Blast fishing remains rampant in the Lingayen Gulf. We even heard that even within the Hundred Islands National Park, this illegal and destructive fishing method is taking place and that explosions could be heard by tourists visiting the islands.
As it is, the Lingayen Gulf is already an environmentally-critical area. It has been found to be heavily silted and over-fished and no less than former President Fidel Ramos declared it through an executive order. In fact, the Lingayen Gulf Coastal Area Management Commission, which was primarily tasked to protect the gulf, was even created. LGCAMC, of course, was abolished when ousted President Joseph Estrada assumed office.
We do not understand why dynamite fishing could still happen despite the presence of the Maritime Police, Coast Guard and the Navy along our provincial coastline. Volunteer groups, such as Bantay Dagat, have also been organized and mobilized to help stop blast fishing.
In the past, whenever these water-borne troops were asked why they have not caught any dynamite fisher, their excuse was that these illegal fishers were heavily armed at that they had more superior boats than what our troops used.
I do hope they do not use the same reasons now. If they do, then we cannot continue to hope that this blatant destruction of the sea will ever stop. We will just have to watch helplessly the death of the Lingayen Gulf sooner than expected.
But if we believe we can still do something about it, and I believe we can, then we should now start reassessing our anti-blast fishing campaign. Here, we should not forget to involve our people, especially in coastal communities, to give them a share of responsibility in protecting the sea.
The apprehension by the police in the past few days of “dynamited” fish in different checkpoints in the province would not do much to stop blast fishing if there is no similar effort by the authorities in the open seas.
We hope we start those concerned should start moving now, before it’s too late.
*****
Aside from the Kris-Joey separation, what caught the attention of coffee shop habitués in Dagupan City last week was the launching of the Freedom for Peace and Justice or FPJ in San Carlos City. From the initials alone, it is obvious that the group is the prime mover in launching the presidential bid of action star Fernando Poe Jr.
Among the prominent personalities in the movement were businessman Manny Roy, lawyer Pol Tulagan, former Bugallon Mayor Johnny Jose and other former municipal officials.
Last Sunday, leading newspapers reported that Da King himself is launching his presidential candidacy in the first week of October in San Carlos City, hometown of Da King. This, of course, remains to be seen.
From what we have gathered, people close to Da King, were saying the Da King does not know of the scheduled launching, nor he really intends to run.
Showbiz? Maybe. Or maybe there’s a new action movie that Da King will shoot in San Carlos and those who launched FPJ will be there as extra.
ENDNOTES: The Samahan ng mga Kawani ng Pamahalaang Lungsod ng Dagupan successfully held its induction ceremonies at the Pinkie’s Restaurant last Saturday. Congratulations to Engr. Ogie Ventenilla, president… Last Sunday was Family Day for city government employees. Everybody enjoyed that activity, which was attended by Mayor Benjie Lim and Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez.
QUOTE: “Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.” -- James Bryant Conant
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Friday, September 19, 2003
Mark and Tim
The reported teaming up of fifth district Rep. Mark Cojuangco and Tim Orbos in next year’s gubernatorial race seems to be gaining support from local political leaders in the province. From what we have gathered, a group of incumbent politicians are already pushing for the support of the tandem by beginning to organize in the grassroots to ensure their victory against Gov. Victor Agbayani and Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, who will also probably team up to defend their bid for their third and final term.
But even with this development, speculations that Mark will not run for governor still persist. Many, especially politicians, are of the opinion that Mark will not run for governor because Victor has already openly declared his support to the presidential bid of Mark’s father, business tycoon Danding Cojuangco. And so did all the mayors in the province.
But then again, this is politics, and as they say, in politics, there are “no permanent friends, only permanent interests.”
Objectively, I believe that Mark and Tim will make a good team because they come from the east and the west. They are also easy to sell to the people, considering that they are both from big political families, who have proven track record in public service. They are both young and self-driven and certainly, they can make things happen for a better Pangasinan.
I have been informed that the Urduja House is unfazed by this political development. An insider told me that Victor believes that he is invincible, that anybody who will dare face him will surely lose, like what happened to his opponents in his past gubernatorial fights. Besides, Victor is now reportedly more prepared to run in an election because he has apparently been able to put up an election arsenal, where he can easily muster “enough cash at any given time” for his last gubernatorial bid.
Then, of course, we were also informed that his PR office, the Provincial Information Office, has already prepared advertorials guaranteed to project Victor’s visions and actions in the last six years and we will be hearing and seeing all these in the next few days in local radio and television.
There is only one problem: news reports have mentioned Victor’s provincial information officer, Ruel Camba, as a “jueteng bagman” and that these jueteng money are regularly distributed to some members of the local media to buy their silence in the unabated proliferation of the illegal numbers game in the province and most likely, to shield the provincial government from negative publicity.
We can only wonder why Kuya Ruel has chosen to be silent about the issue until now.
*****
It is a sweet victory for Nestor Pulido, whose victory as board member in the province’s first district has been affirmed by the Commission on Elections en banc last September 11. He won by only 73 votes.
I am happy for Manong Nestor. Certainly, when he finally sits in the provincial board, he will make a big difference. Manong Nestor and I share many experiences and interests. He is a journalist, just like us and a street parliamentarian detained by Marcos when Martial Law was declared.
Congratulations, Manong.
ENDNOTES: In Windows last Sunday, I inadvertently missed the name of former Board Member Alfonso Bince as among the local prime movers in the presidential bid of former Sen. Raul Roco. I sincerely apologize for it. I hope this will disabuse the minds of those who may have perceived that I have “conveniently and intentionally” deleted his name from among the local political leaders supportive of Roco’s bid.
QUOTE: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” --Seneca
But even with this development, speculations that Mark will not run for governor still persist. Many, especially politicians, are of the opinion that Mark will not run for governor because Victor has already openly declared his support to the presidential bid of Mark’s father, business tycoon Danding Cojuangco. And so did all the mayors in the province.
But then again, this is politics, and as they say, in politics, there are “no permanent friends, only permanent interests.”
Objectively, I believe that Mark and Tim will make a good team because they come from the east and the west. They are also easy to sell to the people, considering that they are both from big political families, who have proven track record in public service. They are both young and self-driven and certainly, they can make things happen for a better Pangasinan.
I have been informed that the Urduja House is unfazed by this political development. An insider told me that Victor believes that he is invincible, that anybody who will dare face him will surely lose, like what happened to his opponents in his past gubernatorial fights. Besides, Victor is now reportedly more prepared to run in an election because he has apparently been able to put up an election arsenal, where he can easily muster “enough cash at any given time” for his last gubernatorial bid.
Then, of course, we were also informed that his PR office, the Provincial Information Office, has already prepared advertorials guaranteed to project Victor’s visions and actions in the last six years and we will be hearing and seeing all these in the next few days in local radio and television.
There is only one problem: news reports have mentioned Victor’s provincial information officer, Ruel Camba, as a “jueteng bagman” and that these jueteng money are regularly distributed to some members of the local media to buy their silence in the unabated proliferation of the illegal numbers game in the province and most likely, to shield the provincial government from negative publicity.
We can only wonder why Kuya Ruel has chosen to be silent about the issue until now.
*****
It is a sweet victory for Nestor Pulido, whose victory as board member in the province’s first district has been affirmed by the Commission on Elections en banc last September 11. He won by only 73 votes.
I am happy for Manong Nestor. Certainly, when he finally sits in the provincial board, he will make a big difference. Manong Nestor and I share many experiences and interests. He is a journalist, just like us and a street parliamentarian detained by Marcos when Martial Law was declared.
Congratulations, Manong.
ENDNOTES: In Windows last Sunday, I inadvertently missed the name of former Board Member Alfonso Bince as among the local prime movers in the presidential bid of former Sen. Raul Roco. I sincerely apologize for it. I hope this will disabuse the minds of those who may have perceived that I have “conveniently and intentionally” deleted his name from among the local political leaders supportive of Roco’s bid.
QUOTE: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” --Seneca
Friday, August 29, 2003
Dead phones
Last Tuesday morning, we woke up with a dead phone. Maybe, a passing cargo truck has pulled down our telephone cable again, I thought. This has happened to us many times in the past and I have always told Digitel to install their lines higher than the standard to avoid these accidents.
When I arrived home from the office that same day, I learned that even our neighbors had no dial tones. The next day, I called a friend at the Digitel and found that some 500 other subscribers in Calasiao had dead phones because a 10-meter cable crossing a bridge right at the town center was cut and stolen.
The thieves were daring, I would say. I remember that on that Monday night, floodwaters still submerged low-lying barangays of Calasiao and cars and other vehicles crowded both sides of the bridge. I even saw some people keeping watch over their possessions that night when I passed by. This is why I could not believe that a cable could have been stolen from that area.
I just hope that the incident was a learning experience not only for Digitel but for other utilities serving the province. In the past, transmission lines of the defunct National Power Corporation were pilfered in isolated areas in western Pangasinan, causing power outages in many areas for a while. I think this has remained unabated to date.
These utilities should start installing devices that would secure their lines. What we are trying to avoid here is a situation like what recently happened in New York and contiguous states when electric power went out.
Having a dead phone is bad enough. Learning that it was because of a stolen cable makes us wonder if in the next power failure, the whole of Luzon was plunged into darkness.
*****
I had a short chat with Rep. Gener Tulagan over the weekend. It was an accidental meeting and he was all smiles when he saw me because it has been quite a while that we did not see each other.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, I asked him how he felt about the forthcoming congressional race in his district next year. He just smiled and asked, “What do you think?”
I told him that honestly, he would run unopposed. And that if there are other contenders for the seat, these will just be token candidates, assuring him of a last his term in Congress. And who will dare fight him?
There were two names being floated in the past, maybe to test the waters. The first one was San Carlos City Mayor Julian Resuello, whose supporters were flaunting that he was sure winner. Of course, Mayor Resuello has already backtracked.
The other one was Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, who had said that he will “cross the bridge when he gets to it.” He was simply saying that his options were open. But from what we have gathered, he has already set his sights on his reelection bid for his last term. Who knows he might just be the next governor of Pangasinan after Gov. Victor Agbayani?
ENDNOTES: Traveling to Manila these days is very inconvenient. This is because the North Luzon Expressway is being widened and some portions of the road have been closed. There is even a very long stretch of two-way traffic on a double lane. What irked us, however, are the big potholes that slow down vehicles, making the trip to Manila an hour longer. Well, we just have to live with the inconvenience for a while.
QUOTE: “One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.” -- Dick Gregory
When I arrived home from the office that same day, I learned that even our neighbors had no dial tones. The next day, I called a friend at the Digitel and found that some 500 other subscribers in Calasiao had dead phones because a 10-meter cable crossing a bridge right at the town center was cut and stolen.
The thieves were daring, I would say. I remember that on that Monday night, floodwaters still submerged low-lying barangays of Calasiao and cars and other vehicles crowded both sides of the bridge. I even saw some people keeping watch over their possessions that night when I passed by. This is why I could not believe that a cable could have been stolen from that area.
I just hope that the incident was a learning experience not only for Digitel but for other utilities serving the province. In the past, transmission lines of the defunct National Power Corporation were pilfered in isolated areas in western Pangasinan, causing power outages in many areas for a while. I think this has remained unabated to date.
These utilities should start installing devices that would secure their lines. What we are trying to avoid here is a situation like what recently happened in New York and contiguous states when electric power went out.
