Is the PNP so inutile in stopping spoiled brats?

In case you have time today, there is a forum dubbed “Views and Prospects for 2011: an Economic Briefing at the Hotel Elizabeth along Arch. Reyes Ave. from 1:00pm to 5:00PM hosted by the Cebu Business Club (CBC) and the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (MCCI), which should be interesting to hear, given the fact that the New Year 2011 just started and we’re already experiencing so many problems not only here in our country, but throughout the world, as well. A good question to ask is why global recession has remained when we’re supposed to have moved forward by this year?

To give the Economic Briefing, there’s Prof. Perry Fajardo, executive director of CBC and he comes from the Economics Department of the University of San Carlos and with him is Ms. Maritess Allen President of the World Feng Shui Philippines. Admission to this briefing for CBC and MCCC members is P600 while non-members are P700.

Notice the presence of the Feng Shui expert? Well, I guess that’s for the benefit of our Tsinoy’s who make up majority of our local businessmen in Cebu. Indeed, when economic logic no longer works (God knows how many Harvard educated economists are scratching their heads as to why the US is still in recession), at least we Asians turn to some kind of geomancy to find out whether our Yin conforms to our Yang. Kudos to the CBC and MCCC for this Economic Briefing. At least in Cebu, our economy has not suffered as much as the rest of the world. So we must be doing something right.

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If you think our nation has not moved forward, it is because government agencies are inutile against those rich and the powerful politicians whose siblings more often than not defy even the police because they think that they are above the law! I would like to believe that we are still a nation of laws and not of men, but I still cannot fathom today’s reality why our authorities cannot put Joavan Fernandez behind bars. Sure, he is the son of my good friend Mayor Soc Fernandez, but so what? Is Joavan above our laws?

If Joavan was a Mr. Nobody, I guarantee you that he would be languishing in jail right the very first time he encountered our police officers. Somehow this fellow gets into the news headlines every now and then, proof that our Philippine National Police (PNP) cannot stop this spoiled brat. Now even our beloved Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has pleaded to Mayor Soc to discipline his son… but then so many friends of Mayor Soc has given the same advice, but to no avail. If Mayor Soc still has some respect left in him, he should personally make the arrest of his own son because he has become a liability to Talisay City and a shame to all peace-loving Cebuanos.

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Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon, chairman of the Council Committee on Urban Housing, has called upon Mayor Michael Rama not to give up on relocating informal settlers especially along the Mahiga Creek. Wait-a-minute! I thought Mayor Mike was serious in pushing for this relocation? Is he starting to waver? I fully concur with Councilor Dizon’s suggestion to the Mayor. But as part of Cebu City’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management, we should not only concentrate on Mahiga Creek, but also take into account the many other esteros, rivers and creeks which have been clogged due to illegal settlers.

If I have anything to suggest to the Cebu City Council, they should also ask the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to identify the areas that are clogged with illegal settlers and come up with a five-year program to remove them and, more importantly, come up with an ordinance that punishes anyone building a structure in the areas that have already been cleared.

Let me point out to Mayor Rama that clearing the Mahiga Creek will not stop the flooding because the Mahiga Creek passes through the border between Mandaue City and Cebu City. Last week, we wrote about that concrete house behind hole no. 13 at the Cebu Country Club. Apparently, I was mistaken… it is not one house, but three houses. There could be more houses that we cannot see from that hole. So calling Mayor Cortes to clear this! 

Talking about the Office of the Building Official (OBO), it is time for the City Council to come up with measures to ensure that there is equitable treatment in this office. Try getting a building permit from OBO and it would take a long time for you to get it. But if you are an informal settler, you can build anywhere you want and OBO cannot do anything about it. Hence, the City Council should come up with measures where the OBO can have the budget and the personnel to remove illegal constructions anywhere.

Again, let me point out that there was no need to call for a State of Calamity because our local government units (LGU) were tasked by the Regional Development Council (RDC) to clean up rivers, esteros and creeks. The calamity really is the sheer negligence of our Mayors in not clearing up those structures that clog our waterways, which cause the flooding.

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Email: vsbobita@mozcom