By Leonardo Micua

 

FOLLOWING the brazen gun attack that killed Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and nine other persons inside his compound by determined hired killers, President BBM ordered the DILG and PNP to monitor election hot spots all over the country.

It is because, apparently, it may have occurred to PBBM that insofar as the killing of the good Governor Degamo and similar gun attacks on other local officials in other parts of the country are concerned, they appear to have the trimmings as if they were spurred by political vendetta.

I asked myself if Dagupan City would qualify to be placed under the tight watch of DILG and PNP because of my personal observation that politics has not stopped in the city after the May 9, 2022 elections, which was won handily by Mayor Belen Fernandez.

Yes, Dagupan may not have history of political violence, the usual parameter used by the PNP as well as the Comelec in declaring a town or a city as a hot spot. But there are goons, guns, gold and, yes, drugs in the city that PNP and the NBI are aware of, are enough reasons for Dagupan to be placed under the tight watch of DILG and PNP given PBBM’s order.

Because detractors have not stopped badgering Belen, whose only sin, if you can call it that, was to score a big win against her reelectionist opponent because of his lackluster performance while at the helm. Dagupan is on the spot for not moving on beyond politics after the election.

And this continues to this day because those holding power at the Sangguniang Panlungsod are determined to give Belen’s administration, hell, with no regard to the plight of the city and its people, just so they can avenge the humiliating loss of their favorite candidate.

The majority in the SP couldn’t care less if Dagupan is already a basket case being the only local government in the whole nation without an approved annual budget three months after the beginning of the year and exactly nine months soon after Mayor Belen returned to power.

It is not only I who’s seeing and hearing too much political fireworks around the four corners of the city. Methinks, bickering is meaningless since the next local election is still two years away from now unless these politicians are setting a stage for a comeback for their candidate who was defeated by Mayor Belen by a monumental margin of more than 14,000 votes, or jockeying another candidate among themselves for a face-off with Belen.

SK Federation president and Councilor Joshua Bugayong, in exasperation, delivered a privilege speech in the Sangguniang Panlungsod last March 7, calling on his elder colleagues to finally stop playing politics and finally pass the city’s annual budget!

It’s the youth already calling on our politicians to stop talking and finally get down to brass tacks and to keep their promise of good governance during the campaign period.

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On learning of the marching order of PBBM to the DILG and PNP to monitor election hot spots in the country in a bid to stop the tide of political killings of local officials, I asked Mayor Belen whether she’s bothered that LGU officials are now being targeted by hired killers like what happened to Governor Degamo and other local officials. 

She was surprised with my question and Jay Mendoza, station manager of Sonshine Radio Dagupan, beamed. But nevertheless, the mayor answered me: “Of course, I am. But I have a covenant with the people of Dagupan City, that is to serve them faithfully and will always be by their side no matter what will happen”.

That means, there is no stopping Mayor Belen from doing her Unli-Serbisyo anywhere in Dagupan irrespective of the threats on her safety. 

I asked her further if she has PNP escorts with her while going around the city even in ungodly hours of the night. She answered affirmatively but I pressed her to add some more security just to be sure she is safe.

She answered with a chuckle but with a lump in her throat, and said: “Alam naman ninyo siguro kung sino ang maaring gagawa niyan sa akin”. 

Jay Mendoza and the rest of broadcasters around me nodded in agreement. 

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