The city refuses to grow up
By Rex Catubig
THE patriotic fervor was at its crest. The centuries of unrest and uprising against two imperial powers and the gruesome resistance against a third would-be colonizer, had finally paid off. In July 4,1946, the Filipinos proudly raised its flag up high as it gained its penultimate independence.
Presumably emboldened by this euphoric development, the leaders of the then municipality of Dagupan rallied for the transformation of the town into a full-fledged city. It was a well-grounded aspiration. With the opening of the Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan at the close of the century, the coastal town had become the hub of commerce and gateway to the north of the Manila capital.
So at the behest of the town leaders led by Señores Alipio Fernandez, Angel B Fernandez, et al, Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon Eugenio Perez, authored the bill that created the City Charter of Dagupan.
In June 20, 1947, Republic Act 170 was signed into law by Pres Manuel Roxas. Dagupan proudly affixed to its name the lofty appellation of City.
There was much promise in this evolution. And the city leaders endeavored to make the city worthy of its name.
But it could not shake off its poblacion-centered mindset. It remained a small town putting on big city shoes.
There is paranoia in expansion. In the 1960s during the term of Hon. Liberato Reyna, Sr., the Mayor planned the transfer of the City Hall to a wider area but farther location. But it drew much flak because the proposed location was deemed suspiciously close to the residence of the Mayor. And the plan was abandoned–with the vision of growth it fostered.
Years hence, the city struggles to fit its bursting girth into its old clothes–asphyxiating a chance for growth.
In the years prior to the pandemic, then Mayor Belen Fernandez, revived the vision for Dagupan’s expansion. A master plan was drawn that recreates and transforms the city scape. It is a grandiose plan befitting a proud city. Yet, rocks were thrown at it and became a political weapon that struck down the vision and cut short the political mandate of the forward looking city leader.
This year marks the 80th year of the City Charter. Eight decades is a long time, and the city could have grown by leaps and bounds.
Yet what can the city show as a mark of its progress? That the dream and vision of its pioneer leaders have not been in vain? That the diamond in the rough has evolved into a jewel?
It is bothersome that the city seems to be in the grip of Peter Pan. There is a widespread paranoia of the city growing and expanding outside of its old self.
If we listen and follow the sentiments of this sector, Dagupan must not extend beyond the length of the old Torres Bugallon Avenue. It must remain confined to the small and narrow patch of what is revered as downtown.
The present furor stems from the paranoid belief that the downtown area is being decimated in favor of the development along the booming de Venecia Highway to the benefit of the Mayor. The sinister scenario suspects a master plan designed to create the area into the Mayor’s commercial fiefdom.
But just years earlier, in the ‘80s and early 2000, bustling Dagupan saw the transformation of the Arellano-Dawel area as the center of nightlife in the city. Dance clubs, music bars, the Iconic Alimango complex, strip clubs, lined up the street leading up to the bridge going to Bonuan Catakdang. It was a vibrant scene worthy of a lively, thriving city (not a laid back town as erroneously labeled by some).
Yet, during the height of this phenomenon, no one howled foul. No one made a fuss. No one raised a cry of protest that the downtown is being forsaken.
I am at a loss at this schizoid perception. One time it’s ok. Next time it’s sedition.
What is really disturbing is when an allegation is rooted in a fallacious mindset that ascribes malice to an honest venture. When an expansion, a development, is linked to power tripping and induces one to hate and bash its happening.
How can the close-minded Dagupeno be disabused of toxic assumptions that retard the city’s growth? How can he be freed of his insular thinking?
Dagupan must shed his Peter Pan character and man up. And forever disengage his political straitjacket.
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