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Saturday, July 09, 2005
Editorial: Apalit fire
NERO, according to legend, was fiddling while Rome burned.
Apalit Mayor Tirso "Pogi" Lacanilao - yes, the mayor who confessed and copped-out about jueteng payola - may not have done a Nero in the P20 million fire that struck the town this week. But he sure made himself scarce during and after the fire. He was, in short, missing in action.
The more sordid part of the story was that his town's fire truck was as unavailable and useless at that time to help put out the conflagration that could have gone worse were it not for the prompt and competent help of firemen from nearby municipalities and from Manila.
That firetruck, it turned out had, been out of commission since February. We don't know how the Apalit firemen marked Fire Prevention Month in March knowing fully well that they were next to inutile if a fire were to materialize right in their midst.
In fairness to the mayor, he wasn't probably aware that the firetruck needed repair. Had he known, he could have easily used part or all of what he said he was receiving from jueteng operations in his turf to have it repaired.
But this much can be probably said about him: the firetruck was the least of his concern.
Now, if a local executive can be so willy-nilly about a vital operational or administrative aspect of governance - forget about ethics and morality, in this case - his competence and commitment in other equally important areas of local governance are seriously cast in doubt.
Inevitably, other serious questions that eventually affect public service and welfare may be raised by the unfortunate fire incident that, hopefully will make the people of Apalit reevaluate the performance of Lacanilao and other local officials.
You'll never know when another fire will break out and it could be bigger and more destructive. Unless the firetruck is put back to work along with the firemen and the town officials. In that order, please.
Otherwise, some people just need to be fired, pronto.
CDC quarry
Now that that state-owned firm has assured the legality of its quarrying operations within the Clark Special Economic Zone, the public deserves to know how much it is earning from this mining activity and just how much the public, particularly those around Clark, are getting in return.
Surely, the bonanza cannot be CDC's alone.
The firm's or its concerned officials' transparency on this matter is important, particularly in clearing air of doubts or suspicion. Because, prior to this, there had been talks about a local official and his uncle at CDC pocketing a sizeable sum from the quarrying activities at the ecozone.
The public is tired of self-serving assurances. Being more factual than emphatic will be better appreciated.
(July 9, 2005 issue)
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