Having a dead phone is bad enough. Learning that it was because of a stolen cable makes us wonder if in the next power failure, the whole of Luzon was plunged into darkness.
*****
I had a short chat with Rep. Gener Tulagan over the weekend. It was an accidental meeting and he was all smiles when he saw me because it has been quite a while that we did not see each other.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, I asked him how he felt about the forthcoming congressional race in his district next year. He just smiled and asked, “What do you think?”
I told him that honestly, he would run unopposed. And that if there are other contenders for the seat, these will just be token candidates, assuring him of a last his term in Congress. And who will dare fight him?
There were two names being floated in the past, maybe to test the waters. The first one was San Carlos City Mayor Julian Resuello, whose supporters were flaunting that he was sure winner. Of course, Mayor Resuello has already backtracked.
The other one was Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, who had said that he will “cross the bridge when he gets to it.” He was simply saying that his options were open. But from what we have gathered, he has already set his sights on his reelection bid for his last term. Who knows he might just be the next governor of Pangasinan after Gov. Victor Agbayani?
ENDNOTES: Traveling to Manila these days is very inconvenient. This is because the North Luzon Expressway is being widened and some portions of the road have been closed. There is even a very long stretch of two-way traffic on a double lane. What irked us, however, are the big potholes that slow down vehicles, making the trip to Manila an hour longer. Well, we just have to live with the inconvenience for a while.
QUOTE: “One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.” -- Dick Gregory
Friday, August 22, 2003
Ninoy
Twenty years ago yesterday, Ninoy Aquino was shot dead at the tarmac of what was known then as the Manila International Airport. His death, even before he could set foot in his own country, was what we least expected then to happen to him.
But it happened. And as we watched in shock the TV footages of a man in white being loaded into a van on the tarmac, we wondered silently if at all, his death would mean the start of a bloody civil war to oust then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Of course, the rest is history. There was no civil war, but instead, we had a bloodless People Power revolution that eventually forced Marcos to abandon Malacanang. Ninoy’s death has proved to be the single most important event that pushed the whole Filipino nation to rise and demand for political change.
As a student then, we remember that 1983 was the 11th year of Martial Law. (Marcos announced the “lifting” of Martial Law in 1981 but nobody believed him.) It was also the 2nd year of his “New Republic” which was as oppressive as ever. At that time, warrantless arrests were still being done on leaders of student, peasant, professional and labor groups and there were countless cases of so-called “involuntary disappearances” all over the country.
In Pangasinan then, the initial reaction on Ninoy’s death was silent grief. We thought this was but natural, considering that a good number of Marcos’ cabinet members and known loyal political leaders were from this province.
But in a matter of days, Pangasinenses, led by anti-Marcos activists and political figures organized and mobilized a mammoth protest march around the city. Students, professional, labor groups – everybody was there. There were yellow shirts and yellow ribbons and there were even floats depicting the martyrdom of Ninoy.
We all know, of course, that it still took three years after the death of Ninoy before Marcos was finally toppled. Between 1983 and 1986, many freedom loving Pangasinenses still lost their lives in the continuing struggle. Some were even arrested and jailed.
For instance, there was heavy militarization in western Pangasinan at that time. Many farmer leaders were killed in supposed encounters and were later tagged as members of the New People’s Army.
In Dagupan City, seven persons were arrested and after one week of disappearance, the government announced their capture and they were tagged as “high ranking” members of the Communist Party of the Philippines. They were eventually known then as Pangasinan 7.
The seven were my friends. In fact, I still see three of them today. Tia Adeling, who was 54 years old during her arrest, is now into a small sari-sari store business in Barangay Pugaro. She would come to my office every now and then. The other one is JV, who is now employed at the city hall. Then, of course, I still see Mike, who is into agricultural supply business and bonsai growing.
There were also two other friends who were “desaparecidos.” Vic Labasbas was picked up shortly after he emerged out of the Jade Theatre building along AB Fernandez Ave. one afternoon. It was in one room of that building then where the office of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan was located. There was Larry Ines, a student leader of the Luzon Colleges, who was arrested inside a Pantranco bus, while he was on his way home to Bayambang.
Nobody heard of the two since then. Their families did not even see their remains.
We remember these friends as we remember Ninoy because they, too, were part of the whole struggle for freedom. Like Ninoy, they, too, gave their lives. And there are many more nameless and faceless individuals all over the country who fought fiercely against the enemies of freedom.
*****
As we write, we are hearing over the radio that four police chiefs have been relieved by Supt. Mario San Diego for their zero accomplishment in the campaign against illegal drugs. We are also hearing Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino heaping praises on San Diego’s move.
We are apprehensive about this development, especially if San Diego is adopting this as a policy. We agree that kicking the butts of the police to run after drug pushers and users would significantly deny big time drug traffickers of their market and thus, minimize, if not completely eliminate drug abuse in the province.
But what we are worried about is when the police will just collar anybody on the street and “plant” illegal drugs on the poor guy, just for them to have an accomplishment. This policy may also be used by policemen against their personal enemies or the political enemies of their political lords.
While we do not totally disagree to San Diego’s strategy, we suggest that safety valves should be put in place to protect the innocent and punish the real culprits. The strategy should be made to work effectively but not at the expense of innocent people.
There should be harsh punishment against those who will fabricate their accomplishments and those who victimized innocent people.
ENDNOTES: For the past week, Windows temporarily closed because of some pressing commitments. I would like to sincerely thank all those who called me to express their concern. There were simply circumstances beyond my control during the past few days that did not give me the luxury of time to write. Anyway, in the future, I would already know what to do, so that this column will always be here and will not leave our dear readers wondering what happened to us.
QUOTE: Becoming a star may not be in your destiny, but being the best that you can be is a goal you can set for yourselves. -- Bryan Lindsay
But it happened. And as we watched in shock the TV footages of a man in white being loaded into a van on the tarmac, we wondered silently if at all, his death would mean the start of a bloody civil war to oust then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Of course, the rest is history. There was no civil war, but instead, we had a bloodless People Power revolution that eventually forced Marcos to abandon Malacanang. Ninoy’s death has proved to be the single most important event that pushed the whole Filipino nation to rise and demand for political change.
As a student then, we remember that 1983 was the 11th year of Martial Law. (Marcos announced the “lifting” of Martial Law in 1981 but nobody believed him.) It was also the 2nd year of his “New Republic” which was as oppressive as ever. At that time, warrantless arrests were still being done on leaders of student, peasant, professional and labor groups and there were countless cases of so-called “involuntary disappearances” all over the country.
In Pangasinan then, the initial reaction on Ninoy’s death was silent grief. We thought this was but natural, considering that a good number of Marcos’ cabinet members and known loyal political leaders were from this province.
But in a matter of days, Pangasinenses, led by anti-Marcos activists and political figures organized and mobilized a mammoth protest march around the city. Students, professional, labor groups – everybody was there. There were yellow shirts and yellow ribbons and there were even floats depicting the martyrdom of Ninoy.
We all know, of course, that it still took three years after the death of Ninoy before Marcos was finally toppled. Between 1983 and 1986, many freedom loving Pangasinenses still lost their lives in the continuing struggle. Some were even arrested and jailed.
For instance, there was heavy militarization in western Pangasinan at that time. Many farmer leaders were killed in supposed encounters and were later tagged as members of the New People’s Army.
In Dagupan City, seven persons were arrested and after one week of disappearance, the government announced their capture and they were tagged as “high ranking” members of the Communist Party of the Philippines. They were eventually known then as Pangasinan 7.
The seven were my friends. In fact, I still see three of them today. Tia Adeling, who was 54 years old during her arrest, is now into a small sari-sari store business in Barangay Pugaro. She would come to my office every now and then. The other one is JV, who is now employed at the city hall. Then, of course, I still see Mike, who is into agricultural supply business and bonsai growing.
There were also two other friends who were “desaparecidos.” Vic Labasbas was picked up shortly after he emerged out of the Jade Theatre building along AB Fernandez Ave. one afternoon. It was in one room of that building then where the office of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan was located. There was Larry Ines, a student leader of the Luzon Colleges, who was arrested inside a Pantranco bus, while he was on his way home to Bayambang.
Nobody heard of the two since then. Their families did not even see their remains.
We remember these friends as we remember Ninoy because they, too, were part of the whole struggle for freedom. Like Ninoy, they, too, gave their lives. And there are many more nameless and faceless individuals all over the country who fought fiercely against the enemies of freedom.
*****
As we write, we are hearing over the radio that four police chiefs have been relieved by Supt. Mario San Diego for their zero accomplishment in the campaign against illegal drugs. We are also hearing Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino heaping praises on San Diego’s move.
We are apprehensive about this development, especially if San Diego is adopting this as a policy. We agree that kicking the butts of the police to run after drug pushers and users would significantly deny big time drug traffickers of their market and thus, minimize, if not completely eliminate drug abuse in the province.
But what we are worried about is when the police will just collar anybody on the street and “plant” illegal drugs on the poor guy, just for them to have an accomplishment. This policy may also be used by policemen against their personal enemies or the political enemies of their political lords.
While we do not totally disagree to San Diego’s strategy, we suggest that safety valves should be put in place to protect the innocent and punish the real culprits. The strategy should be made to work effectively but not at the expense of innocent people.
There should be harsh punishment against those who will fabricate their accomplishments and those who victimized innocent people.
ENDNOTES: For the past week, Windows temporarily closed because of some pressing commitments. I would like to sincerely thank all those who called me to express their concern. There were simply circumstances beyond my control during the past few days that did not give me the luxury of time to write. Anyway, in the future, I would already know what to do, so that this column will always be here and will not leave our dear readers wondering what happened to us.
QUOTE: Becoming a star may not be in your destiny, but being the best that you can be is a goal you can set for yourselves. -- Bryan Lindsay
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
The night I almost died
Last Saturday night, I had the scare of my life. While driving from Manila on the stretch of the national highway in Barangay Bacag in Villasis town, the owner-type jeep I was following sideswiped a tricycle on the left side of the road after the tricycle attempted to overtake a vehicle in front of it.
On impact, the tricycle tumbled and rolled. Seeing the collision and hearing the crashing sound of steel, I instinctively swerved to the road shoulder and reduced my speed. But in the process, the tumbling tricycle still hit my van, just behind the driver’s seat and crushed its sliding glass windows.
I was shaking when I realized we were hit and I could only think of my two boys, who had hitchhiked for a sight-seeing trip to Manila. But as it turned out, both of them were alright.
I thought I was even seeing things as I tried to evade the collision. What appeared in front of me was a flying tire, probably the spare tire of the owner-type jeep, and I had braced myself for its impact on the van’s windshield. Fortunately, it hit the ground quickly, just a few inches away from us.
At the Villasis Police Station later that night, I learned that the owner-type jeep I was following lost control on impact and crashed into a bus following the tricycle. The jeep driver and his baby son, died. The tricycle driver died, too.
I have not actually recovered yet from that frightening experience. Everytime it comes to mind, I shudder. And I can only thank God that we were spared.
*****
On our way home from the grocery store one weekend, I was surprised to hear my three-year-old daughter singing what sounded like a Chinese song.
I knew she understood not even one word of what she was singing but she was enjoying it anyway and she was singing it with feeling.
