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How do they sleep at night?

Monday, 09 January 2012 00:00

There are 80 children, more or less, who won't be returning to the City Central School--forever. Many of these little boys and girls belonged to poverty-stricken families who were recipients of city hall's "piso-piso" lots in Sitio Cala-cala. Others lived in Isla de Oro. These are some of the areas clearly identified
by the environment department as places that are not suitable for habitation. Children died, for crissakes! What this-is-not-the-time-forfingerpointing
are you talking about?

Chances are, the parents of these dead children perished, too, in the Dec. 17 floods. They were poor and the feudal lord and his army of ass-kissers offered them lots, each for a one-peso token. They grabbed the chance, naturally. Now, their communities were flattened and they're dead because the
feudal lord never told them about the inevitable. What this-is-not-the-time-forfingerpointing are you talking about?

The feudal lord knew--or was in the position to know--what was bound to happen. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) repeatedly warned Cagayan de Oro's rulers about Cala-cala, Isla de Oro and other areas. The feudal lord was told that "stronger typhoons" were likely to result in
great losses in these flood-prone areas from September to December 2011. They didn't take the DENR and Pagasa warnings seriously. They turned a blind eye to the warnings and kept the crucial information to themselves. They kept the public in the dark. What this-isnot- the-time-for-fingerpointing are you talking
about?

Many people died without realizing that their rulers exploited their poverty and that the only reason why they became beneficiaries of the "piso-piso" was because their votes were needed. If this overlord and the Council of the Makapili really cared for them, they wouldn't be dead.

For the impoverished and homeless voters, it was a choice between the devil and the deep blue... um, shallow brown river of Cagayan. Never mind the risks as long as the Cala-cala and Isla de Oro votes were assured. It was the politics of the feudal lord that put them in the hawak-sa-patalim situation. It was
his love and obsession for his politics that killed all those people.

The dead could no longer vote and so their remains were dumped at the Landfill. Had they known, the same people might have buried the
feudal lord alive in the basurahan a long time ago. The trapos of Maguindanao had, for lack of a better word, the "decency" to bury the victims of the Nov. 23
massacre in shallow graves in the town of Ampatuan. But in Cagayan de Oro, the dead were literally trashed. Garbage--that's exactly how the feudal lord treated the very same people whose votes were held hostage by his "piso-piso."

The entire city was traumatized. I have yet to hear of anyone in the city who's unaffected, directly or indirectly. How many more will die due to
leptospirosis? And, as I write this, the health department has yet to sound alarm bells over the inevitable rise in the number of dengue cases in the evacuation centers. The aftereffects are still being felt. The nightmare is not over yet. The feudal lord, actually, was the first to point an accusing finger at the DENR, Pagasa and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). On national TV, he blamed the DENR for the unabated logging and mining operations as if city hall
can't be held liable for the forest denudation in Cagayan de Oro. He also tried to make it appear that there was no Pagasa warning when the fact is, there
was. And then he tried to make the NBI look like it was responsible for the cadaverdumping at the city dump. Yet, by his own admission, the order
to send the dead there came from him.

Cagayan de Oro lost about 36 thousand hectares of watershed since 1987. It's down to about a thousand hectares today, according to the
environment watchdog Task Force Macajalar. The revelation only means that the enemies of the environment have long been taking turns in raping the
city's remaining watershed areas under his nose. He has already ruled in the city for over a decade. Where was he when the orgy of forest destruction
was taking place in the city?

Why did he allow this to happen to Cagayan de Oro's watersheds? Sir, do not make it appear that logging operations are only taking place
in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Now that they could no longer point fingers and people's fingers are pointed at them, the apologists are
parroting the feudal lord's thisi s - n o t - t h e - t i m e - f o r - fingerpointing line. Make no mistake, he can never be a whipping boy.

