Pawassa in Washington 1

Members of the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) pay a courstesy call to Washington State Lt. Gov. Brad Owen (fifth from right) at his office in Olympia, WA as part of Pawassa's trade and cultural mission to Washington State last July 13-17, 2000. Pawassa was joined by Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim (fourth from right) and City Councilor Nick Aquino (left). The Pawassa delegation was composed of (L-R) city government consultant Ping Coquia, Lingayen Councilor Gilbert Mangapot, former Villasis Mayor Ramon Morden, Pawassa treasurer Armi Bangsal-Lorica, Councilor Mangapot's wife, Jean Leah, Inquirer correspondent Gobleth Moulic and businessman Mac Pagsolingan.

Pawassa in Seattle

Members of the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) delegation visit the Pike Place Market in Seattle. In photo are (L-R) Dagupan City government consultant Ping Coquia, former Villasis Mayor Ramon Morden, Seattle-based Ada Castillo, businessman Mac Pagsolingan, Jean Leah and husband Lingayen Councilor Gilbert Mangapot, Pawassa treasurer Armi Bangsal-Lorica and Inquirer correspondent Gobleth Moulic.

Pawassa with Mayor Benjie Lim

Members of the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) delegation attend a short course on recycling at the Filipino Community Center in Seattle during their trade and cultural mission last July 13-17, 2005. Joining the Pawassa was Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim (left, standing) and City Councilor Nick Aquino (fifth from right, standing). The Pawassa delegation was composed of city government consultant Ping Coquia, Lingayen Councilor Gilbert Mangapot, former Villasis Mayor Ramon Morden, Pawassa treasurer Armi Bangsal-Lorica, Councilor Mangapot's wife, Jean Leah, Inquirer correspondent Gobleth Moulic and businessman Mac Pagsolingan. The group was hosted by the Washington-Pangasinan Sister State Association (Wapssa) headed by Alma Kern (fourth from left).

Lapse in judgment

When I learned that a state of calamity had been declared in Binalonan town because of the dreaded dengue fever, I worried. With 15 high school students downed by the disease in the town, and the subsequent suspension of classes at the Dona Eva Macaraeg National High School for three days to give way to fumigation, something may have gone very wrong.

But hearing Mayor Monching Guico say later on that he will veto the municipal council resolution when it reaches his desk, and that the dengue situation in the town is very manageable, I worried all the more.

Suddenly, I am hearing municipal officials who have discordant views about a situation that involves life and death of their constituents. It was either the mayor or the council that may have been misinformed about the town’s dengue situation or that one of them may have simply misjudged the situation.

I am sure that the municipal councilors had the best of intentions when they voted for the approval of a resolution declaring a state of calamity in the town. Without the mayor and the vice mayor in the town at that time, and with reports reaching them that a number of students had fallen ill from the fatal mosquito-borne disease, the councilors did what they thought was the right thing to do.

By declaring a state of calamity, the town can now spend its calamity fund for the purchase of necessary medicines for those afflicted as well as reagents for fumigation. The municipality can now also mobilize other government agencies to help in bringing back the town to normalcy.

But what was apparently missing in the state of calamity declaration was the assessment report from local health authorities. In other words, it lacked substance. The council should have at least summoned first the municipal health officer and asked him or her to report before the council the dengue situation in the town before passing the state of calamity declaration.

Had they done this, the councilors would have learned that there are certain parameters that health authorities have to follow before declaring a state of calamity and that to deal with the situation, a clean up campaign was better than fumigation. They would have also known that the reported number of victims, who come from different barangays, was not yet on an alarming level.

Pangasinan was worst hit by dengue in 1996, where scores died and hundreds of children were afflicted, but I do not recall any state of calamity being declared at that time.

Obviously, the municipal councilors, in this situation, relied only on what were informally reported to them by the people when they pushed the alarm button.

On the other hand, the municipal health officer should have taken the initiative in reporting the dengue situation to the council from the time the first dengue case was recorded in the town. In fact, he or she should have been submitting regular health situation reports to the council.

This regular reporting is a standard practice in the police, where daily incident reports are submitted to the mayor and the council, specifically, to the vice mayor and to the chairperson of the committee on peace and order and police matters.

