Desperados a few days before election

LETTERS FROM THE  AGNO

March Fianza

They just pulled their last straw. In a desperate move to fool the electorate in a bid to win votes a few days before election, supporters of the green team in Benguet recently employed “below the belt” attacks by collating hodgepodge public works statistics computer-printed on a piece of paper and passing them off as something that has a semblance of truth.

Of course, the objective of the underhanded attack is to weaken re-electionist Liberal Party Congressman Ronald M. Cosalan of Benguet. Their style is amateurish. With the money of the green team’s supporter-contractors, they could have easily hired any computer-savvy fellow who could have composed a more believable piece of document. Only those who do not know the real score are the vulnerable targets of the piece of coupon bond paper and they can be fooled by the latest campaign strategy that is as obnoxious as a wayward fart, if not a missile bomb that went pppfffft.

The bond paper entitled “So the people of Benguet will know the truth!” is as good as wipes for the big “A-holes” of the strategists. It is one overused strategy by narrow-minded supporters that is expected during election campaigns. It is often scattered to the voting public very near Election Day so that the candidate from the opposing camp will no longer have enough time to answer the issues. The paper lists down the multi-million peso funded road infrastructure projects that are presently being implemented by the DPWH in Baguio and Benguet. Aside from the list of the public works projects that was lifted from the DPWH, the DOT or the Regional Development Council (RDC), the bond paper says the funds for the projects were sourced through the collective efforts of the agencies concerned and not through the initiative of Cosalan alone.

There is no argument there. Even Congressman Cosalan agrees that sourcing out funds for projects needs the cooperation of other agencies such as the DPWH, the agrarian reform and agriculture departments, LGUs, the DOT for tourism projects, the RDC and the municipal development council where a certain project will be implemented. But in the case of the projects mentioned such as the Gurel-Abatan rehab project, the Ambiong-Lubas-Tawang road, the Kibungan-La Trinidad roads and the two Baguio roads, these were discussed way ahead by the congressman concerned with the DPWH, the agency that prepares the initial draft program of work that is necessary in determining the amount that is needed for the project. The other requirements such as ministerial endorsements and approval are later solicited from other concerned parties. The funds for the projects are then haggled for, and inserted in the GAA by the congressman, not by any tourism or RDC director which Cosalan’s detractor want us to believe.   

For LGUs especially the barangays, their involvement is limited to identifying priority projects. In the case of the Ambangeg-Mt. Pulag road improvement project, it did not need prior imprimatur by the DOT because it was DPWH Sec. Rogelio “Babes” Singson himself who announced at the Mt. Pulag Ranger’s Station that he will personally see to it that funds for the road will be allocated. I know because I was standing next to him and Congressman Cosalan when he made the announcement after coming down from the peak of Mt. Pulag in January 2011. No DOT and RDC personnel were there. Ask Mayors Aquisan and Macay of Kabayan and Bokod, respectively. By the way, I tilt my hat to tourism workers who do the dirty job of collating and filling up forms needed for the endorsement of tourism projects in LGUs, although they are paid to do that because that is their work. But they do not have to make things hard for themselves and the LGUs that are the beneficiaries of the projects. In fact I heard one Cordillera governor say to a tourism officer: “haan da kami nang aparigaten dita requirements yu ta sikami nga nabutusan ti pagungtan ti tao, haan nga sikayu!”

Another desperate move by the Benguet green team strategists is placing a paid ad in a local newspaper consisting of an assortment of “signatures” of supposed supporters in a “manifesto” for a congressional bet from the NUP, the former Lakas-Kamppi of Gloria Arroyo who is presently under hospital arrest for plunder. After the manifesto was published, many of the persons whose names appeared in the paid ad began calling and sending text messages to people belonging to the camp of Cosalan claiming that they never volunteered their signatures nor knew anything about the manifesto of support. Indeed, signatures can be availed of from anywhere.     

In Baguio, vote-buying in Irisan, in Long-long, Balite and other depressed barangays were allegedly committed by representatives of the green team, with the assistance of barangay chairmen. For those who fear of being rejected by a voting sector seeking for change, they have no recourse but to resort to vote-buying. At the same time, disqualification complaints were filed Thursday by LP Coalition mayoralty bet Jose Molintas against Baguio City re-electionist mayor Mauricio Domogan over alleged vote-buying through the distribution of educational cash grants worth P7,000 each. In his complaint, Molintas said that the money distribution was videotaped and posted in the Facebook account of NUP congressional bet Bernie Vergara. The city mayor allegedly indirectly asked the beneficiaries of the cash grants to vote for him and the congressman.

         

Be careful. We have seen bad things that have happened to the city during the administrations of the green team. We saw how Jadewell was allowed to make money out of our streets, the garbage problem and the Irisan trash slide that killed six residents, the ERS garbage machines worth P128M that did not help solve the garbage problem, the killing of 182 trees at Luneta Hill that was never stopped, and the proposed privatization of the athletic bowl and other areas in the market. If we put back to power the green team duo, I am quite sure that the worst is yet to come to Baguio. There are other choices for congressman. There are the yellow or red teams. For mayor, why not vote for Change this time. Take a look at Joe Molintas. He is yet the best choice. For councilors, bahala kayun nbasta include in your list the “Ibaloi Trio” namely, Peter Fianza, PoppoCosalan and Pops Carantes. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com