Rumbling in Jueteng: Many media men are deprived of payola

In the recent visit of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala in Pangasinan, many would probably ask what the heck was that “Secretary’s Time” at 1:30 Pm to 3:00 Pm in the itinerary provided by his staff .

I was just lucky that one of my hao-shiao (fake media) pals took a peek at the list of the secretary’s destinations in the mammoth naked Princess Urduja province.

‘Secretary’s Time” is where Alacala broke breads with former governor Victor Agbayani at his residence in Lingayen town.

As a perceptive-wannabe and wannabe opinion writer, here is my poser:  Why would a secretary visit a losing bet in the last poll? Is something cooking with this guy Victor?

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At ito pa ang nasagap kong tsismis: There was already an explanation why Victor was defeated big time by incumbent Governor Amado T. Espino by half-a-million votes.

You ask former provincial information officer Ruel Camba who is that sitting mayor in the second district telling some mayors how Victor was defeated.

Ruel can tell you two juiciest details. But you invite him first to some honky tonks for a quid pro quo.

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A media man who told me he sent his children to college through “pitpit” (what is that?) told me there are two media organizations in Pangasinan marred with internal issues.

One, who has a leader who tell those who bother to listen to him that he is the best, has a sluggish attendance because members avoid it like plague because egos there are too much but monies from generous politicians are “No Mas (Spanish words of “No More).

“It’s the president who could solicit,” an old scribe commented in a column, “and members could fend for themselves whenever they are hospitalized or in a financial bind”.

“Mabuti pa iyong dating press club, kahit kawatan iyong mga presidenti pag nagkasakit ka may maasahan ka sa kanila for their intercessions to Good Samaritans.

The other media organization, run by women, are on the brink of fall-out.

Bakit? Kasi iyong other faction wanted to solicit funds but has asked their president to allow them with a blanket authority where to get funds from donors whom they have the power not to divulge.

Ano ba iyan? Dapat transparent para walang masabi ang mga members niyo.

A Chinese observer commented on this brouhaha:

"ラドクリフ、マラソン五輪代表に1万m出場にも含み @#$%^&*&!!!"

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I read a news headline in one of the local websites “Jueteng is Back in Pangasinan with a Vengeance” by lined by Brando Cortez.

I thought after the Court of Appeals has lifted out the Temporary Restraining order applied by Meridien Vista Gaming Corp -to operate Jai-Alai in Pangasinan, jueteng (that used this Meridien game as cover) goes to the abyss with it.

“Lalong lalakas iyang jueteng issue na iyan as long as some media men are not given their payola by the protectors in the province and in the cities,” a media man who writes in the national paper quipped.

A certain Harold Barcelona, who told me he was once a hot shot broadcaster, told those who dare to listen to his harangue that some media men are given P1000 a week from a protector.

He told me and those Manila based opinion writers that he would provide the names of those who are on the take in those radio stations and some local newspapers.

Was this Barcelona guy just envious because he was not given a payola he used to receive before?

(You can read my previous columns at http://dagupenosnews.blogspot.com/)

Abusive Trike Drivers in Urdaneta City

Tricycle drivers in Urdaneta City are no different to their counterparts in Dagupan City.

They billed with impunity a commuter even the distance of their service is less than a kilometer.

 A media man is willing to file a complaint so it can serve as deterrence to other abusive drivers in that burgeoning city.

He told me he rode a trike near Nepo Mall for Jollibee .

The driver billed him P20.

He said the seemingly ignorant POSO (Public Order & Safety Office) officer even sided with the abusive driver who has all the gall and confidence to agree with the passenger to accompany him to report his crime. The officer said the amount was above board if there was a stipulation between the driver and the passenger.

 But there was none.

“It is insane to bill P20 for a distance that was only half –a-kilometer. There should be an ordinance that should detail how much one should bill a passenger, and what corresponding penalties one should be meted,” the disgusted opinion-writer said.

Mayor Gregorio “Bobom” Amadeo E. Perez IV and Vice Mayor Onofre C. Gorospe could post at the blog of yours truly located at the bottom of this column when they want to invite the media man so he could formalize a complaint against this erring driver.