It was then that I learned that she has been watching a Taiwanese soap opera, which to my surprise, has been aired on television for many months now. I also found out that even her older siblings have been “addicted” to that show that they have never missed a single episode of it.
As a child, I watched cartoons and Batibot, an educational TV show that eventually stopped airing for lack of funding. There was also Sesame Street, but the Tagalog-speaking puppets appealed to me more than Big Bird and Ernie.
For a while, I thought my younger children were hooked on Barney and my teenagers, on MTV. Now, they have all seemed to have “graduated” from these shows and prefer instead to watch these Taiwanese soap operas, just like everybody else in the whole country.
Maybe, it is the soundtrack of these shows. Or maybe, the story. I remember that in the mid-1970’s, a Japanese cartoon, Voltes V, was a big hit that then President Marcos had to prohibit its airing apparently because the show had adverse influence on children.
The cartoon’s Japanese soundtrack, however, eventually became a big hit, making it as No. 1 song for many weeks in the American Top 40 charts at that time.
Perhaps, there is really something in us Filipinos that easily makes us attracted to foreign soap operas, cartoons and movies. (Remember Marimar? It was a Mexican tele-novela that everyone loved to watch.)
But whatever this something is, I do not know. Maybe, it is an effect of our 300 years of Spanish domination. Or a product of American influence on our country.
Honestly, I really do not know.
ENDNOTES:
QUOTE: "If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."-- Vincent Van Gogh
On impact, the tricycle tumbled and rolled. Seeing the collision and hearing the crashing sound of steel, I instinctively swerved to the road shoulder and reduced my speed. But in the process, the tumbling tricycle still hit my van, just behind the driver’s seat and crushed its sliding glass windows.
I was shaking when I realized we were hit and I could only think of my two boys, who had hitchhiked for a sight-seeing trip to Manila. But as it turned out, both of them were alright.
I thought I was even seeing things as I tried to evade the collision. What appeared in front of me was a flying tire, probably the spare tire of the owner-type jeep, and I had braced myself for its impact on the van’s windshield. Fortunately, it hit the ground quickly, just a few inches away from us.
At the Villasis Police Station later that night, I learned that the owner-type jeep I was following lost control on impact and crashed into a bus following the tricycle. The jeep driver and his baby son, died. The tricycle driver died, too.
I have not actually recovered yet from that frightening experience. Everytime it comes to mind, I shudder. And I can only thank God that we were spared.
*****
On our way home from the grocery store one weekend, I was surprised to hear my three-year-old daughter singing what sounded like a Chinese song.
I knew she understood not even one word of what she was singing but she was enjoying it anyway and she was singing it with feeling.
It was then that I learned that she has been watching a Taiwanese soap opera, which to my surprise, has been aired on television for many months now. I also found out that even her older siblings have been “addicted” to that show that they have never missed a single episode of it.
As a child, I watched cartoons and Batibot, an educational TV show that eventually stopped airing for lack of funding. There was also Sesame Street, but the Tagalog-speaking puppets appealed to me more than Big Bird and Ernie.
For a while, I thought my younger children were hooked on Barney and my teenagers, on MTV. Now, they have all seemed to have “graduated” from these shows and prefer instead to watch these Taiwanese soap operas, just like everybody else in the whole country.
Maybe, it is the soundtrack of these shows. Or maybe, the story. I remember that in the mid-1970’s, a Japanese cartoon, Voltes V, was a big hit that then President Marcos had to prohibit its airing apparently because the show had adverse influence on children.
The cartoon’s Japanese soundtrack, however, eventually became a big hit, making it as No. 1 song for many weeks in the American Top 40 charts at that time.
Perhaps, there is really something in us Filipinos that easily makes us attracted to foreign soap operas, cartoons and movies. (Remember Marimar? It was a Mexican tele-novela that everyone loved to watch.)
But whatever this something is, I do not know. Maybe, it is an effect of our 300 years of Spanish domination. Or a product of American influence on our country.
Honestly, I really do not know.
ENDNOTES:
QUOTE: "If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."-- Vincent Van Gogh
Friday, August 08, 2003
Nature’s wrath
As we write this column, it has been raining for three straight days in Pangasinan and several residents from low-lying areas in the province have already complained of flash floods.
In nearby Calasiao town, for instance, a river has already overflowed and submerged parts of barangays Lasip and Talibaew.
Frankly, we are no longer surprised by these reports and we should not blame nature for unleashing its wrath on us. We only have ourselves to blame.
Consider this: There is not much left of our forest covers, especially on the mountain ranges surrounding Pangasinan, and illegal and legal logging operations continue to denude our remaining forests. As a result, our river systems, our first line of defense from floods, are now heavily silted because of soil erosion. Add to this the tailings from the open pit mines in the Cordilleras.
In town and urban centers, the natural channels of floodwaters have been closed or blocked, intentionally or unintentionally, as commercial buildings and subdivisions are built. And as more houses rise in a locality due to increasing population, the water outlets vanish.
Our best example here would be Urdaneta City. This year, it experienced the worst flood ever. Everybody was surprised that the floodwaters rose rapidly, not giving enough time to many residents to leave their homes and evacuate. Is this the price of development?
What scares us is that the national government is very much aware of this problem. Yet, it does little or nothing at all to solve this. Or has the problem come to a point where it is already irreversible? In Metro Manila, for instance, no matter how the authorities have cleared the esteros and waterways of garbage and squatters, the flooding problem is still the same.
The effort to prevent the flooding in Pangasinan from getting worse is a serious problem that needs a more intensive planning. It is not just tree planting now. Or dredging. Or building of more dikes.
It should be a community working closely together, fully aware that it has to fight for its survival.
*****
The swift and decisive action of Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay to close down all eateries fronting the Calasiao Comprehensive National High School saved thousands of students from the dreaded typhoid fever. He has proved to be a good crisis manager.
There are now more than 40 students downed by the disease, which was initially thought of to be dengue fever, when it first manifested last week. This was the reason CCNHS principal Lourdes Servito immediately ordered all students to wear long pants to avoid being bitten by dengue mosquitoes.
But after the school premises were fumigated, it was found that an eatery outside the school has been serving contaminated drinking water.
I am sure that this incident has become a valuable learning experience for the municipal government of Calasiao, especially in liberally allowing food vendors to sell their products without the necessary clearance from the Bureau of Food and Drugs or from the local Municipal Health Office.
Knowing Mayor Roy, I am sure that he has tasked the MHO to draw up guidelines that would govern small kakanin and palamig vendors in selling their products to ensure the safety of consumers, especially students.
Mayor Roy should also include an accreditation process for all vendors and a regular seminar on food handling. It is very important for the municipal government to know who are selling just as it is important for these vendors to be educated on food handling.
ENDNOTES: Urdaneta City, under the leadership of Mayor Amadito Perez, recently placed 2nd in the League of Cities of the Philippines’ 2nd Best Practices Award for its “Tulungan sa Purok” Program, a pro-poor project of the city government. Dagupan City was 7th in the same competition for its “Bangus Festival”…
QUOTE: My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. -- Maya Angelou
In nearby Calasiao town, for instance, a river has already overflowed and submerged parts of barangays Lasip and Talibaew.
Frankly, we are no longer surprised by these reports and we should not blame nature for unleashing its wrath on us. We only have ourselves to blame.
Consider this: There is not much left of our forest covers, especially on the mountain ranges surrounding Pangasinan, and illegal and legal logging operations continue to denude our remaining forests. As a result, our river systems, our first line of defense from floods, are now heavily silted because of soil erosion. Add to this the tailings from the open pit mines in the Cordilleras.
In town and urban centers, the natural channels of floodwaters have been closed or blocked, intentionally or unintentionally, as commercial buildings and subdivisions are built. And as more houses rise in a locality due to increasing population, the water outlets vanish.
Our best example here would be Urdaneta City. This year, it experienced the worst flood ever. Everybody was surprised that the floodwaters rose rapidly, not giving enough time to many residents to leave their homes and evacuate. Is this the price of development?
What scares us is that the national government is very much aware of this problem. Yet, it does little or nothing at all to solve this. Or has the problem come to a point where it is already irreversible? In Metro Manila, for instance, no matter how the authorities have cleared the esteros and waterways of garbage and squatters, the flooding problem is still the same.
The effort to prevent the flooding in Pangasinan from getting worse is a serious problem that needs a more intensive planning. It is not just tree planting now. Or dredging. Or building of more dikes.
It should be a community working closely together, fully aware that it has to fight for its survival.
*****
The swift and decisive action of Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay to close down all eateries fronting the Calasiao Comprehensive National High School saved thousands of students from the dreaded typhoid fever. He has proved to be a good crisis manager.
There are now more than 40 students downed by the disease, which was initially thought of to be dengue fever, when it first manifested last week. This was the reason CCNHS principal Lourdes Servito immediately ordered all students to wear long pants to avoid being bitten by dengue mosquitoes.
But after the school premises were fumigated, it was found that an eatery outside the school has been serving contaminated drinking water.
I am sure that this incident has become a valuable learning experience for the municipal government of Calasiao, especially in liberally allowing food vendors to sell their products without the necessary clearance from the Bureau of Food and Drugs or from the local Municipal Health Office.
Knowing Mayor Roy, I am sure that he has tasked the MHO to draw up guidelines that would govern small kakanin and palamig vendors in selling their products to ensure the safety of consumers, especially students.
Mayor Roy should also include an accreditation process for all vendors and a regular seminar on food handling. It is very important for the municipal government to know who are selling just as it is important for these vendors to be educated on food handling.
ENDNOTES: Urdaneta City, under the leadership of Mayor Amadito Perez, recently placed 2nd in the League of Cities of the Philippines’ 2nd Best Practices Award for its “Tulungan sa Purok” Program, a pro-poor project of the city government. Dagupan City was 7th in the same competition for its “Bangus Festival”…
QUOTE: My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. -- Maya Angelou
Sunday, August 03, 2003
Earning a degree without really finishing college
Barely three and a half months as director of the Region 1 Medical Center, Dr. Jess Canto has already done so much to improve the services of that government hospital.
True to what he had been all along telling us before his assumption, Dr. Canto transformed the R1MC into a people-friendly hospital, in glaring contrast to what it was before, when hospital personnel did not seem to have any sense of urgency and concern to sick people being brought there for treatment.
To describe the hospital’s patients then, our favorite line came from the song Mona Lisa: “they just lie there, and they die there.”
Yesterday, when we went to the hospital to see a friend, I was surprised to see a medical complex that now exudes a different aura. Every medical worker seemed to be on the move and you can feel a friendlier atmosphere than it was last year.
What surprised me more was when I saw Dr. Canto himself posing as a patient in that early morning, for him to personally see if his personnel were polite in receiving patients. (It must have been only about 7 a.m.) He was also there to find out if the “fast lane” he has established for senior citizens is serving its purpose.
My friend told me that Dr. Canto actually makes his presence very much felt in the hospital, making everyone up and about. And for having restored the hazard pay for all hospital workers, he continues to inspire everyone.
I remember him telling me during one of the early morning talks we had at Dagupeña that given the chance to head the R1MC, he will give himself totally to it, just to give the people the best medical service that they deserve.
“You know, with all the blessings that God has given me, it’s now time for me to pay Him back by unselfishly helping the less fortunate among our people,” Dr. Canto said.