Mayor Guico was right in deciding to switch off the alarm and in facing the dengue problem head on. At least, it averted what could have been a large-scale dengue scare not only in his town but in the whole province.

By the way, where was the mayor at that time? Just asking.

ENDNOTES: This corner sends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family of broadcaster Orly Navarrro’s wife, Ester, whose beloved Mamang in Binalonan town passed away last week. Don’t be sad now, kumare, because death, according to William Penn, is no more than our turn over from time to eternity… Mayor Benjie Lim and Councilor Nick Aquino are back from their three-week official trip to the US that took them to Honolulu, Seattle, Milpitas and the Bay Area, and Nevada. Let’s wait for their report... Finally, July 27 was the birthday of a dear friend who is now based in Roseville, CA -- Ms. Josie Tamondong. Ma’am Josie, as I fondly call her, and husband Ding were our tour guides in the state capital Sacramento when my wife and I were in California two years ago. Happy birthday, Ma’am Josie!

QUICK QUOTE: Don't sacrifice your life to work and ideals. The most important things in life are human relations. I found that out too late. -- Katharinde Susannah Prichard

The President in Dagupan

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (third from left) inspects a fishpond in Barangay Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City during one of her visits to the place. With her are (from left) Speaker Jose de Venecia, Dagupan City Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez and the Speaker's wife, Gina de Venecia.

The NPA angle

A day after the late Mapandan Vice Mayor Adolfo Aquino was laid to rest in his hometown, I was given a photocopy of a press statement, which supposedly came from the New People’s Army Lucio de Guzman Command based in Mindoro island and signed by one Victor Rivero, as spokesperson.

The letter, which owned the killing of the former vice mayor, was written in Filipino and was computer-printed in a letterhead. Vice Mayor Aquino’s supposed crimes, ranging from treasure hunting to his involvement in the textbook scam, were also enumerated there.

A quick check with the CPP/NPA’s official website (http://www.philippinerevolution.org/) would reveal that Victor Rivero is indeed the spokesperson of Bagong Hukbong Bayan Lucio de Guzman Command, Rehiyonal na Komite-Timog Katagalugan.

(How did I know that the website is an authentic CPP/NPA website? Well, just read the statements posted there and you’ll know these are unmistakably the Left’s.)

There are questions, however, that remained unanswered: Is the letter authentic? Why did it have to take five days after the killing before the NPA issues a statement?

From the website, the last statement issued by the Lucio de Guzman command was dated January 2004 yet. And it is very unlikely for them not to post the July 11, 2005 statement in their website, especially if they are announcing an accomplishment that the people should immediately know.

Also, from my experience as reporter, the Left normally immediately admits a killing just a few hours after it is done, especially on prominent personalities. And from their many statements I’ve read in the past, those meted out “revolutionary justice” usually have blood debts, or people who are extremely oppressive.

Then just last Thursday, DZRH-Dagupan interviewed CPP Founding Chairman Jose Ma. Sison from Utrecht, Netherlands, where he categorically stated that NPA’s from Mindoro could not have come to Mapandan town to assassinate Vice Mayor Aquino.

He told anchor Allan Sison during the 20-minute interview that the NPA follows an operational procedure that would make it impossible for NPA operatives in Mindoro to come here. The execution would have to be carried out by those in Pangasinan, the exiled professor said.

Lest I be misconstrued, may I make it clear that I am not defending the NPA here. It’s far from it. And if in the end it will be proven that it was really them who did the shooting, then the full force of the law should be applied on them.

My only point here is that the police should not swallow the statement hook, line and sinker, so to speak. Whoever thought of circulating the “NPA statement” may have done a big favor to those who really did the cowardly act. The Task Force Aquino, which still faces a blank wall, may only be misled and waste a lot of time and resources if it decides to pursue the “new angle” without validating it.

ENDNOTES: The 4th Trade and Cultural Mission of Pangasinan to Washington State on July 13 to 17 was a success. This was the report of Ms. Armi Bangsal-Lorica, who headed the delegation composed of members of the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa). The delegation was hosted by the Washington-Pangasinan Sister State Association headed by Ms. Alma Quintans-Kern, a full-blooded Pangasinense. Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim joined the delegation in Seattle last July 14. Let’s wait for Ate Armi’s full report when she comes back to Pangasinan next month.

