By Leonardo Micua

 

AFTER accusing in public her own brother and his whole family of being into illegal drug use, which is a serious accusation not backed up by evidence, I presume Senator Imee Marcos just lost a family.

It is not in the Filipino culture to betray or rather stab in the back one’s sibling, especially if he is the president of the Republic of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Her uncalled-for rantings that violated all norms of decency must have earned the scorn of the Marcoses as she practically washed the ‘dirty’ linen in public on a matter that is supposed to be strictly private, if it really was true that members of the First Family are using illegal drugs.

And she did it in front of thousands of people who gathered at the Rizal Park for the second day of the Iglesia Ni Cristo rally for transparency, accountability and better democracy, fanning more the anger of these people towards her brother President.

Observers said she must have done this deliberately to stir people power and persuade the military to turn their back on PBBM, which could lead to his ouster and pave the way for Vice President Sara Duterte to take over.

Marcos loyalists suspect her of being part of the plot to unseat the President and to install Sara in his place. But what the destabilizers wanted to happen, did not happen as the military stood tall and remained loyal to the Constitution.

Many suspect Imee loves Sara, more than BBM, loves ICC-detained ex-President Digong Duterte, more than her own mother Imelda, and loves Polong, Baste and Kathy Duterte more than her unassuming and humble sister, Irene.

It is not a secret anymore that the Senator has long been suspected of ‘sleeping’ with the enemy, of consorting and perhaps cavorting with the plan to depose his own brother, Bongbong.

Some Marcos loyalists suggested to Imee to make Davao her home as she is not welcome anymore in her home province, Ilocos Norte.

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I was appalled by the magnitude of destruction in Pangasinan’s coastal areas wrought by storm surge triggered by the past Super Typhoon “Uwan”. 

CENRO, which is occupying part of the 72-hectare land proclaimed as park and playground by then President Diosdado Macapagal in 1963, now under the administration of the city of Dagupan, revealed that valued documents and computers were soaked when their area was inundated as a result of the storm surge.

The justice hall and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which are nearer the sea, must have suffered the same fate. And what about the Dagupan City jail,  which is just a stone’s throw from the Lingayen Gulf,  and other government offices situated in other parts of the coast?

The sea wall in Barangay Sabangan, Binmaley, according to my source, crumbled as it offered no resistance to the full force of nature.

By the way, Sabangan was believed to be the most devastated part of the Lingayen Baywalk after its shore was covered by a mountain of sand carried by the waves from the sea, which will take weeks to be cleared by bulldozers. 

Fishing boats lifted from the shore days before the super typhoon came in, to be placed on the left side of the baywalk and secure them from the howlers, were not spared and were nevertheless destroyed. 

Back in Dagupan, Councilor Tala Paras is appealing to all kind-hearted Dagupenos to help residents of Bangusville in Bonuan Gueset, who lost everything they had when their village, which is only a few meters from the sea, was swept by storm surge last week.

She told the Sangguniang Panlungsod session last November 17, that when the villagers evacuated, they took only a few pieces of their belongings with them to the evacuation centers.

And when they returned to their homes after the storm, they found their abodes buried in neck-deep sand and mud and had to dig to salvage their remaining belongings if they were still there. 

I still wonder why that village was built in a place that is only just few meters away from the water of the Lingayen Gulf. 

The same is true with the city jail, not far away from Bangusville. Why was it placed at its present location?

It’s time to relocate all these to a safer place in Dagupan City—but where?