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Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Sienes: Drowning justice with legal technicalities?
By Cris G. Sienes
Different Strokes
ONE very hot local issue, hotter than bottled ground pepper from Baganga in Davao Oriental, was the recent wrath and wrangling between members of the ethics committee of the city council and many of the city councilors.
The issue that divided them was the complaint against the barangay captain of Communal, Buhangin District. Communal is a very close neighbor of our own barangay, Cabantian.
Local media reports had it that the ethics committee of the city council had looked into the complaint against the barangay captain of Communal and had recommended his suspension.
One of the city councilors, however, who had affixed his signature to the ethics committee report, reportedly withdrew his signature and questioned the format of the ethics committee report. Other councilors also questioned the report.
The way we see it, the format of the ethics committee report was not that important, what was important was the meat of the report. Besides, as the ethics committee chair, Councilor Leo Avila, said, his committee had been using the format for a long time. So why question the format only now?
The bottom line here is that justice must be dispensed fairly. The main task of the city councilors, therefore, is to determine whether the barangay captain of Communal is guilty of the complaint lodged against him or not.
If he is guilty, he should suffer the consequences of his actions. If he is innocent, he should be exonerated. It's as simple as that, so our city councilors ought not to lock horns over the issue.
Justice should guide the city councilors in deciding on the complaint against the barangay captain of Communal. Justice ought not to be drowned by mere legal technicalities and other irrelevant considerations. Our city councilors should bear in mind that people are watching their moves in the city council.
The importance of justice cannot be ignored by our city councilors. As US District Judge Frank N. Wilson aptly put it in a judicial decision, "When you reflect on it, the only thing that allowed the human race to stop living as animals and to start living as human beings was by adopting a set of rules - a system of justice. Maintaining a system of justice in an orderly society is essential to whatever else people accomplish."
Meanwhile, the chairman and the members of the ethics committee have reportedly resigned. No doubt they could not stomach what their colleagues did to their committee report. It was the right thing for them to do to make people aware of what is happening at the City Council.
Judging from the text messages sent to a local daily about the issue, there appears to be a groundswell of public opinion against at least two of the city councilors who blocked the ethics committee report. This could affect their chances come the next local elections.
* * * * *
Many residents in Cabantian, particularly at Country Homes Subdivision, pay double for the water that they use.
Cabantian already has its own water system courtesy of the Davao City Water District. However, the water that comes out of homeowners' faucets is not of the same quality as Dumoy water.
The water is good for bathing and for washing clothes. But when it is used to cook rice, the rice turns yellowish. Worse, its taste is so dull and unpleasant that many homeowners do not drink it.
For drinking purposes, homeowners buy water from tankers selling Dumoy water. That's why they pay double for their water needs. They pay the DCWD for the water coming out of their faucets, and they still have to buy Dumoy water to drink.
A container of Dumoy water used to cost P4 only. It rose to P5, then P6. Now a container costs P7. No thanks to the never-ending oil price increases.
The Davao City Water District should improve the quality of its water in Cabantian, if this can still be done. If not, it should not price its water in Cabantian same as the Dumoy or Nawasa water that residents in the city poblacion consume. It's unfair.
The DCWD promised us a reservoir with filters to improve the quality of water in Cabantian, but when will the reservoir and the filters become operational? Sa nineteen kalawang?
Point to ponder: "Banish your misery and leave all things of substance, for society is of night but clamor and woe and strife. She is but the web of the spider, the tunnel of the mole." (Kahlil Gibran: The Procession)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (April 19, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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