I’M HAPPY to read that Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia is elated and thankful that the city has been blessed and considered the best place to live in the Philippines.
Leonardia issued Executive Order No. 34, creating the committee for the celebration of Thanksgiving Day after the approval of City Ordinance No. 09-17-819, authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor, declaring the fourth Thursday of November of each year as a Day of Thanksgiving in the City of Bacolod.
He said the divine blessings sparing Bacolod City from the worst kinds of calamities and destructions and the Bacoleños’ resilience in times of adversities, paved the way for Bacolod to rise into a livable and prosperous metropolis.
The City Council also passed Resolution No. 1285 enjoining all Bacolodnons through the Office of the City Mayor to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on November 23 pursuant to City Ordinance No. 09-17-819.
Prosperous? How would Bacolod’s employment opportunities compare to Iloilo City? Cebu City? Makati? Mandaluyong? Quezon City? I know several friends who have relocated to the big cities of Metro Manila to find good paying jobs that they insist are unavailable here in Bacolod.
Well, I live here so that should make it livable. We have been spared from the worst in Typhoon Yolanda.
Are we supposedly be jumping for joy that we have frequent brownouts? Like, I have to finish this column Saturday evening because Central Negros Electric Cooperative has promised us on November 26, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. brownout? Or unannounced power outages that occur every so often that the power utility to post an apology in its website?
And oh, let’s not forget, Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) still has to provide Alijisnons and other barangay residents with potable water, 24/7. Although the water supply has improved somewhat, we are still deprived of water on a daily basis.
According to Baciwa, water flow might normalize on April 2018. I was told not to hold my breath, with the qualifier April 2018. I’m not assured. The water utility has a bad history of accomplishing its target within its timelines.
Now with the brownout, we can expect Baciwa to deprive us of water for one whole day. The last time this happened, water came back in the wee hours of the following day.
While at that, we have also the Department of Public Works and Highways who is in sync with Baciwa with missed timelines. November is almost over, and its target of finishing its flood control project in Gatuslao before the MassKara festivities seemed to have changed gear and perhaps is targeting to make Bacoleños suffer from the Christmas shopping rush.
The local government has a different definition of “livable.” Consistent brownouts. Water losses. Delayed public works projects.
Thanksgiving? I’ll celebrate that when we’re over the hump with these major, major inconveniences. (bqsanc@yahoo.com)