BAYAN Muna senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares recently took notice when he criticized the loan that the country obtained from China for the Chico River pump irrigation project in Kalinga Province as “onerous.” It is the first flagship project of the Duterte administration under its “Build, Build, Build” program that is funded by China.
When the Chico River was mentioned, that brought back memories of one of the struggles that raised my awareness to local issues when I was a teenager. I remember Macli-ing Dulag, who was murdered in 1980 for leading the opposition to the Chico River dam project of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos that would have displaced the Bontoc and Kalinga peoples in the area.
I remember the defiant quote that has been immortalized by his death: “Itinatanong ninyo sa amin kung pag-aari namin ang lupa. At kinukutya ninyo kami, ‘Nasaan ang inyong titulo?’ Kahambugan ang pag-angkin sa lupa, sapagkat tayo ang pag--aari ng lupa. Paano natin aariin ang isang bagay na mananatiling nariyan kahit tayo’y wala na?”
The Chico River irrigation project under the Duterte administration is not as massive as the one opposed by the Bontoc and Kalinga peoples but it is a major project considering the loan amount: $62.09 million. Colmenares noted, though, that the loan has a high interest rate and the project would be built by a Chinese contractor (that, I say, would presumably be hiring Chinese workers).
The government, of course, through Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II, defended the loan procurement, noting that it underwent an approval process by the Investment Coordination Committee, which is an inter-agency group of government economic agencies. The response to Colmenares’s tirade was expected. What is interesting to me is the person “seriously” answering the accusation.
The first time I saw the man being interviewed several months ago, I thought his name and his rounded face was familiar. I googled “Smokey Mountain,” the singing group formed decades ago by music legend Ryan Cayabyab, and indeed among its members was a round-faced Tony Lambino. Who would have thought a Smokey Mountain member would become this serious as he aged?
Remember the hit songs “Kailan” and “Paraiso” in the ‘90s? Those were among the hits of Smokey Mountain, which had for its original members Lambino, Geneva Cruz, James Coronel and Jeffrey Hidalgo. They were youngsters then but Cayabyab was wise enough to also have them sing about social issues like environmental degradation.
Of the four, I think it was only Geneva Cruz who went on to have a successful career in local show business. Lambino tried to stick to showbiz but he eventually dedicated himself to his studies. In 1999, he was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. He completed his Master in Public Administration at Harvard University, has an M.A. in Political Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and so on and on.
Unlike the other former showbiz types like Lito Lapid, Lambino has substance.