humanda kayo!” threat in a presscon during the campaign.

His veiled threat could have possibly been drawn by his prediction that INC will continue to support his family’s political ventures, as it has since his father Benjie’s time. Under INC’s continued patronage, he assumed a big win in either of two scenarios:

First scenario: He will rule Dagupan if his mother wins as mayor, and he as vice mayor with INC’S endorsement.  He indicated this during the campaign by acting as the sole talking head for the LIFE. Note that he didn’t even allow his mother, as the mayoral candidate, to speak on any issue at any time. Under this scenario, he can be the power at the mayor’s office while still steering the agenda of the sangguniang panlungsod to further obstruct and sabotage the Unliserbisyo vision.

Second scenario: The worst scenario in his mind would be the reelection of Mayor Belen but he will surely win as vice mayor with the expected INC endorsement. He believes INC would not deny him the support.  As vice mayor, he would still be in a position to obstruct Mayor Belen’s programs and promote his politics.

Son Brian was very certain of INC’s endorsement either way, hence, “Humanda kayo!”

What a grave miscalculation. He forgot that sabotaging of programs of Mayor Belen by the LIFE 7 barkada affected the members of the INC in Dagupan as well.

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NO COMMITMENT FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE. The unexpected loss of INC endorsement and LIFE barkada’s strategy to do ‘less talk-less mistakes’ and instead do more idiotic dancing on Tiktok have resulted in grave consequences on the barkada’s political careers.

If the LIFE barkada also loses its majority hold on the sanggunian, they only have themselves to blame for the bleak political situation that they now find themselves in. They dared to put the welfare of Dagupeños on hold like no other councilor in the city’s history ever did. Worse, they didn’t even dare define a development program to make amends for what they made the city suffer. They not only showed that they refuse to be held accountable for what they did but even refuse to commit themselves to good governance above all else.

They just danced like clowns of their generation, believing it’s what today’s generation of young voters wants! Today’s Sangguniang Kabataan officers can do far better than them.   

The LIFE barkada can still redeem themselves if they manage to have a responsible, respectable crew as the minority as effective fiscalizers, not as obstructionists.

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NO TO GUICO IN URDANETA. Still on the INC bloc vote for the provincial posts, it was almost predictable for it to drop an endorsement for Mrs. Maan Guico’s bid for the mayoralty post in Urdaneta in favor of an endorsement of her husband’s quest for reelection.

Without INC vote, Mrs. Maan will have to double down on her efforts to offset the advantage of a reelectionist native Urdanetan like Mr. Rammy Parayno as mayor. But the corporate man in Guv Mon-mon, it is likely that he already has a Plan B in place to make sure his Urdaneta objective for his wife will not fail, without risking his own bigger objective.

But hold your horses, Mayor Rammy is not a pushover. He’s capable of shooting two birds with one stone!

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HELP STOP CHEATING. It’d be interesting to see how the Garcia Comelec will handle the issues of cheating that are expected to be raised against it.

Offhand, there remains the unresolved issue whether it has fully complied with the new anti-cheating methodology and requirements provided for in this new election system. 

For instance, will all the local election boards comply with the procedure that the automated counting machines should not be connected to the internet until the election results are printed? 

It’d be prudent for all authorized watchers to be fully briefed on the red-flagged procedures.

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WANTED IN THE SENATE. I pray that the following will make it to the 20^th Congress: Pia Cayetano (18), Ronald dela Rosa (22), Christopher Go (28), Gregorio Honasan (31), Panfilo Lacson (33), Rodante Marcoloeta (38), Imee Marcos (39), Heidi Mendoza (45), Ariel Querubin (52), Vic Rodriguez (56), Tito Sotto (59), Benhur Abalos (1), Bam Aquino (5) and Kiko Pangilinan (51).

You can be sure, they will do exactly what’s expected of them.

Enough of Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Manny Pacquiao. Forget Willie Revillame, Philip Salvador and another non-lawyer (Ben) Tulfo.

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WATCH OUT FOR PARTY-LISTS. Did you know that nominees of party-list groups are unlike district congressmen, who have definite constituents to serve? They function more like senators with no specific constituents to serve but receive monthly average compensation P250 – P500 million annually depending on their membership and participation in committees, and the usual 30% S.O.P. for infrastructure projects.

So when selecting a party-list, make sure you are part of a constituency of a party-list, i.e, BHW, Abante Pangasinan-Ilokano,  Abono, etc. from whom you can demand some help in crafting laws or some financial assistance for your needs. 

Voting for Agimat, Tupad, PBA, PBM, Barkadahan, etc. will lead you nowhere except allowing them to receive millions in your name.

Makabayan party-list bloc: Bayan Muna, Anak-Pawis, Kabataan, ACT Teachers, Gabriela have links with CPP-NPA-NDF.

Watch out for party-lists of senators and congressmen whose nominees are family members.

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