A "whipping boy" is someone who is punished for the errors of others. The "piso-piso," the unpreparedness, the mismanagement, the disorganization, the crooked politics and all the bad governance that shamed Cagayan de Oro were not the "errors of others." It was city hall that erred. It was his
administration, not the "others," that screwed up big time. If he is being whipped now, it is because he has been a very naughty boy. That, of course, is an understatement. "OK lang po. Tatanggapin ko na lang po ang lahat ng ito," he said on national TV. Aba, eh, talagang tanggapin mo. Mean it or usapa na. Words are cheap. His rhetorics won't work this time.

It was his politics and the blind loyalty and subservience of the Makapili who swallowed hook, line and sinker all his orders that killed all those people.
Together, they signed the Dec. 16-17 death warrant. City hall has to pay. There was a betrayal of public trust. It failed Cagayanons before, during and after Typhoon Sendong. People died and those who survived are suffering. I say it's the right time to point fingers and make all those responsible pay.
Have they started counting all the children who were orphaned as a result of their shenanigans and inactions? I ask all of them: How do you
sleep at night?

What this-is-not-the-timefor- fingerpointing are you talking about? Tell that to the man who lost his entire family because of city hall's criminal neglect. Tell that to the suicide who, out of desperation, stabbed himself and slit his throat open before his little boy and other evacuees at the City Central School last Friday.
The line has been drawn after Sendong. The undecided have ceased to exist. A sleeping giant has been roused. Gather your Makapili and your army of
bootlickers, Overlord. Count them and prepare. The people are possessed by righteous rage and they are now beating their plowshares into swords. The
call to arms has been made and soon, there will be justice here and in the afterlife. There is hell to pay.

What this-is-not-the-timefor-fingerpointing are you talking about? The dirty old boney finger between my right index finger and ring finger is itchy, stiff and needs
stretching, and I see a lot of people already giving the middle finger. O 'yan, um, tanggapin ninyo. Pastilan

Criminal negligence

Saturday, 07 January 2012 00:00

By Susan Palmes

NORTH Carolina––Criminal negligence is defined as the failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public. It is actionable in all jurisdictions. In the future case of the people of Cagayan de Oro City versus Mayor Vicente “Dongkoy” Emano, et al, I tell you why it would prosper and has a chance of winning. The evidence is strong and convincing. Consider the following facts, which actually are public knowledge:

1. Failure to heed the warning issued by the local and national Pagasa on typhoon Sendong. Ignorance or no information at all is not an excuse and it can not mitigate the penalty. It, rather, aggravates the penalty for the respondents are public officials headed by Dongkoy Emano. He is presumed to know all the information as to the safety of the people;

2. Failure to convene the disaster coordinating team or council (if existing), even if it exists on paper only. This is another violation of the policy of the Local Government Code as local governments are mandated to have one;

3. Failure to inspect the issuances of mining and quarrying permits;

4. Failure to provide canals, drainage and safety nets at the “Piso-Piso” subdivisions before the “Piso-Piso’ people were relocated;

5. Failure to correct the failed communication system of the 17 barangays in rural areas a long time ago; and

6. Failure to see the impact of conversion of agricultural areas to subdivisions.

These should be discussed:

• Public officials should know the weather condition and to inform the people at risk areas and use police power to evacuate them. • It is the duty of the mayor and members of the council to create and train a disaster preparedness team, and for the council to provide funds for it. A similar but not as strong typhoon (Auring) in 2009 wrought havoc to Cala-cala. The city showed no preparation in responding to times of similar calamities.

• Small-time mining businesses at the rural areas have become a political concession, and the effect is just devastating. • Canals and drainages were constructed without thorough study and are not based on the master plan. More often the constructions are palliative (meaning temporary but permanent), compounded by the fact that the contractor of all the infrastructure in the city is one such that quality suffered.

• There is failure in the communication system of the barangays hit by the typhoons. The distress call could not be made properly since the Scantel line is an issue by itself.

