The Holy Week is the last week of Lent, or the week that immediately precedes Easter Sunday. To us Christians, this is a time to commemorate and enact the Passion and death of Jesus Christ through various observances and services of worship.
To enable us to have more time for spiritual reflection during these important Christian holidays, Malacanang has announced that Holy Wednesday and Black Saturday are non-working holidays, giving government personnel a five-day vacation that will culminate on Easter Sunday.
Unfortunately, to many, the Holy Week is just another long vacation. As early as this afternoon, for sure, long queues of vehicles, including government-owned, would be rushing to Baguio City or to the beaches of Pangasinan and La Union.
In most towns in the country, the Holy Week, like Christmas, is a time for reunions because it is usually at this time of the year when family members and friends working in faraway places come home for vacation.
But even while the faithful take time out to pray and meditate, with this prevailing scenario, the essence of the Holy Week is hardly felt. Hardly will anyone remember anymore its spiritual dimension. Hardly will anyone remember that the Holy Week is the commemoration of Christ’s death and suffering.
According to the Christian Resource Institute (CRI), a global and ecumenical ministry dedicated to providing biblical and theological resources for growing Christians, Holy Week commemorations call us “to move behind the joyful celebrations of Palm Sunday and Easter, and focus on the suffering, humiliation, and death that is part of Holy Week.”
“It is important to place the hope of the Resurrection, the promise of newness and life, against the background of death and endings,” the CRI said.
“It is only in walking through the shadows and darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday, only in realizing the horror and magnitude of sin and its consequences in the world incarnated in the dying Jesus on the cross, only in contemplating the ending and despair that the disciples felt on Holy Saturday, that we can truly understand the light and hope of Sunday morning!” it added.
*****
Officials of the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) and Digital Telecommunications Inc. (Digitel) could not hide their displeasure over the continuing pilferage of their lines, causing millions of pesos worth of lost opportunities during power shutdowns and Internet downtimes.
These thieves simply climb the poles, cut the wires and sell these to junkshops for a fast buck.
These thieves must be very brave. They know that transmission lines have high voltage and it could cost their lives at the slightest mistake. The same is true with Digitel distribution lines, which are installed in high poles.
But what is making these pilferers bolder and more daring is the fact that they can easily run away with their crime because they have yet to see a wire thief sentenced and sent to jail. Or junkshop owners for that matter, who patronize the stolen items.
Maybe, we now should look at wire pilferage in terms of its economic implications. When a Digitel line is cut, think of the millions of pesos worth of opportunities lost, the phone and online transactions that are stopped. When a Transco transmission line is stolen, think of the power outage and its immediate impact on the economy of affected areas.
But coupled with stiffer penalties, there should also be citizens’ awareness and participation in this endeavor. The people should be made to understand it is not Transco or Digitel that is losing to wire pilferers but the country, and consequently, they, as its citizens, who are the big losers.
This way, maybe, they become more concerned and aware of their responsibilities and protective of these precious wires.
ENDNOTES: With people flocking to the Bonuan Beach this Holy Week, concerned city authorities should stop some unscrupulous beach shed owners from imposing exorbitant rental fees to beachgoers and to ensure that prices of softdrinks and other commodities are not grossly overpriced. Finally, let us tell our visitors to bring home with them their trash. Maybe we can encourage this by distributing to them free trash bags.
QUOTE: Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. -- W.W. Ziege
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Against all dams
When then President Ramos announced the construction of the San Roque Dam in the boundary of Pangasinan and Benguet provinces in 1994, Ibaloi families living near the project site began to brace for the worst. They knew that once construction work began, they would be driven out of their homes and ancestral lands.
True enough, when the site preparation began in 1997, some 300 Ibaloi families in Itogon, Benguet had no choice but to transfer to a resettlement site that the government had set aside for them.
It was not the first time that this had happened to them. Together with other indigenous groups-- collectively referred to as Igorot (mountain folk)-- in the Cordillera mountains, the Ibaloi people have been victims of what is now known as “development aggression.”
The Igorot’s misery began in 1946, when then President Roxas commissioned Westinghouse International to survey potential new sources of energy in the country. Westinghouse later identified the Agno River, which originates from the southern slopes of Mount Data in Mountain Province and flows mightily southward through eastern Benguet before disgorging into the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, as an ideal major energy source.
Thus, when the first Philippine Power Program was drafted on the basis of the survey team’s findings, the development of hydropower facilities in the Agno River basin became one of its major features.
