By Leonardo Micua

 

THOUGH I wore a MAGA (Make America Great Again) baseball cap gifted by our Los Angeles City-based correspondent Leonie Galvez on some occasions, I must admit I was not really a Donald  Trump fan. Well, not until he recently brokered what seemed to be a total and hopefully permanent ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Particularly because of that, I am now rooting for Trump.

Imagine if Mr. Trump did not step in and called a spade a spade, the two belligerent countries would still be tearing each other apart, and many more would be killed, dismembered and abodes and structures reduced into rubble.

If the Trump-brokered ceasefire holds, the U.S. president could be hailed as the greatest peacemaker in modern times and the best candidate for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

But much work still lies ahead.

Our earlier fear that the hostilities between Israel and Iran could escalate into World War III didn’t come true as Trump easily defused the tension.

If the war continued for weeks, months, or even years, countries like the Philippines that are highly dependent on Middle East oil to fuel their economies would enormously suffer and in no time would be a goner.

However, for Mr. Trump to really earn the crown as modern-day peacemaker and hero, he must exert more effort to persuade both Ukraine and Russia on the other side of the globe to sign a ceasefire deal and eventually a permanent peace agreement.

The war between Ukraine and Russia has dragged on for more than three years now, and thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides have already been lost.

May God the Almighty bring peace to the whole world!

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The outgoing councilors of Dagupan were not given a chance to deliver their customary valedictory addresses during their culminating session last June 24, as four of those who will no longer return to their posts opted not to show up.

Councilors Celia Lim, Marilou Fernandez, Irene Lim-Acosta and Redford Erfe-Mejia, all members of the majority seven who made the administration of Mayor Belen Fernandez live a miserable life for three years, were a no-show during the final session of the legislative body. 

Their three colleagues, Alfie Fernandez and Alvin Coquia, who also lost in the last election, were in the session hall, along with Librada Reyna, the only survivor in the last election among the erstwhile vaunted SP majority.

Reyna, council topnotcher in two past elections, managed to squeeze herself into the Magic 10 circle, but this time in the 10th and final berth. 

From the minority group, only Councilor Dennis Canto and Marcelino Fernandez showed up as Vice Mayor Bryan Kua, and Councilors Michael Fernandez and Jeslito Seen opted to extend their special privilege leave. 

Councilors Alfie Fernandez, Coquia and Canto, who have completed three terms as city legislators and who will be replaced by her daughter Danee as a city legislator starting July 1, may have been ready to deliver their respective valedictory addresses to thank their constituents and spell out what they had done in office in their reigns, but the Sanggunian was not able to muster a quorum again.

But who cares to deliver any address since no one had been watching the SP sessions anyway, since the majority 7  made it a forum for grandstanding. 

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As of this writing, the new set of Dagupan officials is getting ready to be sworn in during their inaugural on June 28 at the People’s Astrodome.

To be sworn in are Mayor Belen Fernandez and Vice Mayor Dean Bryan Kua who scored a lopsided victory against their respective opponents in their re-election bids, and Councilors-elect Michael Fernandez, Joey Tamayo, Tala Paras, Jeslito Seen, Danee Canto, Karlos  Reyna, Marvin Fabia, Luis Samson Jr., Jaja  Cayabyab and Librada Reyna.

Paras, Canto and Cayabyab are new faces in the city council and yet to learn the ropes in legislation, while the rest are veteran and tested councilors.

Asked how she feels about now having a huge majority in the Sanggunian to support all her programs and projects in contrast with the last three years, Mayor Fernandez said it is God’s blessing that she can now give the kind of services that Dagupan truly deserves.

She told department heads and employees to get ready because the new Sanggunian under incoming Majority  Floor Leader  Michael Fernandez will download project after project, never before seen in Dagupan.

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