POLITICAL DECEIT

SOMETHING SMELLS!

By Jose Ma. S. Jalandoni

As a rejoinder to my previous article, Political Apathy, I would like to emphasize the fact, all too well known, that many of our political incumbents always manage to twist the real score and change it altogether in their favor... to the detriment of the truth! This is why we hear the adage - politics is dirty. Today, politics in our city is extremely soiled, and for me, should be redefined. The way our local government has run the affairs of our city and our own attitudes towards all the allegations hurled at them need to be checked. 

It seems that our Mayor has one mantra in mind as he is quick to respond to most of the negative issues brought to his attention- that there is politics behind. This seems to be a catch all, no need to explain, you will understand what he insinuates phrase. And here the danger lies. We accept the answer and don’t bother to pursue the critical points that he ultimately fails to reveal. What exactly does he mean? That the flooding problem so dramatically delivered to him and the City’s councilors during the Caravan organized by the Bacolod Anti Baha Alliance (BAHA) last November 2007, had politics behind? Were we not scared last year when the waters rose at the dead of night and threatened lives? Several earlier attempts to bring the dangerous state of the drainage systems and waterways in our city were left unheeded. It was only after the caravan of 2007 that the Mayor moved. I keep reminding people about this. We have very short memories. 

In the most recent issue involving Brgy. Felisa, we detected a similar situation of political deception. Three years have passed since the residents allowed the city to dump our entire city’s garbage in their area in a Controlled Dumpsite. They have pictures to prove that this was what was agreed on with the city officials. It took only a few months that what was promised was reneged on. Brgy. Felisa’s dumpsite is, to this date, an open dumpsite, which is illegal. 

The BAHA group is getting into the nerves of Mayor Leonardia because he now realizes that there are people who are on to his maneuverings. It’s as simple as that. He has severed ties with the group. 

For four months, the group has sat with the local government in the Flood mitigating committee under the City Disaster coordinating council. The committee addresses key problems in the city - Flood control, housing and relocation, and solid waste management. In the last meeting held in October, the BAHA presented to the body the problem of the dumpsite. Footage of the dumpsite, the illegal burning of garbage in the area, the leaching of the garbage juice into the river hugging the dumpsite, the water source and Baciwa wells near the dumpsite- these were highlighted during that meeting. The move of the city to ram into the human barricade put up by the Brgy. Felisa residents one Sunday shocked the BAHA group prompting them to write the Mayor and demand an apology. What was done in Felisa was illegal, and downright immoral. Political deceit, pure and all too real.*