QUICK QUOTE: Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what have you? – Henry James

Remembering the 1990 earthquake

Last Saturday was the day 15 years ago when an intensity 7.7 earthquake brought Dagupan City down to its knees.

Anyone who saw the extent of the city’s devastation at that time would think that Dagupan will never stand up again. It was everyone’s worst nightmare: Many downtown buildings either leaned or sank; Magsaysay bridge fell; the roads were badly broken and most business people were already keen on moving their businesses to neighboring towns.

But in the face of the tragedy, Dagupeños did not give up. They held on and worked hard together to rebuild the city. And it was this sheer determination and tenacity to survive and to rise from the rubbles that saved Dagupan from becoming a ghost town to become the progressive city that it is today.

More than the destruction, what we remember from those trying times was the unprecedented unity and patience of Dagupeños that made it easier to rehabilitate the city.

Everybody understood then that everyone had to walk downtown because jeepneys should not be allowed in. Everybody understood then that everyone had to make do with whatever water available because the Dagupan City Water District had to make sure its pipes were not contaminated.

Everyone also understood why the city plaza had to be converted into a public market and why it took some time for some areas to have electricity.

The private sector then did its part very well. It was largely this group that boosted the morale of businesses by encouraging them to hold on and stay. It was the private sector that provided the necessary muscle to the overstretched government machinery to make sure that the city was heading towards full recovery.

Where government could not go, the private sector was there. They were simply too willing to share their time, talents and even resources that to ensure that the situation in the city was improving.

It was a tragedy turned into an opportunity.

As we remember that fateful day, we can only wish such show of unity had remained until today. We can only wish our people today still have with them same amount of patience they had then. We can only wish that the same spirit of volunteerism is evident today, even if there is no disaster.

The earthquake certainly taught us a valuable lesson: that we can only be strong if we are united. I can only hope we have learned this lesson well.

ENDNOTES: The 67th Induction Ceremonies of the Rotary Club of Dagupan led by its president, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, was a resounding success. There were more than 500 Rotarians and Rotari-anns from 44 clubs and four Inner Wheel Clubs in attendance… The League of Municipalities of the Philippines Pangasinan Chapter has affirmed its full and unequivocal support to President Arroyo. The LMP met in Urdaneta City, where 34 (out of 44) mayors attended and signed the manifesto of support for GMA.

QUICK QUOTE: To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. -- Donald Laird

A visit to the Archbishop’s residence

Archbishop Oscar Cruz was in his usual high-spirited self when we –Yolly, Eva, Ding and I -- chanced on him at his official residence in the city last Tuesday.

We were actually very lucky to see him there at that time because ever since the Senate investigation on jueteng began, he has been spending most of his time in Manila, being the major jueteng whistle blower and the custodian of vital witnesses.

The archbishop let out a loud laugh when we asked him about Jaime Aquino. “Don’t hate him. Just forgive him,” he told us. Then he laughed again.

When we asked him for updates on the on-going Senate hearings, he said he also wants it to stop now, but not because Malacanang wants it but because it is the natural course that the hearing has to take. Malacanang should not dictate on the Senate, he says.

The archbishop could not hide his apprehension for the safety of his witnesses. The safehouse, where one of them was kept, was shot at, leaving ugly and terrifying bullet holes in its ceiling. The other witnesses, he says, continue to get death threats and pressures from all sides just to silence them.

He had wished all the pressures and death threats be directed to him instead. After all, he smiles, “I’m already old.”

But what saddens him is that despite the hearings, consequently stopping jueteng operations in the entire Luzon, the betting has not stopped. The archbishop says new varieties of the numbers game have emerged, such as EZ2, loteng and letreng.

EZ2, which he says is being run now in many Pangasinan towns, is supposedly legal, being operated by the Philippine Gaming Corporation. Loteng, of course, operates very much like jueteng; and letreng, a new one, uses the letters of the alphabet.

“This won’t stop,” he says of the numbers game. And he is right because Filipinos are said to be the most creative people. Like what leading commentator Orly Navarro observed, Filipinos can even play Lucky 9 using the pages of a book!