In 1952, the construction of what would be the biggest dams in Asia at that time– the Ambuklao and Binga dams-- commenced. As sacrificial lambs, hundreds of helpless Ibaloi families were displaced from these two dam sites to homestead areas in the neighboring Conwap Valley of Nueva Vizcaya, the Conner area of Apayao, and in far away Palawan.
To the relocated Ibaloi families, it was back to square one. Being unfamiliar not only with the terrain there, but also with the new socio-economic situation they found themselves in, they were not able to resettle in these areas successfully. Many of them later died of starvation and sickness.
When then President Ferdinand Marcos announced that six more dams would be built along the Agno River, the Ibaloi people summoned enough courage to oppose the projects, having learned a sad lesson from the Ambuklao and Binga experience. They succeeded in preventing the construction of the dams.
In the mid-1970s, Ibaloi resistance inspired the Kalinga and Bontok communities to oppose the Chico River Basin Development Project, which called for the building of four dams that would have been far larger than those planned for the Agno. The Kalinga and Bontoc fought and successfully stopped the construction of the Chico dams.
The story of the success of the Chico struggle spread far and wide and inspired other indigenous groups in their own struggles against development aggression in their areas.
In Apayao in 1984, the Isneg people confiscated construction materials and burned equipment to stop the construction of the Gened dam in Flora town. They, too, succeeded as the Ibaloi, the Kalinga and the Bontoc did.
In Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya in 1985, affected communities successfully aborted the building of the Matuno dam in Banti town.
The indigenous people’s consistent effort to thwart development projects in their areas may be viewed as simply their natural reaction to preserve themselves and to assert their right to self-determination.
As Victoria Tauli Corpuz of the Cordillera Women’s Education and Resource Center pointed out, the Cordillera area is where indigenous people have been living for ages.
“Communities have residential areas with rice fields, and then they have the forest, which is communally owned by the tribe. Those are their hunting grounds, those are where their sacred trees are, those are the areas where the water comes from,” she said.
“These forests are very much protected by the people. They know the forest is where their life comes from, where their water comes from, where the fertility of the soil comes from and where their wood and wild food comes from. So it’s a very integral part of the daily life of the people,” she added.
The San Roque Multi-Purpose dam project pushed through, all right, but opposition against it continues to grow because it also continues to threaten the survival not only of the remaining indigenous communities in its vicinity but also the people in the lowlands once it opens its spillway gates in the future.
According to the Cordillera People’s Alliance, a non-government organization, more and more people, including policy makers, are now realizing that “dam projects usually promise more than they could actually deliver, and at a cost that is too high socially, environmentally, as well as economically.”
As the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has rightly observed, “Heavy siltation has also taken its toll on the lifespan of the two dams (Ambuklao and Binga), both of which were originally meant to function for 50 years. Today, the 75-megawatt Ambuklao has been reduced to a single generator operating at less than 20 megawatts. Binga continues to operate at its 100-megawatt capacity but at the high cost of dredging operations to rehabilitate its reservoir.”
The San Roque Multi-Purpose dam promises in its website to “reduce the perennial flooding of the Agno River affecting at least 16 Pangasinan and Tarlac towns… for floods up to a 50-year event—that is, one so large as to recur only once in 50 years, peak outflows from the spillway are at least one third (1/3) less than peak inflows to the reservoir.”
In short, with the San Roque dam in place, flooding would be a thing of the past in Pangasinan. But as President Arroyo formally inaugurated the San Roque Multipurpose Dam Project at the Ceremonial Hall in Malacañang on May 29, 2003, at least 23 Pangasinan towns were under the flood waters the dam was supposed to prevent.
ENDNOTES: Former President Fidel V. Ramos was warmly welcomed in the city during his visit last Friday. He played golf, spoke before the city’s five Rotary Clubs, and witnessed the graduation of the Lyceum Northwestern University College of Nursing.
QUOTE: It is not only for what we do that we are responsible, but also for what we do not do. – Moliere (French playwright and actor)
True enough, when the site preparation began in 1997, some 300 Ibaloi families in Itogon, Benguet had no choice but to transfer to a resettlement site that the government had set aside for them.
It was not the first time that this had happened to them. Together with other indigenous groups-- collectively referred to as Igorot (mountain folk)-- in the Cordillera mountains, the Ibaloi people have been victims of what is now known as “development aggression.”
