LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March Fianza
For a
considerable time, Ifugao has been at a loss because her people have yet to see
a dream come true – that of owning a provincial general hospital, since it was
conceptualized many years ago. The project proposal went through at least two
governors – Teddy Baguilat who finished his three terms, and Eugene Balitang
who served for one term only.
Incidentally, I was in Lamut to contribute my “three-cents worth”
knowledge in documenting the indigenous practices of our Ifugao brothers in the
protection of their forests upon the invitation of team leader Forester Rex
Sapla, along with Engr. Simeon Micklay and Pat Tayaban who were tasked to
finish recording a DENR project called “Sustainable Traditional Indigenous
Forest Resources Management Systems and Practices” (STIFRMSP) in the
Cordillera. That however, is another good story to write on soon.
For a newspaper bug, a visit to an old friend Atty. Peter Mayam-o who is
now the vice governor of Ifugao was worth it. At least, I did not go out of his
office empty handed as he talked about a scheduled inquiry about their
“fateful” provincial hospital with the committee on health in congress as
arranged by Rep. Baguilat.
It was learned from the vice gov that the construction of the Ifugao
General Hospital Phase II collapsed. Of course, this triggered complaints from
all sectors, hence the inquiry. According to him, the collapsed building also
caused damage to the first phase. The contract was won by someone from Mindoro
but was subcontracted by a relative from Batangas.
For the Ifugaos, the wait was too long. The project could have been
finished a long time ago as funds were allotted for its construction; however,
the lot where it was proposed to be built was inaccessible then so that the
fund reverted. During Balitang’s term, the first phase was done and so with the
second phase, until the collapse.
There were too many violations by a certain contractor from Mindoro who
subcontracted the project to a relative from Batangas. According to Vice Gov.
Mayam-o, the subcontractor had no equipment to show as cement mixing was done
“manu-mano, pala-pala.” The project was bided out by the Department of Health,
Cordillera regional office as represented by Dir. Valeriano Jesus V. Lopez.
What hurts Ifugao officials and the residents as the end-users was that
they did not have the “right” to poke their fingers on the hospital project
because the funds were from the DOH. At least they could have imposed stricter
building code rules but even that was violated since the parties in the
contract agreement held on to the fact that the funds did not come from the
coffers of the province.
The hospital project worth P150 M all in all is too much of a waste and
is not in line with PNoy’s vision of “matuwidnadaan”, according to Vice Gov.
Mayam-o. I believe it is time to amend the electronic procurement system that
has failed so many times or time to sack those involved in insisting to use a
failed system.
***
Death is the great equalizer because it puts all humans on the same plain on
judgment day, and what is not felt by the departed pains those who are left
behind as they move on in life. On the tomb of deceased love ones, we read the
epitaph “in memory of …” or “we love you always…” or “a remembrance from your
family, friends and love ones…” etc. In short, the tomb that has kept the
remains of the departed stands as a reminder for the living of how the dead
used to live his or her life on earth.
The simple wish of living relatives is to provide a decent spot for a
dead love one – the burial place that bonds the living and the dead.
But in
today’s cemetery, the present conditions no longer please the relatives of the
departed. I am very sure that many of us who did our visit to our departed love
ones on All Saints Day and All Souls Day noticed how crowded our cemeteries
are. Traffic, squatting and basura are concerns that need to be addressed
pronto by those concerned.
And doing nothing about graves inserted in between two others that
leaves the feet no space for access, or allowing the tomb of an unknown
family’s departed to be built on top of unvisited graves, is comparable to
squatting inside occupied lands and on idle lands. I am about to believe that
nobody among our present crop of officials care anymore. Today, even the dead
can be called squatters. – ozram.666@gmail.com
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