• A number of subdivisions were issued by virtue of legislated stamp, and many of these were converted from agricultural areas. Additional evidence will be presented any time. But without being biased against Dongkoy and Co., the case is so overwhelming for careless, neglectful and willfull blind governance.

There is a clear case for failure to foresee what would have been avoidable. There is failure to foresee wanton disregard for human life. This is gross criminal negligence. As of this time, the case against Dongkoy et al is not a baby charge. It can stand the scrutiny of the court. But what makes his infamy more inhumane and bestial is the dumping of the dead at the garbage site. The case would become the voice of an angry people. Let justice fall on those who have held the reign of city hall for many years.

Why citizens expect cops to be supermen

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 00:00

No police officer can be like DC Comics' "Superman." Such is a work of fiction. Clark Kent, the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, does not exist. But in a way, policemen are supermen in that they possess powers and, supposedly, abilities above the ordinary. And collectively, they are a "super
organization," an "extraordinary institution." Consider the authority vested on the National Police and all the things police officers are tasked to do:

• enforce all laws and ordinances relative to the protection of lives and properties;

• maintain peace and order and take all necessary steps to ensure public safety;

• investigate and prevent crimes, effect the arrest of criminal offenders, bring offenders to justice and assist in their prosecution;

• exercise the general powers to make arrest, search and seizure in accordance with the Constitution and pertinent laws;

• detain an arrested person for a period not beyond what is prescribed by law, informing the person detained of all his rights under the Constitution;

• issue licenses for the possession of firearms and explosives in accordance with law;

• supervise and control the training and operations of security agencies and issue licenses to operate security agencies, and to guards and private detectives for the practice of their professions; and

• perform such other duties and exercise all other functions as may be provided by law. Also, they legally carry guns and have all
sorts of funds for their operations. How are they expected to carry out such tasks? Training. That's what they were trained to do.

My question for the city police director, Senior Supt. Gerardo Rosales, is this: Do ordinary citizens have these powers? The next time Rosales opens his mouth
and says "We are not Superman," think again. Of course, they are supermen. They are expected to be supermen. Taxpayers have been spending a lot of
money so the National Police could produce supermen. We have armed and equipped them. The government gave them all sorts of training to fight criminals. We even spent a lot just to send some of them abroad for "Schooling." In other words, we, the citizens, are paying them to be supermen. Yes, they are expected to be supermen.

But when we, citizens, demanded to see results, what excuse did Rosales give? "We are not Superman." And Rosales went on to say
something like this: Crime prevention is the responsibility of everyone. Such is a cliché that lost its meaning a long time ago--it's nothing but an overfamiliar motherhood statement used over and over again like a broken record. Sing it in some dingy karaoke bar like "My Way" and chances are... bang!
Honestly, I don't know if the cliché was intended as a palusot or simply because Rosales ran out of intelligent things to say. If crime fighting is the responsibility of everyone, then citizens must be at fault, too, for the cold cases piling up in the archives of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office. It's like saying "If only citizens were able to prevent crimes from being committed, there wouldn't be unsolved cases." If that's not plain and simple stupidity, I don't know what is.

Since when did preventing and fighting crime been a major responsibility of citizens? If citizens actively participate in the anticrime campaign, can Rosales guarantee that they won't be shot by criminals? Citizens can help the police catch criminals if they wish to-- and on their own terms. But the very risky business of fighting crime, sleuthing and solving cases can't rest on the shoulders of citizens. It just cannot be. Cops like Rosales, not citizens, are the ones who
have been sworn to protect and serve. They are the ones trained to do all these. Unlike the police, ordinary citizens aren't trained and paid to
fight and arrest criminals. They also don't have badges. And unlike Rosales, they don't have the rank of "colonel." We didn't give you that rank for nothing, "Colonel." Here's a piece of unsolicited advice: Stop being defeatist and get rid of that I-am-not-Superman rubbish. That line is for losers. Go out and catch us some criminals. Be a colonel. Pastilan.