The Igorot’s misery began in 1946, when then President Roxas commissioned Westinghouse International to survey potential new sources of energy in the country. Westinghouse later identified the Agno River, which originates from the southern slopes of Mount Data in Mountain Province and flows mightily southward through eastern Benguet before disgorging into the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, as an ideal major energy source.
Thus, when the first Philippine Power Program was drafted on the basis of the survey team’s findings, the development of hydropower facilities in the Agno River basin became one of its major features.
In 1952, the construction of what would be the biggest dams in Asia at that time– the Ambuklao and Binga dams-- commenced. As sacrificial lambs, hundreds of helpless Ibaloi families were displaced from these two dam sites to homestead areas in the neighboring Conwap Valley of Nueva Vizcaya, the Conner area of Apayao, and in far away Palawan.
To the relocated Ibaloi families, it was back to square one. Being unfamiliar not only with the terrain there, but also with the new socio-economic situation they found themselves in, they were not able to resettle in these areas successfully. Many of them later died of starvation and sickness.
When then President Ferdinand Marcos announced that six more dams would be built along the Agno River, the Ibaloi people summoned enough courage to oppose the projects, having learned a sad lesson from the Ambuklao and Binga experience. They succeeded in preventing the construction of the dams.
In the mid-1970s, Ibaloi resistance inspired the Kalinga and Bontok communities to oppose the Chico River Basin Development Project, which called for the building of four dams that would have been far larger than those planned for the Agno. The Kalinga and Bontoc fought and successfully stopped the construction of the Chico dams.
The story of the success of the Chico struggle spread far and wide and inspired other indigenous groups in their own struggles against development aggression in their areas.
In Apayao in 1984, the Isneg people confiscated construction materials and burned equipment to stop the construction of the Gened dam in Flora town. They, too, succeeded as the Ibaloi, the Kalinga and the Bontoc did.
In Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya in 1985, affected communities successfully aborted the building of the Matuno dam in Banti town.
The indigenous people’s consistent effort to thwart development projects in their areas may be viewed as simply their natural reaction to preserve themselves and to assert their right to self-determination.
As Victoria Tauli Corpuz of the Cordillera Women’s Education and Resource Center pointed out, the Cordillera area is where indigenous people have been living for ages.
“Communities have residential areas with rice fields, and then they have the forest, which is communally owned by the tribe. Those are their hunting grounds, those are where their sacred trees are, those are the areas where the water comes from,” she said.
“These forests are very much protected by the people. They know the forest is where their life comes from, where their water comes from, where the fertility of the soil comes from and where their wood and wild food comes from. So it’s a very integral part of the daily life of the people,” she added.
The San Roque Multi-Purpose dam project pushed through, all right, but opposition against it continues to grow because it also continues to threaten the survival not only of the remaining indigenous communities in its vicinity but also the people in the lowlands once it opens its spillway gates in the future.
According to the Cordillera People’s Alliance, a non-government organization, more and more people, including policy makers, are now realizing that “dam projects usually promise more than they could actually deliver, and at a cost that is too high socially, environmentally, as well as economically.”
As the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has rightly observed, “Heavy siltation has also taken its toll on the lifespan of the two dams (Ambuklao and Binga), both of which were originally meant to function for 50 years. Today, the 75-megawatt Ambuklao has been reduced to a single generator operating at less than 20 megawatts. Binga continues to operate at its 100-megawatt capacity but at the high cost of dredging operations to rehabilitate its reservoir.”
The San Roque Multi-Purpose dam promises in its website to “reduce the perennial flooding of the Agno River affecting at least 16 Pangasinan and Tarlac towns… for floods up to a 50-year event—that is, one so large as to recur only once in 50 years, peak outflows from the spillway are at least one third (1/3) less than peak inflows to the reservoir.”
In short, with the San Roque dam in place, flooding would be a thing of the past in Pangasinan. But as President Arroyo formally inaugurated the San Roque Multipurpose Dam Project at the Ceremonial Hall in Malacañang on May 29, 2003, at least 23 Pangasinan towns were under the flood waters the dam was supposed to prevent.
ENDNOTES: Former President Fidel V. Ramos was warmly welcomed in the city during his visit last Friday. He played golf, spoke before the city’s five Rotary Clubs, and witnessed the graduation of the Lyceum Northwestern University College of Nursing.