*****
I have been privileged to be part of what looked liked a press conference to announce that the University of Pangasinan is conferring a Mass Communication degree to Danny Maramba, without really finishing college, but on the basis of his experience as media practitioner.
We were there – veteran journalists Jun Velasco and Ding Micua -- as assessors and members of the panel of the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (Eteeap), an educational assessment scheme embodied in Executive Order No. 330 of then President Fidel Ramos on May 13, 1996.
Honestly, I have not heard of that program until I was invited last year to sit as a “faculty expert” in the panel at UPang, which is among the higher education institutions in the country deputized by the Commission on Higher Education as Center of Excellence and is, therefore, authorized to implement the Eteeap.
On that appointed day, the three of us, along with Mass Comm faculty member Anabelle Sim and UPang Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ofelia Rayos, convened at the Graduate School conference room to be face-to-face with Danny. We would learn later that it was the first time that a media practitioner was being assessed under the Eteeap, although Dr. Rayos said that the program has produced several nurses and other professionals in other fields.
It was the first time I met Danny. Manong Ding, however, seemed to know him very well and was very familiar with Danny’s work, as both of them were under the defunct Department of Public Information, although they did not really work together under one office. Manong Jun, who came in later with Sunday Punch editor Gerry Garcia in tow, had nothing but praises for Danny, who was his buddy when they were both young reporters.
Danny, of course, is a full-blooded Dagupeño.
With Danny’s vast and rich experience in media and public relations work, I could not agree less with the others in the panel that he should be conferred the degree, without any other additional academic requirements, such as taking up additional subjects or doing a paper. To me, Danny’s achievements are exceptional that not even a Ph.D. graduate in his field could have equaled his feat.
Congratulations, Danny.
ENDNOTES: On Tuesday, Sophos, the largest computer anti-virus vendor in Europe, will announce the appointment of Bitstop Computers as its partner in Northern Luzon during a press conference at Baguio Country Club in Baguio City. Bitstop president Wilson Chua, Pangasinan’s pioneer in computer technology, proudly shared to us this development.
QUOTE: Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
True to what he had been all along telling us before his assumption, Dr. Canto transformed the R1MC into a people-friendly hospital, in glaring contrast to what it was before, when hospital personnel did not seem to have any sense of urgency and concern to sick people being brought there for treatment.
To describe the hospital’s patients then, our favorite line came from the song Mona Lisa: “they just lie there, and they die there.”
Yesterday, when we went to the hospital to see a friend, I was surprised to see a medical complex that now exudes a different aura. Every medical worker seemed to be on the move and you can feel a friendlier atmosphere than it was last year.
What surprised me more was when I saw Dr. Canto himself posing as a patient in that early morning, for him to personally see if his personnel were polite in receiving patients. (It must have been only about 7 a.m.) He was also there to find out if the “fast lane” he has established for senior citizens is serving its purpose.
My friend told me that Dr. Canto actually makes his presence very much felt in the hospital, making everyone up and about. And for having restored the hazard pay for all hospital workers, he continues to inspire everyone.
I remember him telling me during one of the early morning talks we had at Dagupeña that given the chance to head the R1MC, he will give himself totally to it, just to give the people the best medical service that they deserve.
“You know, with all the blessings that God has given me, it’s now time for me to pay Him back by unselfishly helping the less fortunate among our people,” Dr. Canto said.
*****
I have been privileged to be part of what looked liked a press conference to announce that the University of Pangasinan is conferring a Mass Communication degree to Danny Maramba, without really finishing college, but on the basis of his experience as media practitioner.
We were there – veteran journalists Jun Velasco and Ding Micua -- as assessors and members of the panel of the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (Eteeap), an educational assessment scheme embodied in Executive Order No. 330 of then President Fidel Ramos on May 13, 1996.
Honestly, I have not heard of that program until I was invited last year to sit as a “faculty expert” in the panel at UPang, which is among the higher education institutions in the country deputized by the Commission on Higher Education as Center of Excellence and is, therefore, authorized to implement the Eteeap.
On that appointed day, the three of us, along with Mass Comm faculty member Anabelle Sim and UPang Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ofelia Rayos, convened at the Graduate School conference room to be face-to-face with Danny. We would learn later that it was the first time that a media practitioner was being assessed under the Eteeap, although Dr. Rayos said that the program has produced several nurses and other professionals in other fields.
It was the first time I met Danny. Manong Ding, however, seemed to know him very well and was very familiar with Danny’s work, as both of them were under the defunct Department of Public Information, although they did not really work together under one office. Manong Jun, who came in later with Sunday Punch editor Gerry Garcia in tow, had nothing but praises for Danny, who was his buddy when they were both young reporters.
Danny, of course, is a full-blooded Dagupeño.
With Danny’s vast and rich experience in media and public relations work, I could not agree less with the others in the panel that he should be conferred the degree, without any other additional academic requirements, such as taking up additional subjects or doing a paper. To me, Danny’s achievements are exceptional that not even a Ph.D. graduate in his field could have equaled his feat.
Congratulations, Danny.
ENDNOTES: On Tuesday, Sophos, the largest computer anti-virus vendor in Europe, will announce the appointment of Bitstop Computers as its partner in Northern Luzon during a press conference at Baguio Country Club in Baguio City. Bitstop president Wilson Chua, Pangasinan’s pioneer in computer technology, proudly shared to us this development.
QUOTE: Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Friday, August 01, 2003
Swift justice
Last Tuesday morning, I received an e-mail from a friend entitled, “Liham kay Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV.” Trillanes, as you all know, was one of the leaders of the failed military rebellion in Makati last Sunday.
The letter, written in Filipino and circulated in the e-mail a day after the failed coup, used a language of a colegiala. But on the whole, it was an expression of disgust on the futility of introducing meaningful reforms in the government.
Here is an excerpt from the letter:
”Mahal kong Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV,
“Magandang umaga. Nawa'y maigi ang iyong kalagayan d'yan sa stockade. Magpahinga ka muna bago ka humarap sa court martial. Hindi bale nang litisin ka, nakapag-stay sa naman sa Oakwood, samantalang kami, pinaasa mong walang pasok ngayon. KJ ka talaga.”Sinulat ko ang liham na ito para puriin ka sa iyong kagitingan na ipaalam sa buong sambayanang Pilipino ang kabulukang nangyayari sa ating gobyerno. Mabuhay ka.”Ang problema nga lang, alam na namin lahat iyon, Kapitan Trillanes.”Hindi na ninyo kailangan pang magtanim ng bomba at magpapogi sa inyong mga fatigues para lang ipaalam sa buong madla na may mga katiwalian sa gobyerno.”Hindi tuloy ako nakapanood ng Terminator 3, eh, malapit nang mawala sa sine 'yon. Okay sana kung nagbakbakan kayo ng mga sundalo ng gobyerno. Mala-The Rock saka Die Hard sana ang nangyari. Kaso, nagsisisigaw lamang kayo sa lobby ng Oakwood. Para ano pa ang inyong mga armband?”Sabagay pwede na kayong magtayo ng boutique na ang brand name ay Magdalo. Pwede kayong magtinda ng mga armbands, fatigue-inspired pants, caps at shades. Ipwesto nyo dyan sa Oakwood para strategic ang location at may sentimental value pa. Bebenta kayo, promise.”Sa launch ng inyong boutique, pwede kayong maglagay ng mga bomba sa parking lot tapos magpaparty kayo doon. Masaya di ba?”
*****
To date, five persons have been found to be victims of “salvaging” or summary execution in the city. Based on police files, these persons are supposed to be drug pushers, thieves, snatchers and “perpetrators of other crimes.”
Who could have done these killings? Is there a vigilante group in Dagupan City? These are the questions that everybody, including the police, wants to be answered.
Nobody has so far owned the killings. From what we have seen in the past, if a vigilante group did it, they would immediately issue a press statement or they will leave a “signature” on their victims. The same is true with the New People’s Army.
I just hope that this situation does not go out of hand. Supt. Noli Talino should get to the bottom of this to stop these killings. We should not condone people who are putting the law in their hands. Even is the victims are criminals and we want swift justice, killing them does not justify it.
What we are afraid of, really, is when this unknown liquidation squad grows into a monster and begins executing even innocent people.
ENDNOTES: Two weeks after typhoon Harurot dumped heavy rains in Dagupan City and flooded its low-lying areas, floodwaters have not left a stretch of the road in Barangay Tapuac, to the inconvenience of students, employees and everyday commuters. What’s wrong here? … Local Government Secretary Joey Lina was in Lingayen last Wednesday to induct into office barangays tanods from all over the province. Let’s see how he can convert it into votes when he runs for senator next year.
QUOTE: To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
The letter, written in Filipino and circulated in the e-mail a day after the failed coup, used a language of a colegiala. But on the whole, it was an expression of disgust on the futility of introducing meaningful reforms in the government.
Here is an excerpt from the letter:
”Mahal kong Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV,
“Magandang umaga. Nawa'y maigi ang iyong kalagayan d'yan sa stockade. Magpahinga ka muna bago ka humarap sa court martial. Hindi bale nang litisin ka, nakapag-stay sa naman sa Oakwood, samantalang kami, pinaasa mong walang pasok ngayon. KJ ka talaga.”Sinulat ko ang liham na ito para puriin ka sa iyong kagitingan na ipaalam sa buong sambayanang Pilipino ang kabulukang nangyayari sa ating gobyerno. Mabuhay ka.”Ang problema nga lang, alam na namin lahat iyon, Kapitan Trillanes.”Hindi na ninyo kailangan pang magtanim ng bomba at magpapogi sa inyong mga fatigues para lang ipaalam sa buong madla na may mga katiwalian sa gobyerno.”Hindi tuloy ako nakapanood ng Terminator 3, eh, malapit nang mawala sa sine 'yon. Okay sana kung nagbakbakan kayo ng mga sundalo ng gobyerno. Mala-The Rock saka Die Hard sana ang nangyari. Kaso, nagsisisigaw lamang kayo sa lobby ng Oakwood. Para ano pa ang inyong mga armband?”Sabagay pwede na kayong magtayo ng boutique na ang brand name ay Magdalo. Pwede kayong magtinda ng mga armbands, fatigue-inspired pants, caps at shades. Ipwesto nyo dyan sa Oakwood para strategic ang location at may sentimental value pa. Bebenta kayo, promise.”Sa launch ng inyong boutique, pwede kayong maglagay ng mga bomba sa parking lot tapos magpaparty kayo doon. Masaya di ba?”
*****
To date, five persons have been found to be victims of “salvaging” or summary execution in the city. Based on police files, these persons are supposed to be drug pushers, thieves, snatchers and “perpetrators of other crimes.”
Who could have done these killings? Is there a vigilante group in Dagupan City? These are the questions that everybody, including the police, wants to be answered.
Nobody has so far owned the killings. From what we have seen in the past, if a vigilante group did it, they would immediately issue a press statement or they will leave a “signature” on their victims. The same is true with the New People’s Army.
I just hope that this situation does not go out of hand. Supt. Noli Talino should get to the bottom of this to stop these killings. We should not condone people who are putting the law in their hands. Even is the victims are criminals and we want swift justice, killing them does not justify it.
What we are afraid of, really, is when this unknown liquidation squad grows into a monster and begins executing even innocent people.