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Dongkoy is facing a big Facebook problem

Monday, 12 December 2011 00:00

By looking at the photos, one could tell that UKC Builders did Mayor Dongkoy Emano so much disservice. The firm may be classified as a "Triple A" contractor but its flyovers, as clearly shown by Michael's photos, are far from being Triple A projects. UKC's equipment may be Triple A but I really doubt if its engineering is.

People don't mind cheapness as long quality isn't sacrificed. But these two gigantic "humps"... they are really cheap just like many of the China-made products we see in the market today. Cagayan de Oro can now boast of being the only city in the world that built a flyover with an artificial lake. When it
rains, raft wood down the flyover and call it "brown water rafting."

The ugly humps changed the city's skyline for good. The really bad thing about it is, the people of this city were never consulted. The Gang of Cagayan de Oro tampered with and vandalized the city's skyline big time just like that. It would probably take a group similar to Osama bin Laden's to nuke these ugly humps
back to kingdom come.

While driving the kids to School one morning, my attention was caught by a truck that slowed down on the Maharlika Bridge near the flyover. As it inched closer to the flyover, the truck moved slower and became jerky. It became obvious to me that the driver was having second thoughts. The truck was
overloaded with junk and it was going to be an uphill climb. The big question that confronted the driver: Drive straight or swer ve to the
right? Or, can this ugly hump withstand the heavy load? The driver made a split decision and took the risk. What amused me was that
no one followed. All the Cars swerved to the right.

I hate to even think about it, but a disaster is really waiting to happen there. When it does, blood will be in the hands of you-knowwho. Instead of helping the mayor score pogi points, the ugliness of the flyovers gave the Emano administration a very serious blow and exposed city hall's ineptitude. It was, using an
oxymoron, an "inadvertent sabotage." UKC just made Emano very unpopular. As I write this, Michael's original post
was shared 153 times, flooded with 115 comments and viewed by who-knows-how-many.

The discussion thread seems to be growing. For sure, Mayor Emano and UKC Builders' Dodong Uy won't find the comments flattering--or
funny, although many of the comments in the thread would make anyone unrelated to the mayor and the contractor really laugh.
I see that Benjo Benaldo, the gentleman from the 1st District of Cagayan de Oro, was among those tagged. He didn't bother posting
anything--not a word in defense of the Almighty Big Boss. It's understandable. If he did, the netizens of the Lone District of Facebook who have gone ballistic and were after some blood would have ganged up on him.

I saw the same photo on other Facebook users' walls and it looks like Michael's post is being cloned and breeding more and more discussion threads
outside the Real Estate broker's wall. It's beyond Michael now--the photo has already taken a life of its own. And now, even before the last comment could be posted on the discussion thread started by Michael, businessman Oca Salcedo posted another breathtaking photo on Facebook. The photo shows
city hall's solution to the flyover flooding problem. Simple: knock down the sides to create an instant drainage! The first reaction came from a prominent engineer whose post reads: "That's MacGyver doing an emergency drainage... galing ng Pinoy! Hehe... Ayum-ayum tawon for lack of a better description." Another added this post: "Car wash dayon sa ubos... Great idea!" Oca's post has spawned an entirely new discussion thread.

Judging from the discussion threads, there's so much dissatisfaction and dissent in Cagayan de Oro nowadays. People from all walks of life are angry and venting by way of making fun of the Almighty Big Boss and the gang of sit-down puppies via SMS and the social networking sites. It's becoming a craze reminiscent of the days of the Erap jokes leading to "Edsa 2." Mind you, the Erap jokes, passed on from one cellphone user to another via SMS, helped in igniting the second Edsa revolt. Yes, Emano has a pretty big Facebook problem and he probably doesn't even know it. He's too busy thinking how to win in the next elections he didn't bother learning how to open a Facebook account and knowing where and how to click the "like" button. How can Emano and Co., including UKC Builders, face a problem like Facebook? For sure, they can't buy Facebook. Pastilan.

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