QUOTE: It is not only for what we do that we are responsible, but also for what we do not do. – Moliere (French playwright and actor)
Friday, March 11, 2005
Dagupan can’t vote in provincial elections
Now, it’s settled: Dagupan City cannot participate in provincial elections. This is clearly written in Sec. 2 of R.A. 2259 or An Act Making Elective the Offices of Mayor, Vice Mayor and Councilors in Chartered Cities, Regulating Election in Such Cities and Fixing the Salaries and Tenure of Such Offices, which was approved in June 19, 1959.
R.A. 2259 states that the “Mayor, Vice Mayor and Councilors shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city on the date of the elections for provincial and municipal officials in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code: Provided, however, That the qualified voters of cities shall vote or shall not vote for provincial officials as their respective charters provide, except in the cities of Iloilo and Dagupan where the said voters shall not vote for provincial officials.”
This law amended the Dagupan City Charter (R.A. 170) and its subsequent amendments -- such as RA 484, which was approved on June 10, 1950 and which allowed the city to vote in provincial elections-- as decided by the Supreme Court on June 1, 1966 (G.R. No. L-23964, Gaerlan vs. Catubig).
In that landmark case, the High Tribunal said, "… (T)he question whether or not a special law has been repealed or amended by one or more subsequent general laws is dependent mainly upon the intent of Congress in enacting the latter. The discussions on the floor of Congress show beyond doubt that its members intended to amend or repeal all provisions of special laws inconsistent with the provisions of Republic Act No. 2259, except those which are expressly excluded from the operation thereof.”
And this “intent of Congress” is also clearly reflected in Sec. 9 of R.A. 2259, which provides for the repeal of “all acts or parts of acts, executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with the provisions of this act.”
This explains now why in the 1959 provincial elections, when Dr. Francisco Duque ran and won in the gubernatorial race, Dagupeños no longer voted in the election. This was supposed to be the first provincial elections that Dagupan did not participate in.
This should also serve now as a take off point for those who want to push for the enfranchisement of Dagupan City starting in the 2007 elections.
Now, if Dagupan City is not a component city and obviously not highly urbanized to make it independent from the province, then what is it?
The Local Government Code has the answer: “A city may either be component or highly urbanized… Independent component cities are those component cities whose charters prohibit their voters from voting for provincial elective officials. Independent component cities shall be independent of the province (Book III, Title III, Chapter 1, Sec. 451).”
In other words, like Urdaneta, Alaminos and San Carlos, Dagupan is a component city. But unlike them, Dagupan is independent.
*****
Until I read R.A. 9287 yesterday, I never realized that penalties for those involved in illegal numbers game, such as jueteng, have been increased.
The law, which was approved on April 2, 2004, provides for different degrees of penalties -- ranging from 30 days to 20 years -- to bettors, personnel of the illegal numbers game operation, collectors, coordinators, controllers or supervisors, maintainers, managers or operators, financiers or capitalists, and coddlers or protectors.
But what caught my attention was Sec. 5 of the law, which defines the liability of government employees and/or public officials involved in illegal numbers game.
The section reads: “If the collector, agent, coordinator, controller, supervisor, maintainer, manager, operator, financier or capitalist of any illegal numbers game is a government employee and/or public official, whether elected or appointed shall suffer the penalty of twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years and a fine ranging from Three million pesos (P3,000,000.00) to Five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) and perpetual absolute disqualification from public office.”
In addition, it says, the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office “shall be imposed upon any local government official who, having knowledge of the existence of the operation of any illegal numbers game in his/her jurisdiction, fails to abate or to take action, or tolerates the same in connection therewith.”
Then, law enforcers who fail to apprehend perpetrators of any illegal numbers game may be suspended or dismissed.
Whew!
ENDNOTES: March is an election month for various local officials’ organizations. First, it was the National Movement of Young Legislators, an organization of vice governors, board members and city and municipal vice mayors and councilors, who are 35 years old and below. Just last Tuesday, it was the Philippine Councilors’ League’s turn to hold a national convention and election. And next week, the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines (VMLP) will have its national convention at the Century Park Hotel, where Dagupan City Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, VMLP Pangasinan chapter president and incumbent national vice president for finance, will run as executive vice president. From what we gathered, Alvin will be running unopposed.
