Wednesday, September 05, 2007 Editorial: Auspicious creation
THE City Council's creation of an anti-crime board may yet be another layer of bureaucracy in the growing list of agencies that give a local perspective on functions otherwise performed by National Government agencies but then that's what one gets when the Emano administration is in play.
Let's look at some of these agencies: the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) whose functions are taken off from the Land Transportation Office (LTO); the People's Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) whose functions mirror those of the National Police Commission (Napolcom); and now this latest anti-crime board whose forerunner is the Mayor's Action Squad for Assistance (MASA), another Emano creation.
The RTA itself evolved from the Traffic Management Bureau (TMB) during the administration of then Mayor Pablo Magtajas. But to be specific, this anti-crime board was the brainchild of the administration Padayon Pilipino in order to give some functions to now Vice Mayor Vicente Emano, whose duties somehow fluctuate in the City Council according to his whims.
The local opposition was right when it implied that the anti-crime board was intended to cover up Emano's glaring deficiencies in chairing the council and give him more or less top profile in the city while leaving some of the legislative functions to his underlings, er Padayon Pilipino partymates, in the council.
Not that the local opposition would deny themselves an opportunity to chair such a board if and when it comes but certainly they would want to do it their way in as much as Emano wants to do it his way.
Then again, Emano admitted that he wasn't cut out for legislative work which he described as "being saddled with too much talking and not enough action" or words to that effect.
Which is why there is this anti-crime board that allows him to establish his own connections with the police and other law enforcement agencies and gives him something to do that's about as near as his former executive functions as mayor with now Mayor Constantino Jaraula's blessings of course.
But then again let the public give this anti-crime boardroom to operate if only to address certain crimes that occur in Cagayan de Oro that preceded its creation by the City Council.
Also, Emano may want to turn over the chairmanship of the council's blue ribbon committee since he may be too busy running the board as well as letting his, er, Padayon Pilipino people, run the City Council show.