 The writer has the city number of the trike and the name of the POSO enforcer.

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Abuses of trike drivers in Urdanata should be stopped!

Let’s not wait that what happened in Dagupan City ensue there.

In the recent official visit of the vice mayor of a town in Iloilo, he was  excessively mulcted to pay P150 from Victory Liner to neighboing Lenox Hotel (less than half-a-kilometer in Distance) by  the proliferating “broad daylight” robbers in the Bangus City that got the goat of Mayor Benjie S. Lim.

Woe to the visitors that visit that city. They do not know the tricks to be spared by these abuses. The tricks one should know if they are in Dagupan:

1) Do not ask how much you are willing to shell; 2) Read how much bill you are going to pay at the fare matrix posted at the inside front mirror; and 3) Pretend that you are a wary city dweller even if you hailed from the mountain of Timbukto in Ifugao.

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A president of an organization in Pangasinan should still be learning the rope what makes a successful leader.

He should learn what made Mayors Nani Braganza and Lim of the cities Alaminos and Dagupan, the Mancalalays of Calasiao, and the De Venecias.

They are not only leaders who steer the progress of their constituents; they are leaders who intercede for their constituents who are in distress like hospitalization.

As what I heard, there is a snowballing disillusionment to this leader’s style.

They said even with issues that haunt the past presidents, they were there extending a help or two by tapping some selfless friends.

(You can read my previous columns at http://dagupenosnews.blogspot.com/)

Is Bani Mayor Navarro a schemer?

The Mayor of Dagupan City faced off again with the City Council led by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.

Now, it is about how much fare a commuter in the city shells out to the mostly abusive mulcting tricycle driver one can experience in the Bangus City.

If I am not wrong the Council wants a rider pays P10 for a two-kilometer ride, while Mayor Benjie S. Lim wants a wider kilometer.

Insider at the city hall only laughed at the majority of dads at the council. He told me that after the mayor had vetoed the proposed ordinance, the vice mayor and the majority of the councilors could only just bang their heads at the wall.

He said they could not muster the nine (9) two-third votes to over ride the veto.

He said even the eight (8) votes that they have been using before to ram the throat of the chief executive in his every proposed ordinance could no longer be emulated.

Political observers said one of the solons has been bought already.

They told me the vulnerability of this solon to change horses is his propensity to gamble in the casino.

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The looks of Mayor Marcelo Navarro of Bani, Pangasinan can be deceptive.
He does not look like a former police general who graduated from the elite Philippine Military Academy.
He is a soft-spoken person who projects refinement in life.
But some political spectators told me that when he left Lakas-Kampi Party to join the Liberal Party in the 2010 poll – that got the goat of his mistah Pangasinan Governor Amado T. Espino -
he has already in his mind the congressional post of the 1st District of Pangasinan.
But Lakas-Kampi and the governor’s bet Representative Jesus “Boying” Celeste was so strong than the ten Samsons combined that made Navarro backtrack.
Probably a follower of Sun Tzu and Carl Von Clausewitz he instead seek reelection for the mayoralty of his since-time-immemorial pathetic Navarro family run town Bani.
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Recently, he told media men of the Patrima Press Club in Dagupan City that the Sangguniang Bayan (Town Council) led by Vice Mayor and Atty. Filipina G. Rivera and the five members who composed the “tyrannical” majority conspired by disapproving all his programs.
They said they were not sitting on their jobs.
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One of the lady councilors Gwen Yamamoto said that they even increased the town’s budget for this year by P6 million.
They said if they were not doing anything, as what Navarro wants the media to believe, then those laws and the budgets they passed would not happen
They declared it is unfair for Navarro to accuse them of taking orders from Congressman Celeste in Bolinao and Governor Espino in Lingayen.
“We have our own decisions”, one of them stressed.
Now, Navarro, Vice Mayor Rivera, and the members of the SB all face a recall petition issue.
In-case Navarro lost in this election it means the people in Bani do not like him because they probably disliked his schemes and ineffective leadership.