QUOTE: Do not follow where the path leads. Rather go where there is no path, and leave a trail. -- David Perkins
R.A. 2259 states that the “Mayor, Vice Mayor and Councilors shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city on the date of the elections for provincial and municipal officials in conformity with the provisions of the Revised Election Code: Provided, however, That the qualified voters of cities shall vote or shall not vote for provincial officials as their respective charters provide, except in the cities of Iloilo and Dagupan where the said voters shall not vote for provincial officials.”
This law amended the Dagupan City Charter (R.A. 170) and its subsequent amendments -- such as RA 484, which was approved on June 10, 1950 and which allowed the city to vote in provincial elections-- as decided by the Supreme Court on June 1, 1966 (G.R. No. L-23964, Gaerlan vs. Catubig).
In that landmark case, the High Tribunal said, "… (T)he question whether or not a special law has been repealed or amended by one or more subsequent general laws is dependent mainly upon the intent of Congress in enacting the latter. The discussions on the floor of Congress show beyond doubt that its members intended to amend or repeal all provisions of special laws inconsistent with the provisions of Republic Act No. 2259, except those which are expressly excluded from the operation thereof.”
And this “intent of Congress” is also clearly reflected in Sec. 9 of R.A. 2259, which provides for the repeal of “all acts or parts of acts, executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with the provisions of this act.”
This explains now why in the 1959 provincial elections, when Dr. Francisco Duque ran and won in the gubernatorial race, Dagupeños no longer voted in the election. This was supposed to be the first provincial elections that Dagupan did not participate in.
This should also serve now as a take off point for those who want to push for the enfranchisement of Dagupan City starting in the 2007 elections.
Now, if Dagupan City is not a component city and obviously not highly urbanized to make it independent from the province, then what is it?
The Local Government Code has the answer: “A city may either be component or highly urbanized… Independent component cities are those component cities whose charters prohibit their voters from voting for provincial elective officials. Independent component cities shall be independent of the province (Book III, Title III, Chapter 1, Sec. 451).”
In other words, like Urdaneta, Alaminos and San Carlos, Dagupan is a component city. But unlike them, Dagupan is independent.
*****
Until I read R.A. 9287 yesterday, I never realized that penalties for those involved in illegal numbers game, such as jueteng, have been increased.
The law, which was approved on April 2, 2004, provides for different degrees of penalties -- ranging from 30 days to 20 years -- to bettors, personnel of the illegal numbers game operation, collectors, coordinators, controllers or supervisors, maintainers, managers or operators, financiers or capitalists, and coddlers or protectors.
But what caught my attention was Sec. 5 of the law, which defines the liability of government employees and/or public officials involved in illegal numbers game.
The section reads: “If the collector, agent, coordinator, controller, supervisor, maintainer, manager, operator, financier or capitalist of any illegal numbers game is a government employee and/or public official, whether elected or appointed shall suffer the penalty of twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years and a fine ranging from Three million pesos (P3,000,000.00) to Five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) and perpetual absolute disqualification from public office.”
In addition, it says, the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office “shall be imposed upon any local government official who, having knowledge of the existence of the operation of any illegal numbers game in his/her jurisdiction, fails to abate or to take action, or tolerates the same in connection therewith.”
Then, law enforcers who fail to apprehend perpetrators of any illegal numbers game may be suspended or dismissed.
Whew!
ENDNOTES: March is an election month for various local officials’ organizations. First, it was the National Movement of Young Legislators, an organization of vice governors, board members and city and municipal vice mayors and councilors, who are 35 years old and below. Just last Tuesday, it was the Philippine Councilors’ League’s turn to hold a national convention and election. And next week, the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines (VMLP) will have its national convention at the Century Park Hotel, where Dagupan City Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, VMLP Pangasinan chapter president and incumbent national vice president for finance, will run as executive vice president. From what we gathered, Alvin will be running unopposed.
QUOTE: Do not follow where the path leads. Rather go where there is no path, and leave a trail. -- David Perkins
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The third district race
Now that Congressman Gener Tulagan is in his third and last term, talks on who will be his successor in 2007 have begun to circulate in the district’s political circles.
Early on, those considered serious contenders for the congressional seat were San Carlos City Mayor Jolly Resuello, Bayambang Mayor Leo de Vera, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino and Board Member Angel Baniqued.
But the unfolding political scenario at present is gradually changing. And it seems that the only possible candidates are Mayor Leo and Board Member Baniqued. Last January, Mayor Jolly issued a statement that although he’s now in his last term, he is not gunning for the congressional position. What he is going to do next is everybody’s guess but we can only surmise that he would rather ensure the election of his son, Vice Mayor Ayoy, as his successor in San Carlos.