ENDNOTES: Two weeks after typhoon Harurot dumped heavy rains in Dagupan City and flooded its low-lying areas, floodwaters have not left a stretch of the road in Barangay Tapuac, to the inconvenience of students, employees and everyday commuters. What’s wrong here? … Local Government Secretary Joey Lina was in Lingayen last Wednesday to induct into office barangays tanods from all over the province. Let’s see how he can convert it into votes when he runs for senator next year.
QUOTE: To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
The failed putsch
the failed military rebellion in Makati last Sunday was an event waiting to happen. Corruption in the military (and even in the police) organization is public knowledge and the demoralization of young officers and enlisted personnel in these organizations is also widely felt. That these wrong doing had to be confirmed by the young and idealistic military officers by staging a rebellion is very unfortunate.
The organizers of the failed putsch knew all along that what they did was bound to fail. Perhaps, they did not really aim to topple the present administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. What they really wanted to do was simply to shout to the whole world that there was something very wrong in the military organization where they all belong. And they did. Successfully.
Why they aired their grievances that way is a question only they can answer. As somebody had suggested during the standoff, these young military officers could have just gone to the media or to their immediate superiors to air their grievances.
But maybe these young officers also knew that if they complain the conventional way their grievances will just fall on deaf ears and will simply be dismissed as fabricated charges. Worse, they could even be charged of politicking.
By staging the rebellion, everybody was all ears to everything they had to say. At the end of the crisis Sunday night, the government had committed to look into all the issues the young officers had raised.
Let us hope that the government will honor its commitment to these young military officers and not just belittle what they have aired. There has to be results and reforms. And fast. The people can no longer be left waiting in the cold until another rebellion will take place in the near future with the same issues.
*****
While waiting for my wife and the kids at the atrium of CSI The City Mall last Sunday afternoon, I chanced upon former Binmaley Mayor Joe Fabia, who was also president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation after his brief mayoralty stint.
Over a cup of brewed coffee, I learned that he now heads a consultancy firm doing studies and strategic plans for various government, non-government and private organizations and agencies in the country.
I do not really know Mayor Fabia that much. I first met him when I was a correspondent of a national daily and I remember that one running story I wrote was his denunciation of a treasure-hunting in his town being done by police officers. I was castigated in a press conference by the provincial police director at that time for my stories.
Anyway, my impression about Mayor Fabia has not changed a bit. I still see him as a straight and righteous man, who will have no qualms about giving his all, just to be able to serve the people. This is the reason why he is well-loved in his hometown and people would always look back to his administration, as the best so far.
He was candid enough in telling me that he has no plans to join Binmaley politics next year. Mayor Lan Domalanta is now in his last term and the emerging mayoralty contenders are incumbent Vice Mayor Jose Carrera Jr. and my friend, Sammy Rosario. I can almost see an exciting electoral fight if Mayor Fabia joins the fray.
And if he becomes mayor again, I can almost see Binmaley as the fastest growing town in the province.
ENDNOTES: Last Sunday, DZRH-Dagupan finally moved to its new studio in Galvan St. as scheduled. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who was supposed to be the guest, understandably did not make it to the planned celebration, which was cancelled last-minute by DZRH-Dagupan manager Nolan Sison due to the crisis at the Ayala Center in Makati. With its new location, DZRH-Dagupan is now more accessible to the public than where it was in the past 12 months.
QUOTE: When one door closes, another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which have opened for us. – Alexander Graham Bell
The organizers of the failed putsch knew all along that what they did was bound to fail. Perhaps, they did not really aim to topple the present administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. What they really wanted to do was simply to shout to the whole world that there was something very wrong in the military organization where they all belong. And they did. Successfully.
Why they aired their grievances that way is a question only they can answer. As somebody had suggested during the standoff, these young military officers could have just gone to the media or to their immediate superiors to air their grievances.
But maybe these young officers also knew that if they complain the conventional way their grievances will just fall on deaf ears and will simply be dismissed as fabricated charges. Worse, they could even be charged of politicking.
By staging the rebellion, everybody was all ears to everything they had to say. At the end of the crisis Sunday night, the government had committed to look into all the issues the young officers had raised.
Let us hope that the government will honor its commitment to these young military officers and not just belittle what they have aired. There has to be results and reforms. And fast. The people can no longer be left waiting in the cold until another rebellion will take place in the near future with the same issues.
*****
While waiting for my wife and the kids at the atrium of CSI The City Mall last Sunday afternoon, I chanced upon former Binmaley Mayor Joe Fabia, who was also president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation after his brief mayoralty stint.
Over a cup of brewed coffee, I learned that he now heads a consultancy firm doing studies and strategic plans for various government, non-government and private organizations and agencies in the country.
I do not really know Mayor Fabia that much. I first met him when I was a correspondent of a national daily and I remember that one running story I wrote was his denunciation of a treasure-hunting in his town being done by police officers. I was castigated in a press conference by the provincial police director at that time for my stories.
Anyway, my impression about Mayor Fabia has not changed a bit. I still see him as a straight and righteous man, who will have no qualms about giving his all, just to be able to serve the people. This is the reason why he is well-loved in his hometown and people would always look back to his administration, as the best so far.
He was candid enough in telling me that he has no plans to join Binmaley politics next year. Mayor Lan Domalanta is now in his last term and the emerging mayoralty contenders are incumbent Vice Mayor Jose Carrera Jr. and my friend, Sammy Rosario. I can almost see an exciting electoral fight if Mayor Fabia joins the fray.
And if he becomes mayor again, I can almost see Binmaley as the fastest growing town in the province.
ENDNOTES: Last Sunday, DZRH-Dagupan finally moved to its new studio in Galvan St. as scheduled. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who was supposed to be the guest, understandably did not make it to the planned celebration, which was cancelled last-minute by DZRH-Dagupan manager Nolan Sison due to the crisis at the Ayala Center in Makati. With its new location, DZRH-Dagupan is now more accessible to the public than where it was in the past 12 months.
QUOTE: When one door closes, another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which have opened for us. – Alexander Graham Bell
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Reward and punishment system
Only into his second day as Acting City Mayor last Tuesday, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez suddenly finds himself worrying for the city as typhoon Harurot sped across Northern Luzon and made its destructive presence felt all over Dagupan City.
It was the first time for him to experience a calamity while at the helm of the city government and he wanted to make sure that Dagupeños would also feel the city government’s presence, especially when they have no one else to turn to.
As a hands-on manager, Alvin personally talked to Bonuan-based local weathermen and directed his Sangguniang Panlungsod staff to closely monitor the typhoon’s movements in the Internet and provide him regular updates.
By Tuesday afternoon, Alvin was already presiding over the meeting of the City Disaster Coordinating Council, effectively marshaling the city government’s resources in preparation for any eventuality.
When the expected floodwaters came to the low-lying barangays of the city, the city government’s response was almost automatic as everything was already in place.
When the floodwaters finally receded last Friday, Alvin was all smiles, realizing that all his efforts were not wasted.
*****
Nowadays, whenever a police chief is relieved from his post, it may be because of any of the following: (a) the police chief has been there for two years, (b) he has to undergo training or schooling to qualify for promotion, (c) he was not able to stop jueteng in his area of jurisdiction, (d) he had zero accomplishment in the anti-illegal drugs campaign, or (e) all of the above.
But whatever reasons there may be, the people no longer care to know. What people are interested in these days is whether they are safe where they are; whether they are assured of police protection when the need arises.
After all, no police chief has ever been dismissed or even just suspended for failing to keep peace and order in his or her area of jurisdiction. Some of them even get promoted, sinipa pataas, so to speak. Others are just put on “floating status” until such time that the people (or their superiors) have forgotten their misdeeds.
I remember that in the recent past, the Philippine National Police national leadership warned police chiefs in Luzon that those who will not be able to stop jueteng will be “thrown” to Mindanao. And there were a few from Pangasinan who were actually sacked and deployed there. But after a couple of years, they came back with higher ranks, as if nothing happened.
There was also a time when a provincial police director, in his effort to stop jueteng, announced that towns where jueteng still persists would be posted on the provincial command’s bulletin board and the police chief of that town will be given demerits. In the beginning it was working, making one feel that jueteng days in the province were numbered. But then again, no one was punished.
This is when I began to ask, “Is there any punishment and reward system in the police?” I later found out that this same question has long been lingering in the minds of the ordinary citizens.
Now, I am hearing that police chiefs with zero accomplishment in the campaign against illegal drugs will be relieved. In fact, some of them have already been relieved and assigned somewhere else.
I hope that this time, this is for real. Maybe, relieving a police chief from his or her post for failing to minimize if not stop trafficking of illegal drugs in his or her area may not be enough. How about filing an administrative case against them at the same time?
ENDNOTES: Today, DZRH-Dagupan moves to its new studio at Galvan St. as it celebrates its first year anniversary. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Presidential Adviser of Media Affairs Dodie Limcaoco will grace the today’s occasion. For one year, DZRH-Dagupan broadcast from its transmitter room in Barangay Lucao. Congratulations to its station manager, Mr. Nolan Sison, and its hardworking staff.
QUOTE: I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail. – Woodrow Wilson
It was the first time for him to experience a calamity while at the helm of the city government and he wanted to make sure that Dagupeños would also feel the city government’s presence, especially when they have no one else to turn to.
As a hands-on manager, Alvin personally talked to Bonuan-based local weathermen and directed his Sangguniang Panlungsod staff to closely monitor the typhoon’s movements in the Internet and provide him regular updates.
By Tuesday afternoon, Alvin was already presiding over the meeting of the City Disaster Coordinating Council, effectively marshaling the city government’s resources in preparation for any eventuality.
When the expected floodwaters came to the low-lying barangays of the city, the city government’s response was almost automatic as everything was already in place.
When the floodwaters finally receded last Friday, Alvin was all smiles, realizing that all his efforts were not wasted.
*****
Nowadays, whenever a police chief is relieved from his post, it may be because of any of the following: (a) the police chief has been there for two years, (b) he has to undergo training or schooling to qualify for promotion, (c) he was not able to stop jueteng in his area of jurisdiction, (d) he had zero accomplishment in the anti-illegal drugs campaign, or (e) all of the above.
But whatever reasons there may be, the people no longer care to know. What people are interested in these days is whether they are safe where they are; whether they are assured of police protection when the need arises.
After all, no police chief has ever been dismissed or even just suspended for failing to keep peace and order in his or her area of jurisdiction. Some of them even get promoted, sinipa pataas, so to speak. Others are just put on “floating status” until such time that the people (or their superiors) have forgotten their misdeeds.
I remember that in the recent past, the Philippine National Police national leadership warned police chiefs in Luzon that those who will not be able to stop jueteng will be “thrown” to Mindanao. And there were a few from Pangasinan who were actually sacked and deployed there. But after a couple of years, they came back with higher ranks, as if nothing happened.
There was also a time when a provincial police director, in his effort to stop jueteng, announced that towns where jueteng still persists would be posted on the provincial command’s bulletin board and the police chief of that town will be given demerits. In the beginning it was working, making one feel that jueteng days in the province were numbered. But then again, no one was punished.
This is when I began to ask, “Is there any punishment and reward system in the police?” I later found out that this same question has long been lingering in the minds of the ordinary citizens.
Now, I am hearing that police chiefs with zero accomplishment in the campaign against illegal drugs will be relieved. In fact, some of them have already been relieved and assigned somewhere else.
