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
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
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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