He has thrown his full support to Mayor Leo’s congressional bid.
Vice Governor Lambino, on the other hand, may just opt to run for governor or just go back to Malasiqui as mayor. Although, knowing him, he can still make his options open until the 11th hour.
This leaves Board Member Baniqued and Mayor Leo possibly slugging it out one-on-one in the congressional race.
Easily, with this scenario in 2007, we are seeing a very lopsided race. First, in the 2004 elections, Mayor Leo has virtually begun to campaign for 2007 with the consistent announcement of Congressman Gener in his political rallies and meetings that Mayor Leo will be the district’s next congressman.
In turn, despite pressures, Mayor Leo stuck it out with Congressman Gener to the last minute of his electoral fight against former Gen. Orly Soriano, preventing what could have been a mass defection to the Soriano camp of political leaders in the district. And Congressman Gener knows this. As a result, Congressman Gener’s victory was historic: he won by landslide in all the five towns and San Carlos City.
Mayor Leo can also rely on Bayambang’s solid vote, although Board Member Baniqued has consistently won in Bayambang in the past, including in his congressional bid in 2001. But with Mayor Leo as the town’s first possible congressman, there is no doubt that his townmates will rally around him and deliver the hometown votes.
As far as San Carlos is concerned, with the support of both Mayor Jolly and Congressman Gener, Mayor Leo is assured of a big share of the votes in the city, although it is Board Member Baniqued’s hometown.
What will also boost Mayor Leo’s congressional bid is the support of Biskeg na Pangasinan. It is no secret now that one of the closest persons to Biskeg founder, former Sto. Tomas mayor and now DOTC assistant secretary, Bebot Villar is Mayor Leo.
Their closeness is in keeping with the relationship of their old men during their stints as public servants. When Asec Villar’s father, the late Congressman Tonieng Villar was vice governor, Mayor Leo’s old man, who was then concessionaire of the Mangabul Lake, was one of his aides and political leaders.
Mayor Leo’s friendship with Asec Villar has transcended time and politics and each of them has always been ready to help one another through thick and thin.
The 2007 elections may still be two and a half years away. But with this outpouring of support to Mayor Leo, it looks like his congressional bid is unstoppable.
ENDNOTES: The recently concluded Jobs Fair 2005 at the Dagupan City astrodome was a success. Roger Chua of trabaho.com said that at least 30 companies participated, attracting about 5,000 job applicants from the different parts of the province… At 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 12, the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) is holding a free orientation seminar for teachers who want to apply for teaching jobs in the United States at the Loreto Bangsal Boardroom of the YMCA in Dagupan City.
QUOTE: When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through tunnel underneath, or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine -- with God's help! -- Found in a book by Robert Schuller
Early on, those considered serious contenders for the congressional seat were San Carlos City Mayor Jolly Resuello, Bayambang Mayor Leo de Vera, Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino and Board Member Angel Baniqued.
But the unfolding political scenario at present is gradually changing. And it seems that the only possible candidates are Mayor Leo and Board Member Baniqued. Last January, Mayor Jolly issued a statement that although he’s now in his last term, he is not gunning for the congressional position. What he is going to do next is everybody’s guess but we can only surmise that he would rather ensure the election of his son, Vice Mayor Ayoy, as his successor in San Carlos.
He has thrown his full support to Mayor Leo’s congressional bid.
Vice Governor Lambino, on the other hand, may just opt to run for governor or just go back to Malasiqui as mayor. Although, knowing him, he can still make his options open until the 11th hour.
This leaves Board Member Baniqued and Mayor Leo possibly slugging it out one-on-one in the congressional race.
Easily, with this scenario in 2007, we are seeing a very lopsided race. First, in the 2004 elections, Mayor Leo has virtually begun to campaign for 2007 with the consistent announcement of Congressman Gener in his political rallies and meetings that Mayor Leo will be the district’s next congressman.
In turn, despite pressures, Mayor Leo stuck it out with Congressman Gener to the last minute of his electoral fight against former Gen. Orly Soriano, preventing what could have been a mass defection to the Soriano camp of political leaders in the district. And Congressman Gener knows this. As a result, Congressman Gener’s victory was historic: he won by landslide in all the five towns and San Carlos City.
