By Leonardo Micua

 

LAST week, Finnela Sim, regional coordinator of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), tagged me along to Lingayen where she turned over 60 sports balls to the provincial government in line with the nationwide grassroots sports program on sports of PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.

Ms. Sim, former vice chairperson of the Dagupan Sports Commission under the administration of former Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez, turned over basketballs, volleyballs and footballs to Provincial Administrator Nimrod Camba and Provincial Sports Development Officer Marlon Domalanta for the use of children in communities so they can resume playing basketball, volleyball and football to take advantage of this summer months while the province is under Alert Level 1.

If this is the direction of the national government, why then did a policeman of Dagupan City detach the ring off a basketball board on a court in Sitio Calamiong, Bonuan Gueset in Dagupan City, to prevent the holding of a basketball tournament?

The move was done by the police, presumably on order of  police chief P/ Lt. Colonel Benjie Tremor, as directed by Mayor Brian Lim himself. Was it really to prevent the youth in that community from holding a basketball tournament that could be a source for the transmission of the COVID-19 virus?

Note that the basketball court in Sitio Calamiong is in an open area, not an enclosed area like the venue where the PBA games are being played today.

According to Councilor Chito Samson, five uniformed policemen arrived around 10 a.m. on March 9 at the privately-owned basketball court of businessman Roberto Santillan. They told the crowd that gathered there that basketball games are not allowed under Alert Level 1 and proceeded to detach the two rings off the boards.

However, I was informed that basketball tournaments already started in Dagupan since January this year when the city was still under Alert Level 2. The Dagupan police did not stop the cage tourneys held in Sitio America in Bonuan Binloc and Eagle Crest Subdivision in Bonuan Gueset.

And if Brian is preventing basketball to be played in open areas, then why is he  holding another Bangus Festival that will expectedly draw more crowds than community basketball tournaments?

And if Brian and the police are determined to strictly enforce the minimum health protocols, where were they when BBM, Isko Moreno and Manny Pacquiao were in town when crowds breached social distancing protocol like nobody cared.

Was Dagupan suddenly under Alert Level 3 on March 9? Or, was the basketball court in Sitio Calamiong closed for games because the cage tourney will be sponsored by former Mayor Belen Fernandez?

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It is doubtful if the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod can still pass the city’s 2022 annual budget and beat the March 31, 2022 deadline, so the city will have no choice but to contend with a reenacted budget till the end of this year.

The campaign period for local candidates will kick off March 25. With most of the councilors, including Vice Mayor Bryan Kua, seeking reelection, there will be little time left to rush the passage of the budget.

If this happens, Mayor Brian Lim has no one else to blame but himself and his generals for taking their sweet time in preparing the documents sought by the Sanggunian as required by law. Instead, they decided that such documents were not necessary for budget authorization.

Take for instance the 230-pages Devolution Transition. The deadline for submission to the DILG was October 21, 2021 but it was only submitted to the Sanggunian for its review on March 9.

Obviously, Lim’s generals and his executive management group cannot coordinate their acts together. 

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Ukraine is holding on and fighting. On France’s 24 TV, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenzki is seen in his presidential palace, not in a bunker, commanding his troops to repel the Russian invaders.

The Ukrainians rallied around their president and their flag by forming militias to fight the invaders along with the regular troops. Abandoned by NATO at the height of the fighting, Ukraine stood alone and surprised the Russians, who first thought that they can get Ukraine and Zelenski out of the way in just 72 hours. It is already 15 days since the Russians began their invasion.

Many cities were already ruined by missiles but there is no sign that the brave Ukrainians are capitulating. Surprisingly, the outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainians have managed to destroy tanks and armored vehicles and shot down jets and attack helicopters using sophisticated arms provided by the West.

Nobody knows when the war is going to end. But it should be soon as many human lives were already sacrificed.

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