The archbishop’s only consolation now, if at all, is that he was able to show to the whole nation the evils of gambling “no matter how legal it is.”

As he had said: “Gambling foments greed for the money of others. It promotes indolence, it cultivates dependence on luck. It seeks quick fortune that never comes. It despises toil and industry that bring productivity.

“It deceives the many poor and ignorant—making them more miserable and desperate. It intervenes in the electoral process of the country—undermining free and honest elections. It corrupts governance—staining local officials and public servants.

“Jueteng equals money. Money equals power. Power makes jueteng lords invisible and untouchable. Their big and influential beneficiaries have to see to it that they remain unconfronted, unchallenged, unchained. Otherwise, the moment even but one of them talks—how much jueteng payolas go to whom—not a few of those in high offices and with lofty titles fall flat on their faces.

“It is time to put period to the history of jueteng in the country. The people have enough crosses to bear. The authorities have their hands full of social ills to resolve. Get jueteng out of the way—now!”

Amen.

ENDNOTES: Last Saturday, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez was inducted president of the Rotary Club of Dagupan at the Dagupan City astrodome… On the same day, Mayor Benjie Lim left for the US to promote city tourism and to invite Dagupenos there to this year’s Pawil Dagupan. He will be accompanied by Councilor Nick Aquino... Finally, on July 13, the 4th Pangasinan Trade and Cultural Mission to Washington State leaves for Seattle. The delegation will be headed by Armi Bangsal-Lorica.

QUICK QUOTE: Man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for? -- Robert Browning

Political teleserye

Ms. Susan Roces has proved to be the award-winning actress that she is when she asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign last Wednesday.

It was theatrical: she delivered her lines very well and she properly executed the matching facial expressions in perfect timing.

She was an instant hit. She immediately captured the masa crowd, like what she had always done in her box-office movies in the past.

In contrast, President Arroyo’s “I’m Sorry” episode, while it may have had a wider reach because it was simulcast in several national radio and television stations, did not sell much. It was a dismal flop, with movie critics unanimously giving it a thumbs-down sign rating.

Her show spawned more demonstrations instead to ask her to step down.

If the President had failed to convince her audience in her public apology, it may have been because she had a bad script. Or, that she simply did not act her part well, being an amateur actress.

Or, it may have been simply because she had no originality, her show being a poor remake of a Bill Clinton international starrer in the late 1990s, when he figured in a White House sex scandal.

But as the country’s present political teleserye unfolds quite fast, the people are also entertained no end -- despite the economic difficulties that it has created – because of its several twists and turns and sub-plots, including the untimely insertion of a comedy trailer starring a clown named Jaime Aquino.

Who will prevail in the end depends on who will keep a better storyline and better actresses and actors.

In the Malacanang-produced segment, the latest is that First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and son, Mikey, a congressman and a movie actor, went on self-exile, leaving a “very sad President.” Even FGs lawyer had to emote when he read FGs statement.

On the other hand, supporters of the “griping widow” (as Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales had called Ms. Roces), are now consolidating their forces and gathering more support to take back the Presidency, which, they said, was robbed from them.

There is a guessing game now on how the show will end and when. A fortune teller says the President will in the end follow her husband in self-exile.

Another fortune teller says that Ms. Roces will be prevailed upon to shoot a full-length movie with most of its dialogues taken from the controversial Garci tapes.

But Mama Akong, my favorite balut vendor in Calasiao, told me that he is no longer interested to see how the teleserye will end because, he says, he and his family will remain poor anyway, whoever sits there as President.

Abangan ang pagpapatuloy ng teleserye.

ENDNOTES: Last Friday, the Rotary Club of Dagupan, led by its incoming president, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, launched its Patak Vitamin A Project at the West Central Elementary School. The project will benefit some 6,000 pre-school and Grade 1 pupils… On July 13, the Pangasinan-Washington Sister State Association (Pawassa) will be sending a delegation to Washington State. The delegation will consist of provincial and municipal government officials, as well as business and media representatives. Pawassa and its counterpart Seattle-based Washington-Pangasinan Sister State Association (Wapssa) has been sending poor but deserving Pangasinan students to college, among other projects.

QUICK QUOTE: Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson