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
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