Mayor Leo can also rely on Bayambang’s solid vote, although Board Member Baniqued has consistently won in Bayambang in the past, including in his congressional bid in 2001. But with Mayor Leo as the town’s first possible congressman, there is no doubt that his townmates will rally around him and deliver the hometown votes.
As far as San Carlos is concerned, with the support of both Mayor Jolly and Congressman Gener, Mayor Leo is assured of a big share of the votes in the city, although it is Board Member Baniqued’s hometown.
What will also boost Mayor Leo’s congressional bid is the support of Biskeg na Pangasinan. It is no secret now that one of the closest persons to Biskeg founder, former Sto. Tomas mayor and now DOTC assistant secretary, Bebot Villar is Mayor Leo.
Their closeness is in keeping with the relationship of their old men during their stints as public servants. When Asec Villar’s father, the late Congressman Tonieng Villar was vice governor, Mayor Leo’s old man, who was then concessionaire of the Mangabul Lake, was one of his aides and political leaders.
Mayor Leo’s friendship with Asec Villar has transcended time and politics and each of them has always been ready to help one another through thick and thin.
The 2007 elections may still be two and a half years away. But with this outpouring of support to Mayor Leo, it looks like his congressional bid is unstoppable.
ENDNOTES: The recently concluded Jobs Fair 2005 at the Dagupan City astrodome was a success. Roger Chua of trabaho.com said that at least 30 companies participated, attracting about 5,000 job applicants from the different parts of the province… At 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 12, the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) is holding a free orientation seminar for teachers who want to apply for teaching jobs in the United States at the Loreto Bangsal Boardroom of the YMCA in Dagupan City.
QUOTE: When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through tunnel underneath, or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine -- with God's help! -- Found in a book by Robert Schuller
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Those pesky tricycles
To me, the most breath-taking among the natural attractions of Pangasinan is the Hundred Islands. Everytime I go there, I am always enthralled by its splendor and mystery, and its unique ambience that soothes and relaxes a weary mind. It’s a perfect weekend getaway.
But unlike the other natural tourist attractions in the country, a trip to the Hundred Islands should offer more than the beaches of its islands and the calm waters surrounding them. For instance, in Puerto Princesa City, a trip to its famous underground river becomes very memorable because a trained guide accompanies every group of visitors, making their visit very educational and making them realize the benefits of taking care of the environment.
This is also true when one visits the Subic Free Port. A guide is assigned to accompany visitors, making the visit very organized and educational.
Why this scheme is not being done by the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), the agency which has jurisdiction over these islands, we don’t know. Maybe, they have tried it in the past, did not make it work, got tired of it and simply forgot about it. Or maybe, they did not try it at all.
But as we race against time to preserve the Hundred Islands from further physical degradation and keep it as the province’s premier tourist destination, Alaminos City Mayor Nani Braganza should no longer wait on the PTA to make its move. He should act now. And fast.
With former tourism regional director Jinggoy Malay as city administrator, there is no reason why the Hundred Islands could not be repackaged to keep tourists coming back for it, at the same time, creating higher awareness on the need to protect and preserve it.
This means that we should go beyond the idea of deploying floating souvenir and food shops on the waters near the islands. More than this, tourists must be educated on the islands’ legend, their history, their names, their attractions, their contributions to ecology, the need to preserve them and the people’s and government efforts to maintain them. This way, tourists will better appreciate the islands and make them develop a sense of attachment and responsibility to make them feel that they, too, are co-owners and stakeholders that they are obliged to take care of them.
A tall order? I guess not. It’s simple management. And a little imagination.
*****
The greatest obstacles to a smooth traffic flow in Dagupan City are still the tricycles. And their drivers are the most undisciplined bunch. This makes me wonder if at all, these drivers are given actual driving tests by the Land Transportation Office before they are issued their licenses.
This is why defensive driving around Dagupan City is a must. Otherwise, you end up sideswiping or being sideswiped by tricycles that suddenly appear in front of you during traffic stops. If you are following a tricycle on a road, better have a sharp eye. Chances are these vehicles do not have signal and stop lights and they usually make a left or right turn using their hands, feet and worse, their snouts.
They also overtake you on the right and many times, you see them coming using the wrong side of the road. They also have this bad habit of stopping in the middle of the road to pick up passengers. They simply do not care that they delaying other motorists.
But what makes these tricycle drivers bold and daring in violating traffic rules is the fact that many of them do not get traffic citation tickets for these “minor” infractions. Or if they do, the penalty is very affordable.
