A little more patience

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- COVID-19 pandemic reports by both private and government sectors contradict in the number of new cases. Government says it is increasing but “we know where the virus is and it is controllable” while private research groups say otherwise.
    Those in government hospitals also took note that the infection rate or the number of people that a COVID-19 positive can infect dropped from three people sometime in March when the pandemic was announced to more than just 0.70 percent or less than one person.
    These could be the reasons why some government officials who wanted to restart the economy reduced restrictions on physical distancing on public transport, shortened curfew time to four hours and allowed more people outside of their homes.
    Although amid the observation that some businesses have loosened restrictions, people have become aware of the unfair treatment being applied to them by the authorities. For example, weight-lifting gyms were allowed to operate while karate, kata and exercise gyms where physical contact could be controlled were not.
    Another government order being questioned is why casino gambling rooms were allowed to operate daily at 30 percent attendance of people while churches and other houses of worship were only allowed some five hours on weekdays at 10 percent sitting capacity. It is like saying, it’s more okay to go gamble than to go pray or worship. 
    With these developments in mind, chief executives and other officials in Metro Manila agreed to ban all holiday gatherings to prevent a new wave of infections, including Christmas parties, although such a decision appeared to aggravate the restlessness caused by the pandemic.
    Due to the reality of exhaustion caused by the pandemic, people are not wearing masks properly, people wore face shields as visors, grocery and market goers no longer sign the contracting tracing logbooks, temperatures are not checked, and people are spreading aerosols by conversing loudly without their masks on.
    In other parts of the country however, people are still aware that they have to be very careful and cautious for fear of getting the COVID-19 infection. In their thoughts it is risky to be sacrificing the health of even just one member of the family by holding parties, not knowing that one of the visitors is asymptomatic and spreading the killer virus.
    Control your desires this Christmas. We have all become restless of our situation but it is better to be safe, healthy and negative through December than being infected, becoming positive, hospitalized and cremated in January. Surely, people can have all the holidays and celebrations they want in the future if they move around with caution and a little more patience.
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A little more patience too is needed in Benguet. There is something wrong in the choice of government infrastructure projects being implemented. Passing through Kennon road, one sees several curtains hanging on slopes but there are no windows.
These “curtains” are called rock-nets or rock-netting projects. These are not as essential as farm-to-market roads and bridges that farmers and an agricultural province such as Benguet need, but the rock-net is being installed just anywhere because that is where the big moolah share is deducted if it has not been “donated” in advance.
    By the way, I received a photo of a rock-netting project recently implemented at Barangay Nangalisan, Tuba which is certainly non-essential. Even so, such projects are programmed and implemented because DPWH engineers are influenced by district representatives. Maybe not all.
    Sen. Panfilo Lacson last week said that it has become an open secret that lawmakers and officials of the DPWH ask for “kickbacks” from contractors who won projects from the agency. Contractors have been openly talking behind the back of department officials and lawmakers who have been asking for commissions, he said in a news report.
    Sen. Lacson said, officials from the executive and legislative branches who ask for “only 10 percent are mabait, maginoong kausap, (kind, gentlemanly), and those who demand 20 to 30 percent are matakaw (greedy), while those who demand advance payments and renege on their word are balasubas (swindlers) and mandurugas (cheaters).
    In many districts in the country, including Benguet, the situation now as compared to the past is that we see the presence of the “matakaw” because of the high percentage demanded. According to contractors I talked to, the demand has reached 35 to 40 percent, especially for non-essential but “special” projects such as “rock-netting.”
    Sen. Lacson’s statement: We also know that district representatives almost always use their influence in having their “favorite” district engineers assigned to their districts for a very obvious purpose – to have full control in the implementation of their “pet projects” funded by their insertions in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).
    The senator continued: “The question is, can the DPWH Secretary stand up to the pressure exerted on him by the congressmen? As we already know, the answer is obviously no. And no matter how the secretary denies it, nobody is ready to believe him. We also know that it is the root cause of corruption.”
    “Almost anything that has to do with politics in this country breeds corruption. Politics becomes evil when self-aggrandizement and greed come into play – whether it is in aid of reelection or enrichment of an elected official while in power, the result is the same. Worse, these people do not know when to stop once they have started.”
    I was told that Benguet caretaker-representative Eric Yap of ACT-CIS partylist will run for congressman in the province in 2022. My unsolicited advice is for him to prove this plan by registering with the COMELEC as a voter in Benguet as early as now because anyway he has been coming to the province for almost a year now.
    Hoping against hope that Cong. Yap will honestly get the votes necessary to win even while he is not from here. I am comparing him to the late Benguet board member Jack Dulnuan, a true and dedicated, beloved public servant, farmer-businessman who married a Benguet lass, that even with a very high popularity rating, never won a gubernatorial race for governor of the province. His only fault was that he was born in Ifugao.
    People say, Cong. Yap is giving away as much as P30,000 to P50,000 to local chief executives in Benguet when he meets them. His right hand man, according to a kapitan in Bokod, is also distributing P3,000 to P5,000 each to the kapitanes in the province.
    But obviously, anyone other than Cong. Yap, who could be awash with money contributed by contractors, friends, businessmen, or the person’s hard-earned money, can buy his way to the position he wants.
    But that is an insult to Benguet voters. No, we do not sell our votes, especially to someone who is not from the province. Also, Benguet voters do not approve of all political bets who have other hidden interests, aside from sincerity to serve. Be a little more patient, we will get over this.