Negligence of city officials

The flood problem that happened in Cotabato City a few weeks ago is due to the negligence of its own city officials. Mayor Japal Guiani should blame no one else but himself. Has he forgotten that the responsibility of managing a city lies mainly on his leadership?

In the first place this problem of overproduction of water hyacinths could have been prevented long before the rains and the typhoon season came. Why did he allow almost 20 hectares of water hyacinths to grow and clog Rio Grande de Mindanao? Didn’t he see them growing and spreading a year ago? Why didn’t he think, speculate, foresee and try resolve this problem before it happened? Mr. Mayor, this could not have grown overnight you know? Susmariosep!

Now after the President’s ocular inspection in Cotabato, the mayor still has the audacity to quickly put the blame on P-Noy. Sanamagan!

On the other hand it peeves me to see P-Noy following the old tradition of handing out grocery bags to the people. Mr. President, you do not have to do that. You are the President. You have bigger obligations than just giving out food to the people. Let the DSWD people handle that. Send a team to help in distributing food but not you. Clinging to the old traditional “trapo” ways will only make you look more pathetic. Raise your head up high and lead the people with dignity. Your role is to throw out the “old” ways and bring in the “new” reforms!

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The rains didn’t stop over the weekend. Who is there to blame about the flooding but ourselves. I think the League of Mayors must meet (or have a general assembly) to talk about a massive action to clean up all their esteros (waterways). In San Juan for instance as you pass by small bridges you see the San Juan river full of garbage. You wonder why city officials don’t bother to clean the esteros. In other areas of Quezon City you see the same thing. Gina Lopez seems to be the only one cleaning up the esteros of Manila. She is the only one showing that “will” to get things done which all of the mayors must have. If my perception is wrong (about the mayors not taking action) then correct me and show us that everyone is involved in clean-up programs of the river ways and canals in their own municipalities.

Right after “Ondoy”, Felino Palafox Jr., created a blueprint of the flood plan for Metro Manila to curb the rise of water levels during the rainy season. He recommended clearing of rivers, esteros, waterways and lakes (which include fish pens). His plan aimed to establish century-old flood lines to resolve increasing water levels by diverting flood inflow from the mountains to Manggahan floodway toward Laguna Lake, thus preventing floodwater to enter Manila.

Unfortunately, the previous administration did not follow his recommendations. Palafox has sent the same recommendations to P-Noy for flood control with a warning that if the government continues to ignore the situation — Manila Bay, Lingayen Bay and Laguna Lake could meet.

One of Palafox’s proposals is to control flood in Laguna Lake by making road dikes around it with promenades and boulevards, and a water reservoir under the dikes. He said, “It is so ridiculous that we have so much flood water but we don’t have enough drinking water. In seven year’s time, we may not have any water to drink in Metro Manila and in 30 years, the whole country could be experiencing the same.”

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A few weeks ago I wrote about “The Disabled”. I also wrote about an establishment called Opus at Resorts World that denied a disabled person’s entry. One of the owners, Tim Yap quickly responded to my column in a positive way. His group wanted to meet Jose Cabaltera the person involved. They wanted to apologize. 

I was very happy that something good came out of it. There are groups that avoid the issue but here is one that takes it as a way to improve themselves and their work. I’m glad Tim Yap’s group made an effort to correct their mistake.

Here is what Time Yap wrote me: Thank you so much for taking my call and hearing our side. As you’ve said, “we just want to improve the state of things.” So here, it is, action is being taken to make sure it will be. Thank you for your understanding and for being open as well.

The meeting (between Jose Cabaltera and our group) went well and all parties agreed to move forward. We promise to do our part.

Here is the official statement of OPUS Restaurant on the issue: OPUS Restaurant and Lounge would like to express that we do not condone discrimination whether of persons with disability or discrimination in any and all its forms.

The recent incident with Mr. Jose Cabaltera was very unfortunate and truly not representative of our establishment. We however have taken full responsibility for the mishandling of the situation and we deeply apologize. 

We take pride in our service, and go to great lengths to ensure that all our guests are treated with respect, and we regret that in the said incident we did not meet Mr. Cabaltera’s as well as our own expectations.

We have personally apologized to Mr. Cabaltera, and are currently working with him to ensure that such an incident never happens again. Furthermore, we have made some key staff changes and will be instituting company-wide briefing sessions to ensure that our establishments are made more conducive to serve persons with disability better. We will also be working hand in hand with Mr. Cabaltera and his group to conceptualize an event at our venue to help raise awareness for Persons with Disability, the Circle of Friends Foundation and the Wheelmobile, as theirs is a cause that needs to be given greater attention in our society. 

May we reiterate that we deeply value our relationships with ALL of our clients and are committed to providing the highest level of service simply because our customers deserve the very best, and we thank Mr. Cabaltera for calling our attention to this issue and making us revisit this commitment with renewed vigor.

Thank you Tim. People who take a stand to make this world a better place are blessed. Kudos to your team! As for the issue on the Disabled, we shall continue to fight for your rights! God Bless us all!