‘Two thousand and ten’ wishes

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L Fianza

In a place laden with so many unresolved problems, one only hopes for a better life in a new year, hence, wishes are expressed. I am pressed to restate many of the wishes I wrote in my column in almost the same time last year because I found all of them unfulfilled, just like the promises we hear from our community leaders, time and again. Well, one thing was proven – promises are repeatedly made and, of course, repeatedly broken.

As the elections come closer, we will hear politicians speak out their plans. Certainly, problems that were unanswered by the “incumbents” will be discussed in the campaign trail. Not because the wishful or hopeful new candidates hold in their hands the answers to such problems, but because these were issues that remained unsettled during the incumbency of those they want to unseat.

Environmental protection: I wish lawmakers put more teeth to the ageing forestry code so that we will have stiffer penalties for violators no matter who they are. Install heavier punishment for people who are supposed to be enforcing the law including those who are selective in its application.

I wish no more tree-cutting permits are issued to anyone – big time or small time, except for trees that threaten life and property. Illegal and un-apprehended logging in urban areas and tree-cutting permits issued to subdivision developers and ordinary house builders are responsible for stripping our existing forest cover. Perhaps by employing heavier penalties we will be able to save what is left of our environment.

Ancestral lands, subdivisions, squatters and TSA: I wish Baguio residents especially those who illegally squatted first before legalizing their occupied lots through the townsite sale applications scheme, do not blame homeless but legitimate ancestral land owners of forested areas in and outside the city for the lack of water supply.

It is the ever-increasing number of Baguio residents through the occupation of subdivision lots and city town sites that encroach on the environment, hence depleting water supply and add to the volume of all forms of waste.

I wish therefore that government thinks twice before issuing subdivision permits. I wish the city will complement the act by stopping the processing of TSAs because the city’s land area is not expanding and there are no more lands to dispose of.

Waste disposal: I wish the city government will waste no more time in developing the Dontogan land within the Santo Tomas area into an engineered sanitary landfill. I wish the communities outside Baguio teach their leaders a lesson by continuously opposing proposals of sanitary landfills linked to promises of big money.

I wish we could all start the year right by trying our best to lessen our garbage. I wish the city council passes an additional provision requiring applicants of building permits to include the construction of a waste disposal facility within their home lots. I wish the city council provides stiffer penalties for anyone caught dumping waste on sideways, creeks and rivers.

Use of impounding dams: I wish Benguet politicians find means to force the national government to expand the meaning of “host community” in relation to the sharing of gains derived from natural wealth that are necessary in the operation of power-producing dams.

I wish this time the national government divides the natural wealth impartially so that the upland communities, dubbed by a thick-faced Napocor official as “forest dwellers,” would be compensated for their efforts in protecting the forests that produce water for these dams.

I wish lowland politicians and their farmer-constituents understand the situation of their upland brothers who opposed the construction of San Roque Dam and stop blaming them for the flood waters after their ricefields were submerged and their kin drowned when Pepeng struck, in the same way that the highland dwellers are blamed again for lesser rice production when no water flows down from the hills.

Traffic scheme experts: I wish the city government absolutely disallows parking along Magsaysay road from BCU to Maharlika on all VIPs, red plates and big shots, except to load and unload. Common sense tells us that parking right in front of the market squeezes traffic flow and creates traffic jams at the Magsaysay-Slaughter area; Bonifacio St. all the way down to Rimando road, thereby immobilizing motorists along Trancoville, Bokawkan and the Trinidad line.

I wish the old, old two-way traffic scheme around SM be restored so that it will not appear that the “experimental” flow was designed to benefit SM. I wish traffic “experts” study the option of opening road intersections on certain schedules or when necessary in order to loosen the volume of vehicles in jampacked sections.To help speed up road movement, I wish the concerned agencies do their work in restoring immediately road potholes and diggings.

I wish the police would be consistent in confiscating car plates by removing the plates of all “no parking” violators or not at all. What they continue to do is confiscate some and leave the area. In this case, other violators are lucky since they only come after the confiscating cop has left.
Road tax collectors and fund raisers: I wish the DPWH and DOTC will first account for the billions of pesos of road users tax that were collected from motorists before they implement the Radio Frequency ID system which will cost motor vehicle owners more than P300.00.

I wish lawmakers would look into the rationale behind the “computerization fee” that is paid by motor vehicle registrants who are doubly burdened by paying for computers that bog down almost everyday under the computerization contract that benefits a private group and the DOTC-LTO.

I wish further that the DOTC be true to its word about phasing out older PUVs in the region without any reconsideration that are based on “conditions,” personal or otherwise.

Tourism and economics: I wish local and national legislators study efforts that would make highland vegetable and cut-flower farming a key part in the tourism industry, and provide subsidy for the vegetable industry just like the way Chavit Singson did to the tobacco industry.

I wish Panagbenga this year would not be politicized and too commercialized. I wish the organizers properly recognize the source of their Panagbenga flowers.

I wish tourism officials discourage the construction of modern structures in tourism-potential sites because things do not have to be altered in order to call it “tourism.” It is the rustic and natural appearance of places and the unpretentious character of rural folks that make them tourism attractions.

Politics and elections: I wish voters scrutinize the real intentions of candidates on why they are running in the coming elections and look for hidden interests as I also wish that the candidates be truthful to their voters.

I wish campaign sorties center on peoples’ issues and become the basis for voting able and most qualified candidates. I wish voters choose a candidate based on what he or she can do and not based on how much money the candidate can shell out. I wish further that voting is not based on tribal or regional affiliations which may be considered barbaric in these modern times.

I wish voters in this year’s elections be more vigilant against public utilities that might use the money of the consumers and resources of the company in supporting a favored candidate.

I wish a peaceful, bloodless revolution and not a shooting war will be the outcome of an impending failure of elections in many parts of the country. I wish the more or less 1,000 voters in a clustered precinct are able to look for their names and cast their ballots within the scheduled voting time.

I wish the next set of elected officials build better and more useful infrastructure other than basketball courts because in this country, there are more basketball courts than schools or barangays.

Illegal gambling: Lastly, I wish the gods would be kinder this time by closing the other eye and make me a Lotto or jueteng winner. I had been placing bets but I have never tasted the feeling of winning. But, there is that phenomenon that there are police officials, barangay officials, mayors, councilors, governors, and government officials who do not place bets but continue to win – monthly or every 15 days.

I wish the gambling lords, both protector and operator, share their earnings directly with real beneficiaries such as the indigent and sickly so that we will not always be dependent on benefit concerts by musician-volunteers.

Anyway, by the looks of it and by the body languages of our officials and policemen, there is no way that we can ever stop illegal gambling, particularly jueteng, in Baguio City, Benguet and the region, especially in an election year.

I wish we live well, stay healthy love more and laugh often in 2010. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com