I hope that this time, this is for real. Maybe, relieving a police chief from his or her post for failing to minimize if not stop trafficking of illegal drugs in his or her area may not be enough. How about filing an administrative case against them at the same time?
ENDNOTES: Today, DZRH-Dagupan moves to its new studio at Galvan St. as it celebrates its first year anniversary. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Presidential Adviser of Media Affairs Dodie Limcaoco will grace the today’s occasion. For one year, DZRH-Dagupan broadcast from its transmitter room in Barangay Lucao. Congratulations to its station manager, Mr. Nolan Sison, and its hardworking staff.
QUOTE: I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail. – Woodrow Wilson
Friday, July 25, 2003
Damning the dams for the flood
Despite the pounding of strong winds and heavy rains stirred by typhoon Harurot in Pangasinan last Tuesday, the “listening tour” of business tycoon and prospective presidential wannabe Danding Cojuangco in Urdaneta City was well attended by various political leaders of the province.
Except for first district Rep. Arthur Celeste and Speaker Jose de Venecia, who was reportedly in Indonesia for a speaking engagement at that time, all of the province’s congressmen were there. Gov. Victor Agbayani, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, provincial board members and almost all of the mayors in the province were there, too.
The Urdaneta Cultural Center, where the miting-de-avance-like consultation took place, was bursting to the seams as delegation after delegation walked in to give Boss Danding a warm welcome. As journalist-friend Eva Visperas wrote in the Philippine Star, Boss Danding took Pangasinan by storm.
With the province’s political leaders’ presence in that consultation and the outpouring of their all-out support to Boss Danding’s presidential bid, no one from among Boss Danding’s prospective opponents in next year’s presidential race will have any chance in Pangasinan anymore. Not even Ping Lacson, who is “Manugang na Pangasinan” or FPJ, who is from Barangay Caoayan Kiling in San Carlos City.
But, what is interesting to see is when GMA finally changes her mind and decides to run. Well, this is just a passing thought.
*****
As of this writing, typhoon Harurot is already unleashing its fury in southern China after leaving at least six persons dead and destroying crops and properties in several towns and cities in the country, Pangasinan included.
But just when everybody thought that the typhoon is gone and that the skies have cleared, rampaging floodwaters submerged Dagupan City and nearby towns and surprised everyone.
As usual, everybody is asking, “Why?” or “Where did the water come from?”
In the past, it was convenient to blame the defunct National Power Corp., which operates the Ambuklao and Binga hydroelectric dams in Benguet province. Everytime the NPC announces then that it has opened the spillway gates of these dams, flooding in central Pangasinan is almost automatic in just a matter of hours.
But with the construction of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam in San Manuel town, it is no longer easy to blame the dams for the floods. (By the way, with the signing into law of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the NPC has been abolished and new organizations, such as the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. and the National Transmission Corp., have been created. I am not sure what agency is in-charge of the San Roque dam, which is an independent power producer.)
This is because the San Roque dam, which is located downstream, is supposed to serve as a catch-basin for all the excess water released by the two dams upstream. This was what our officials were repeatedly telling us when opposition to the San Roque dam project was gathering strength – that with the San Roque dam, flooding is gone.
Ironically, when the San Roque dam was commissioned last June by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, there was severe flooding in the province that the ceremonies had to be held in Malacanang. That flooding would occur again today.
Over the local airwaves, the nagging question is, “Did San Roque release excess water?”
We cannot expect San Roque dam officials to admit it at this point. Maybe, it is really true that no excess water has been released. Even Gov. Victor Agbayani said that based on reports received by his office, the dam’s water level was still far from the spilling level.
What is interesting to note, however, is that the people are finding it hard to believe what our officials are saying. To them, San Roque dam was built to stop flooding in Pangasinan. But this does not seem so today.
Sadly, the country borrowed US$1.1 billion for that dam. And the people, instead of benefiting from it, suddenly find themselves as victims.
ENDNOTES: On Sunday, July 27, a dear friend, Josie Tamondong, who is now based in the US, will celebrate her birthday. She wrote, “I will be 60, Ging. I feel I have covered the different phases of my life - the high and the low, I have tried. I soared then plummeted, but then I got up and have remained steady, just hanging on to dear life and now, a new love.”
QUOTE: Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. -- Michael Jordan
Except for first district Rep. Arthur Celeste and Speaker Jose de Venecia, who was reportedly in Indonesia for a speaking engagement at that time, all of the province’s congressmen were there. Gov. Victor Agbayani, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, provincial board members and almost all of the mayors in the province were there, too.
The Urdaneta Cultural Center, where the miting-de-avance-like consultation took place, was bursting to the seams as delegation after delegation walked in to give Boss Danding a warm welcome. As journalist-friend Eva Visperas wrote in the Philippine Star, Boss Danding took Pangasinan by storm.
With the province’s political leaders’ presence in that consultation and the outpouring of their all-out support to Boss Danding’s presidential bid, no one from among Boss Danding’s prospective opponents in next year’s presidential race will have any chance in Pangasinan anymore. Not even Ping Lacson, who is “Manugang na Pangasinan” or FPJ, who is from Barangay Caoayan Kiling in San Carlos City.
But, what is interesting to see is when GMA finally changes her mind and decides to run. Well, this is just a passing thought.
*****
As of this writing, typhoon Harurot is already unleashing its fury in southern China after leaving at least six persons dead and destroying crops and properties in several towns and cities in the country, Pangasinan included.
But just when everybody thought that the typhoon is gone and that the skies have cleared, rampaging floodwaters submerged Dagupan City and nearby towns and surprised everyone.
As usual, everybody is asking, “Why?” or “Where did the water come from?”
In the past, it was convenient to blame the defunct National Power Corp., which operates the Ambuklao and Binga hydroelectric dams in Benguet province. Everytime the NPC announces then that it has opened the spillway gates of these dams, flooding in central Pangasinan is almost automatic in just a matter of hours.
But with the construction of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam in San Manuel town, it is no longer easy to blame the dams for the floods. (By the way, with the signing into law of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the NPC has been abolished and new organizations, such as the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. and the National Transmission Corp., have been created. I am not sure what agency is in-charge of the San Roque dam, which is an independent power producer.)
This is because the San Roque dam, which is located downstream, is supposed to serve as a catch-basin for all the excess water released by the two dams upstream. This was what our officials were repeatedly telling us when opposition to the San Roque dam project was gathering strength – that with the San Roque dam, flooding is gone.
Ironically, when the San Roque dam was commissioned last June by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, there was severe flooding in the province that the ceremonies had to be held in Malacanang. That flooding would occur again today.
Over the local airwaves, the nagging question is, “Did San Roque release excess water?”
We cannot expect San Roque dam officials to admit it at this point. Maybe, it is really true that no excess water has been released. Even Gov. Victor Agbayani said that based on reports received by his office, the dam’s water level was still far from the spilling level.
What is interesting to note, however, is that the people are finding it hard to believe what our officials are saying. To them, San Roque dam was built to stop flooding in Pangasinan. But this does not seem so today.
Sadly, the country borrowed US$1.1 billion for that dam. And the people, instead of benefiting from it, suddenly find themselves as victims.
ENDNOTES: On Sunday, July 27, a dear friend, Josie Tamondong, who is now based in the US, will celebrate her birthday. She wrote, “I will be 60, Ging. I feel I have covered the different phases of my life - the high and the low, I have tried. I soared then plummeted, but then I got up and have remained steady, just hanging on to dear life and now, a new love.”
QUOTE: Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. -- Michael Jordan
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
A friendly advice to Decorp
But for Archbishop Oscar Cruz, nobody seems to give a damn anymore about the operation of the illegal numbers game jueteng, which remains to be very much alive and kicking in Pangasinan. Even those who were traditionally noisy against it in the past cannot be heard anymore. Has everybody given up the fight and conceded that jueteng cannot be eradicated in this lifetime?
Really, there is a deafening silence. We still have to hear a mayor announce his or her initiative to stop it. And we still have to hear the police taking bolder steps to run after jueteng lords.
What continues to amaze us, especially in the province, is that the police have not changed its dialogue everytime it is confronted with this issue. You will hear the same lines: “It’s a guerilla- type operation; draws are held inside moving vans or in provincial tri-boundaries; we don’t have enough personnel; the people are patronizing it,” etcetera, etcetera.
As we have always pointed out in the past, if jueteng thrives in a community, it because local government officials allow it. Some of these officials have even publicly admitted that their shares from jueteng go to their social obligations, also known as KBL – kasal, binyag, libing.
Well… The Archbishop was very correct in describing jueteng as a “corrupt and corrupting illegal activity. “It is a slimy syndicate whose ‘god’ is money, whose real name is ‘corruption,’ whose mere strength is the apathy of millions of people of goodwill.”
Amen.
*****
About two Mondays ago, officials of the Dagupan Electric Corporation were invited to the Sangguniang Panlungsod session hall to shed light on the frequent brownouts that the city experienced last June.
Through a Power Point presentation, Engr. Augusto Sarmiento, Decorp operations manager, patiently enumerated the situations when Decorp has to cut off power or has to “isolate an area.” These situations include natural calamities, such as floods, typhoons, etc. Sarmiento said that by cutting off power in affected areas, accidents are avoided and consumers are protected.
Somebody later asked him why is it that during power failures, Decorp telephone lines are difficult to contact. I even thought at that time that these phones are deliberately left unanswered or hung up for Decorp personnel to avoid angry and complaining callers during these situations.
Sarmiento explained that they have personnel to answer those phone calls. Callers get busy tones because other callers may already be talking to their personnel or they have dialed at the same time with other consumers. Decorp has about 59,000 households as clients in Dagupan City, Calasiao, San Fabian, and other towns.
“If a hundred of these clients dial at the same time, it will really be difficult for them to get through,” Sarmiento said.
Just an unsolicited but friendly advice: With the advancement in communication technology, Decorp should now consider establishing text messaging lines, so that the public may be able to easily report to them not only the outages in their respective areas, but also potential dangers, such as dangling live wires, collapsed electric posts, etc.
Aside from this, Decorp should also consider installing an incoming call cueing system and friendly voice recordings in their telephones that would inform a caller that a customer representative would attend to him or her soon. This way, customers would know that the lines are open and would not have to speculate anymore.
Finally, it would also help Decorp if everytime there is an outage, scheduled or unscheduled and even on a very limited scale, one of their personnel would call every radio station in the city to explain on-air what happened and announce regular updates afterwards. This way you will have a wider reach and maybe, just maybe, you will also be able to substantially reduce the number of angry and complaining callers to your office.
ENDNOTES: Congratulations to the Lyceum Northwestern University for being an awardee of the Consumers Union of the Philippines. LNU president Gonz Duque was in South Korea when the award was given… Belated happy birthday to Mr. Roland Hidalgo, hard-hitting commentator of DWPR Aksyon Radyo. Mr. Hidalgo celebrated his birthday last Saturday.
QUOTE: Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed. -- Buddha
Really, there is a deafening silence. We still have to hear a mayor announce his or her initiative to stop it. And we still have to hear the police taking bolder steps to run after jueteng lords.
What continues to amaze us, especially in the province, is that the police have not changed its dialogue everytime it is confronted with this issue. You will hear the same lines: “It’s a guerilla- type operation; draws are held inside moving vans or in provincial tri-boundaries; we don’t have enough personnel; the people are patronizing it,” etcetera, etcetera.
As we have always pointed out in the past, if jueteng thrives in a community, it because local government officials allow it. Some of these officials have even publicly admitted that their shares from jueteng go to their social obligations, also known as KBL – kasal, binyag, libing.
Well… The Archbishop was very correct in describing jueteng as a “corrupt and corrupting illegal activity. “It is a slimy syndicate whose ‘god’ is money, whose real name is ‘corruption,’ whose mere strength is the apathy of millions of people of goodwill.”
Amen.
*****
About two Mondays ago, officials of the Dagupan Electric Corporation were invited to the Sangguniang Panlungsod session hall to shed light on the frequent brownouts that the city experienced last June.
Through a Power Point presentation, Engr. Augusto Sarmiento, Decorp operations manager, patiently enumerated the situations when Decorp has to cut off power or has to “isolate an area.” These situations include natural calamities, such as floods, typhoons, etc. Sarmiento said that by cutting off power in affected areas, accidents are avoided and consumers are protected.
Somebody later asked him why is it that during power failures, Decorp telephone lines are difficult to contact. I even thought at that time that these phones are deliberately left unanswered or hung up for Decorp personnel to avoid angry and complaining callers during these situations.
Sarmiento explained that they have personnel to answer those phone calls. Callers get busy tones because other callers may already be talking to their personnel or they have dialed at the same time with other consumers. Decorp has about 59,000 households as clients in Dagupan City, Calasiao, San Fabian, and other towns.
“If a hundred of these clients dial at the same time, it will really be difficult for them to get through,” Sarmiento said.
Just an unsolicited but friendly advice: With the advancement in communication technology, Decorp should now consider establishing text messaging lines, so that the public may be able to easily report to them not only the outages in their respective areas, but also potential dangers, such as dangling live wires, collapsed electric posts, etc.
Aside from this, Decorp should also consider installing an incoming call cueing system and friendly voice recordings in their telephones that would inform a caller that a customer representative would attend to him or her soon. This way, customers would know that the lines are open and would not have to speculate anymore.
Finally, it would also help Decorp if everytime there is an outage, scheduled or unscheduled and even on a very limited scale, one of their personnel would call every radio station in the city to explain on-air what happened and announce regular updates afterwards. This way you will have a wider reach and maybe, just maybe, you will also be able to substantially reduce the number of angry and complaining callers to your office.
ENDNOTES: Congratulations to the Lyceum Northwestern University for being an awardee of the Consumers Union of the Philippines. LNU president Gonz Duque was in South Korea when the award was given… Belated happy birthday to Mr. Roland Hidalgo, hard-hitting commentator of DWPR Aksyon Radyo. Mr. Hidalgo celebrated his birthday last Saturday.
QUOTE: Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed. -- Buddha
Sunday, July 20, 2003
Butch’s new job
Next week, Boss Danding will be in Urdaneta City. The week after, Ping Lacson will be in Dagupan City. Next month, FPJ will be in San Carlos City.
I will not be surprised if by now, Raul Roco, Gringo Honasan and other presidentiables, are also already scheduled to be in Pangasinan in the next few weeks. After all, we comprise 60 percent of Ilocos Region’s voting population.
This is not the first time Boss Danding will be here. If he has frequented the province in the past it is of course because he considers Pangasinan his home province. His son, Mark, is the province’s fifth district representative to the House and he owns a cement plant in Sison town..
Ping Lacson, on the other hand, is a Pangasinense by affinity. His wife, Alice De Perio, is from Bolinao town. Isn’t it that his campaign line in the 2001 senatorial election was his declaration that he “Manugang na Pangasinan”?
Then, of course, everybody now knows that Da King is from San Carlos City, and he has proudly proclaimed this when he was guest during the coronation night of the city fiesta in 2000. There are now talks that FPJ will be celebrating his birthday in that city on Aug. 22, when he is also supposed to launch his presidential bid.
Exciting, isn’t it?
*****
The city government’s Public Order and Safety Office has assumed last week an additional task: to run after litterbugs. This job used to be with the Market Division of the City Treasurer’s Office. But the group became infamous and controversial when complaints mounted against them, especially during those times when they had to be ruthless in confiscating items being sold in illegal stalls and by ambulant vendors in the downtown area.
Butch Gutierrez, POSO traffic supervisor and now head of this anti-littering group, says that he has already conducted a series of meetings with the 11 members of the group. Tomorrow, they will have an information dissemination campaign in the public market to familiarize market goers and vendors with the different environmental ordinances of the city, before they will start apprehending violators.
This is quite a tall order for Butch and we can only wish him good luck.
Let me just share some observations and insights in the implementation of campaigns like these. The most difficult stage is usually in educating the people about the ordinance. There is always that tendency to look at the campaign as a ningas cogon no matter how sincerely you are enforcing it.
Then, of course, there is also that notion among the people that when they are apprehended, they can run away from it anyway because they can easily find a ninong somewhere to bail them out.
Simply put, campaigns like these involve changing people’s attitude, which cannot be done overnight. There is therefore a tremendous amount of patience and consistency that is needed here.
But with what the POSO has shown in successfully enforcing the city’s comprehensive traffic ordinance, especially in its “no-mercy, no-friend” attitude for traffic violators, there should not be any reason at all why Butch cannot also succeed in the anti-littering campaign.
*****
Dagupan City police chief, Supt. Noli Taliño, has reported that his campaign against illegal drugs continues to gain ground. From January to July this year, 50 persons have been arrested and some 128.03 grams of shabu worth P153,636 have been seized.
With President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s order for a more vigorous campaign against illegal drugs in the country, I will not be surprised if one day, Noli calls for a press conference to announce that a shabu laboratory has been discovered in Dagupan City.
The street level trafficking of shabu in the city may not be that extensive yet, largely and maybe because illegal drug pushers know that the city is under Noli and his men’s watchful eyes. But who knows if in one room in one of the structures in the city’s downtown and residential areas, somebody is manufacturing shabu?
Often, it is in least expected places where these illegal activities thrive. Remember the country’s biggest shabu bust two years ago? Who would have imagined that a shabu shipment worth almost P1 billion would land in the pristine beaches of Infanta town?
ENDNOTES: The Pederasyon ng Sangguniang Kabataan of Dagupan City will hold “Jog and Walk For A Cause Laban Sa Droga” on July 26 at 7 a.m. The assembly point will be at the city plaza… The Department of Foreign Affairs regional consular office will be at the Dagupan City People’s Astrodome on July 26 & 27 as part of its mobile passport program. Passport applications will be processed on the first day and released the next day.
QUOTE: Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there's love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. -- Ella Fitzgerald
I will not be surprised if by now, Raul Roco, Gringo Honasan and other presidentiables, are also already scheduled to be in Pangasinan in the next few weeks. After all, we comprise 60 percent of Ilocos Region’s voting population.
This is not the first time Boss Danding will be here. If he has frequented the province in the past it is of course because he considers Pangasinan his home province. His son, Mark, is the province’s fifth district representative to the House and he owns a cement plant in Sison town..
Ping Lacson, on the other hand, is a Pangasinense by affinity. His wife, Alice De Perio, is from Bolinao town. Isn’t it that his campaign line in the 2001 senatorial election was his declaration that he “Manugang na Pangasinan”?
Then, of course, everybody now knows that Da King is from San Carlos City, and he has proudly proclaimed this when he was guest during the coronation night of the city fiesta in 2000. There are now talks that FPJ will be celebrating his birthday in that city on Aug. 22, when he is also supposed to launch his presidential bid.
Exciting, isn’t it?
*****
The city government’s Public Order and Safety Office has assumed last week an additional task: to run after litterbugs. This job used to be with the Market Division of the City Treasurer’s Office. But the group became infamous and controversial when complaints mounted against them, especially during those times when they had to be ruthless in confiscating items being sold in illegal stalls and by ambulant vendors in the downtown area.
Butch Gutierrez, POSO traffic supervisor and now head of this anti-littering group, says that he has already conducted a series of meetings with the 11 members of the group. Tomorrow, they will have an information dissemination campaign in the public market to familiarize market goers and vendors with the different environmental ordinances of the city, before they will start apprehending violators.
This is quite a tall order for Butch and we can only wish him good luck.
Let me just share some observations and insights in the implementation of campaigns like these. The most difficult stage is usually in educating the people about the ordinance. There is always that tendency to look at the campaign as a ningas cogon no matter how sincerely you are enforcing it.
Then, of course, there is also that notion among the people that when they are apprehended, they can run away from it anyway because they can easily find a ninong somewhere to bail them out.
Simply put, campaigns like these involve changing people’s attitude, which cannot be done overnight. There is therefore a tremendous amount of patience and consistency that is needed here.
But with what the POSO has shown in successfully enforcing the city’s comprehensive traffic ordinance, especially in its “no-mercy, no-friend” attitude for traffic violators, there should not be any reason at all why Butch cannot also succeed in the anti-littering campaign.
*****
Dagupan City police chief, Supt. Noli Taliño, has reported that his campaign against illegal drugs continues to gain ground. From January to July this year, 50 persons have been arrested and some 128.03 grams of shabu worth P153,636 have been seized.
With President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s order for a more vigorous campaign against illegal drugs in the country, I will not be surprised if one day, Noli calls for a press conference to announce that a shabu laboratory has been discovered in Dagupan City.
The street level trafficking of shabu in the city may not be that extensive yet, largely and maybe because illegal drug pushers know that the city is under Noli and his men’s watchful eyes. But who knows if in one room in one of the structures in the city’s downtown and residential areas, somebody is manufacturing shabu?
Often, it is in least expected places where these illegal activities thrive. Remember the country’s biggest shabu bust two years ago? Who would have imagined that a shabu shipment worth almost P1 billion would land in the pristine beaches of Infanta town?
ENDNOTES: The Pederasyon ng Sangguniang Kabataan of Dagupan City will hold “Jog and Walk For A Cause Laban Sa Droga” on July 26 at 7 a.m. The assembly point will be at the city plaza… The Department of Foreign Affairs regional consular office will be at the Dagupan City People’s Astrodome on July 26 & 27 as part of its mobile passport program. Passport applications will be processed on the first day and released the next day.
QUOTE: Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there's love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. -- Ella Fitzgerald
Friday, July 18, 2003
Putting a good man down
Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of that fateful afternoon in July 1990 when an intensity 7.7 quake jolted our city. The tragic aftermath of that calamity sent many people to tears and down to their knees, begging mercy from God.
I vividly remember that the days that followed were filled with uncertainty. People were in a mad rush to leave the city. Businesses closed shop and began scouting for relocation sites in neighboring towns. The city was in the verge of becoming a ghost town.
But had it not been for a few brave determined souls, who firmly believed that Dagupan can rise from its ruins, this city would not have been where it is today.
As a young reporter then, I distinctly recall that among the tireless figures who rallied Dagupeños to stay put and help rebuild the city was businessman and civic leader (now Mayor) Benjie Lim, who chaired the economic reconstruction group. There was also then vice mayor (now DILG undersecretary) Al Fernandez, who steered the city government’s rehabilitation efforts that extended until his assumption as city mayor in 1992.
As we silently prayed in Thanksgiving yesterday, we can only look back to that tragedy as a learning experience: that nothing, not even a natural calamity, can stop the resolve of a united people to survive and eventually rise up from where they have fallen.
*****
In the last few weeks, Usec Al Fernandez has been unfairly treated in primetime radio commentary programs simply because of the perception that he is going to run against Mayor Lim in next year’s mayoralty race.
He has been tagged as the “unseen hand” behind the Bagong Barrio squatters’ opposition to their relocation; as the “financier” of the market vendors in opposing their transfer to temporary stalls in McAdore; and as the “brains” when the controversial streetlights that cost the city government P10 million was questioned by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. There are other accusations hurled against him and these have been aired almost daily.
But the most unfair that was said against him was broadcast last Tuesday morning when a commentator, quoting an unnamed source, said that Usec Al had asked Speaker Joe de Venecia during a supposed secret meeting that he be appointed DILG Secretary when Secretary Joey Lina leaves his post to run for senator and that his son, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, be anointed as the administration party’s standard bearer in the Dagupan City mayoralty race next year.
What we see here is a clear demolition job and a desperate attempt to shoot down the Fernandezes in their future political plans, more than an effort to create a rift between Mayor Lim and Usec Al and Vice Mayor Fernandez, for that matter.
Usec Al, in a rare radio interview about a month ago, has repeatedly said he has nothing to do with the squatters’ and market vendors’ opposition to their relocation and in the opposition to the streetlights. He also pointed out that he is supporting the administration of Mayor Lim.
Whoever is feeding false information to unsuspecting commentators and other media practitioners in the city just to advance his or her character assassination plan, does not give enough credit to the ordinary Dagupeños’ intellectual capacity to discern what is right from what is wrong; what is true from what is false.
And whoever is behind this disinformation campaign must be a very disturbed and insecure person, who thinks that by spreading these rumors, the Fernandezes will just fade out from the local political scene. Otherwise, he or she should come out in the open. After all, this is a democracy.
As one city councilor aptly put it during a regular session: “You cannot put a good man or a good idea down.”
*****
ENDNOTES: National Bureau of Investigation agents from Manila raided the Maya Emporium Tuesday night, seizing about P4 million worth of counterfeit computer printer inks … With the “salvaging” over the weekend of alleged drug pushers in various parts of the province, including one from Dagupan City, we hope that drug trafficking in the Pangasinan will be substantially reduced soon…
QUOTE: The right things to do are those that keep our violence in abeyance; the wrong things are those that bring it to the fore. -- Robert J. Sawyer
I vividly remember that the days that followed were filled with uncertainty. People were in a mad rush to leave the city. Businesses closed shop and began scouting for relocation sites in neighboring towns. The city was in the verge of becoming a ghost town.
But had it not been for a few brave determined souls, who firmly believed that Dagupan can rise from its ruins, this city would not have been where it is today.
As a young reporter then, I distinctly recall that among the tireless figures who rallied Dagupeños to stay put and help rebuild the city was businessman and civic leader (now Mayor) Benjie Lim, who chaired the economic reconstruction group. There was also then vice mayor (now DILG undersecretary) Al Fernandez, who steered the city government’s rehabilitation efforts that extended until his assumption as city mayor in 1992.
As we silently prayed in Thanksgiving yesterday, we can only look back to that tragedy as a learning experience: that nothing, not even a natural calamity, can stop the resolve of a united people to survive and eventually rise up from where they have fallen.
*****
In the last few weeks, Usec Al Fernandez has been unfairly treated in primetime radio commentary programs simply because of the perception that he is going to run against Mayor Lim in next year’s mayoralty race.
He has been tagged as the “unseen hand” behind the Bagong Barrio squatters’ opposition to their relocation; as the “financier” of the market vendors in opposing their transfer to temporary stalls in McAdore; and as the “brains” when the controversial streetlights that cost the city government P10 million was questioned by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. There are other accusations hurled against him and these have been aired almost daily.
But the most unfair that was said against him was broadcast last Tuesday morning when a commentator, quoting an unnamed source, said that Usec Al had asked Speaker Joe de Venecia during a supposed secret meeting that he be appointed DILG Secretary when Secretary Joey Lina leaves his post to run for senator and that his son, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, be anointed as the administration party’s standard bearer in the Dagupan City mayoralty race next year.
What we see here is a clear demolition job and a desperate attempt to shoot down the Fernandezes in their future political plans, more than an effort to create a rift between Mayor Lim and Usec Al and Vice Mayor Fernandez, for that matter.
Usec Al, in a rare radio interview about a month ago, has repeatedly said he has nothing to do with the squatters’ and market vendors’ opposition to their relocation and in the opposition to the streetlights. He also pointed out that he is supporting the administration of Mayor Lim.
Whoever is feeding false information to unsuspecting commentators and other media practitioners in the city just to advance his or her character assassination plan, does not give enough credit to the ordinary Dagupeños’ intellectual capacity to discern what is right from what is wrong; what is true from what is false.
And whoever is behind this disinformation campaign must be a very disturbed and insecure person, who thinks that by spreading these rumors, the Fernandezes will just fade out from the local political scene. Otherwise, he or she should come out in the open. After all, this is a democracy.
As one city councilor aptly put it during a regular session: “You cannot put a good man or a good idea down.”
*****
ENDNOTES: National Bureau of Investigation agents from Manila raided the Maya Emporium Tuesday night, seizing about P4 million worth of counterfeit computer printer inks … With the “salvaging” over the weekend of alleged drug pushers in various parts of the province, including one from Dagupan City, we hope that drug trafficking in the Pangasinan will be substantially reduced soon…
QUOTE: The right things to do are those that keep our violence in abeyance; the wrong things are those that bring it to the fore. -- Robert J. Sawyer
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
It feels good to be back here again
FINALLY, I MADE it to this page. I am supposed to have started this column about three months ago, when Sun.Star editor Fred Macaraeg suggested during one of my rare visits to his office that I resume my column. But I procrastinated, for some personal and official concerns.
Like many of my media colleagues now know, I went into a self-imposed journalistic inactivity shortly after the 2001 elections for reasons I would rather keep to myself. I was then correspondent of The Manila Times and one morning, I simply felt I did not have the drive to write anymore. I decided to concentrate my energy in my job then as Information Officer of Mayor Benjie Lim.
In fact, I did not want to be identified as a mediaman for some time, until I realized the futility of it all because one cannot really run away from a profession that he has been associated with for a long time.
I said I am resuming this column because this has been here in 1997, when then Sun. Star editor Abe Belena prodded me to write one; and then again in 1999, during my short stint as managing editor of this paper.
And let me say at the outset that I have no agenda in coming back. I do not intend to promote or to hit a specific person or group. I do not also intend to run for any elective position next year. That is farthest in my mind. This is just journalism: to inform our people and to provide them with objective analyses of day-to-day issues confronting the city and the province.
It feels good to be back here again.
Like many of my media colleagues now know, I went into a self-imposed journalistic inactivity shortly after the 2001 elections for reasons I would rather keep to myself. I was then correspondent of The Manila Times and one morning, I simply felt I did not have the drive to write anymore. I decided to concentrate my energy in my job then as Information Officer of Mayor Benjie Lim.
In fact, I did not want to be identified as a mediaman for some time, until I realized the futility of it all because one cannot really run away from a profession that he has been associated with for a long time.
I said I am resuming this column because this has been here in 1997, when then Sun. Star editor Abe Belena prodded me to write one; and then again in 1999, during my short stint as managing editor of this paper.
And let me say at the outset that I have no agenda in coming back. I do not intend to promote or to hit a specific person or group. I do not also intend to run for any elective position next year. That is farthest in my mind. This is just journalism: to inform our people and to provide them with objective analyses of day-to-day issues confronting the city and the province.
It feels good to be back here again.
*****
I had a short conversation with Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino about two weeks ago at his residence in Malasiqui town. Manong Oca was quick in saying that he will “ cross the bridge when he gets to it,” when asked if, as reported, he is really running in the 2004 elections against incumbent Rep. Gener Tulagan, who is seeking his third term.
Manong Oca was all smiles as I interviewed him, feeling flattered, perhaps, that he was being considered for the position and at the same time wondering who floated his name.
He was absolutely right in his observation that if he seeks reelection (also for his third term), it is already “in the bag.” This is because at the moment, there are no serious contenders yet in the vice gubernatorial race and Manong Oca may just be running unopposed like he did when he sought his second term. And even if somebody decides to run against him in the vice gubernatorial race, he will surely end up run away winner, considering his track record as three-term Malasiqui mayor and incumbent presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
No doubt, Manong Oca will also make a good congressman in the third district and he will give Manong Gener a good fight.
But in fairness to Manong Gener, if there is a strong clamor that he seeks reelection, it is because he continues to enjoy the confidence of his constituents in the district because of his accomplishments, especially in infrastructure, during the last six years.
It was he who built the Malasiqui-Bayambang road, which for many years was called an “abortion road” because of the large potholes that littered the whole stretch of the roadline. He also built the Malasiqui-Villasis road, the San Carlos-Urbiztondo road and many other major roadlines and bridges in his district.
These projects literary and figuratively united all six third district towns by providing them easier and more convenient accessibility to one another. Aside from the travel comfort that everybody in the district now experiences, these projects have surely helped immensely in the improvement of the people’s living conditions because they can now easily market their produce, effectively eliminating lost opportunities caused by slower travel time.
Simply put, anybody who wants to slug it out with Manong Gener next year must be able to show that he or she has done better than the Congressman.
Manong Oca was all smiles as I interviewed him, feeling flattered, perhaps, that he was being considered for the position and at the same time wondering who floated his name.
He was absolutely right in his observation that if he seeks reelection (also for his third term), it is already “in the bag.” This is because at the moment, there are no serious contenders yet in the vice gubernatorial race and Manong Oca may just be running unopposed like he did when he sought his second term. And even if somebody decides to run against him in the vice gubernatorial race, he will surely end up run away winner, considering his track record as three-term Malasiqui mayor and incumbent presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
No doubt, Manong Oca will also make a good congressman in the third district and he will give Manong Gener a good fight.
But in fairness to Manong Gener, if there is a strong clamor that he seeks reelection, it is because he continues to enjoy the confidence of his constituents in the district because of his accomplishments, especially in infrastructure, during the last six years.
It was he who built the Malasiqui-Bayambang road, which for many years was called an “abortion road” because of the large potholes that littered the whole stretch of the roadline. He also built the Malasiqui-Villasis road, the San Carlos-Urbiztondo road and many other major roadlines and bridges in his district.
These projects literary and figuratively united all six third district towns by providing them easier and more convenient accessibility to one another. Aside from the travel comfort that everybody in the district now experiences, these projects have surely helped immensely in the improvement of the people’s living conditions because they can now easily market their produce, effectively eliminating lost opportunities caused by slower travel time.
Simply put, anybody who wants to slug it out with Manong Gener next year must be able to show that he or she has done better than the Congressman.
*****
ENDNOTES: Congratulations to Councilor Robert Conrad A. Matias, for being the newest member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dagupan City. Robert replaced his father, Manong Condring, who died last year . . . Yesterday, the SP finally convened at its newly-renovated session hall at the third floor of the city hall after several Mondays of holding their sessions at the SP Secretariat.
QUOTE: Kailangan lamang maging masaya; huwag mo nang itanong kung papaano. -- Anonymous
QUOTE: Kailangan lamang maging masaya; huwag mo nang itanong kung papaano. -- Anonymous
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