The city government has succeeded in giving a day off to all tricycles in Dagupan City. It should now start considering their gradual phase-out as a public transportation.
And this could be done by imposing heavier penalties, including cancellation of franchise, to recalcitrant tricycle drivers. And as franchises are cancelled, issuance of new ones should be stopped.
At least, this way, if we do not succeed in totally phasing out the tricycles, we will have safer streets with more disciplined drivers.
ENDNOTES: Congratulations to former Dagupan City administrator Joven Maramba, for his election as president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Pangasinan Chapter last Saturday. Also to his runningmate, my buloy, Jing Viray of Asingan town, for winning as vice president… The Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) has been appointed by a US-based agency as its agent in Pangasinan in the recruitment of teachers for US schools. Interested applicants should attend the Jobs Fair at the Dagupan City Library on March 3 and 4.
QUOTE: Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic. – Tom Hanks, as Sam Baldwin in the movie Sleepless in Seattle, when asked what was special about his departed wife.
But unlike the other natural tourist attractions in the country, a trip to the Hundred Islands should offer more than the beaches of its islands and the calm waters surrounding them. For instance, in Puerto Princesa City, a trip to its famous underground river becomes very memorable because a trained guide accompanies every group of visitors, making their visit very educational and making them realize the benefits of taking care of the environment.
This is also true when one visits the Subic Free Port. A guide is assigned to accompany visitors, making the visit very organized and educational.
Why this scheme is not being done by the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), the agency which has jurisdiction over these islands, we don’t know. Maybe, they have tried it in the past, did not make it work, got tired of it and simply forgot about it. Or maybe, they did not try it at all.
But as we race against time to preserve the Hundred Islands from further physical degradation and keep it as the province’s premier tourist destination, Alaminos City Mayor Nani Braganza should no longer wait on the PTA to make its move. He should act now. And fast.
With former tourism regional director Jinggoy Malay as city administrator, there is no reason why the Hundred Islands could not be repackaged to keep tourists coming back for it, at the same time, creating higher awareness on the need to protect and preserve it.
This means that we should go beyond the idea of deploying floating souvenir and food shops on the waters near the islands. More than this, tourists must be educated on the islands’ legend, their history, their names, their attractions, their contributions to ecology, the need to preserve them and the people’s and government efforts to maintain them. This way, tourists will better appreciate the islands and make them develop a sense of attachment and responsibility to make them feel that they, too, are co-owners and stakeholders that they are obliged to take care of them.
A tall order? I guess not. It’s simple management. And a little imagination.
*****
The greatest obstacles to a smooth traffic flow in Dagupan City are still the tricycles. And their drivers are the most undisciplined bunch. This makes me wonder if at all, these drivers are given actual driving tests by the Land Transportation Office before they are issued their licenses.
This is why defensive driving around Dagupan City is a must. Otherwise, you end up sideswiping or being sideswiped by tricycles that suddenly appear in front of you during traffic stops. If you are following a tricycle on a road, better have a sharp eye. Chances are these vehicles do not have signal and stop lights and they usually make a left or right turn using their hands, feet and worse, their snouts.
They also overtake you on the right and many times, you see them coming using the wrong side of the road. They also have this bad habit of stopping in the middle of the road to pick up passengers. They simply do not care that they delaying other motorists.
But what makes these tricycle drivers bold and daring in violating traffic rules is the fact that many of them do not get traffic citation tickets for these “minor” infractions. Or if they do, the penalty is very affordable.
The city government has succeeded in giving a day off to all tricycles in Dagupan City. It should now start considering their gradual phase-out as a public transportation.
And this could be done by imposing heavier penalties, including cancellation of franchise, to recalcitrant tricycle drivers. And as franchises are cancelled, issuance of new ones should be stopped.
At least, this way, if we do not succeed in totally phasing out the tricycles, we will have safer streets with more disciplined drivers.
ENDNOTES: Congratulations to former Dagupan City administrator Joven Maramba, for his election as president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Pangasinan Chapter last Saturday. Also to his runningmate, my buloy, Jing Viray of Asingan town, for winning as vice president… The Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) has been appointed by a US-based agency as its agent in Pangasinan in the recruitment of teachers for US schools. Interested applicants should attend the Jobs Fair at the Dagupan City Library on March 3 and 4.
QUOTE: Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic. – Tom Hanks, as Sam Baldwin in the movie Sleepless in Seattle, when asked what was special about his departed wife.
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