Babala

DILG Secretary Mar Roxas reportedly wants his people to investigate local government officials who were on vacation or stayed away for the holidays while Typhoon Seniang was destroying and killing people in their area of jurisdiction. This is a good first step at cracking the whip on absentee officials, but he should cast his net wider.

While he is at it, Secretary Roxas should go further and investigate elected officials who are not full time residents of their localities or who have not been reporting for work in their area of jurisdiction. The truth is, many elected local officials only work part time in government and the rest of the time either run businesses or earn a living elsewhere. Roxas should sit down with the Commission on Audit (COA) as well as the Civil Service Commission to launch a nationwide audit, study or survey on the actual attendance and time spent working by provincial, city, municipal and barangay officials. Roxas should also propose a law banning or prohibiting serving officials from residing outside their jurisdiction.

Roxas might also want to consider creating or setting up a system where people can anonymously send emails or SMS to report absentee, inactive officials or those with mistresses, gambling habits and remote properties devoted to maintaining women, horses, and fighting cocks.

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Approximately 20 meters away from my daughter’s school, some authority or government agency planted a three-foot high sign painted with eye-catching yellow. On the face plate of the sign is the message that reads: BABALA “ Ito ay nagsisilbing babala sa panganib na dulot ng pag galaw ng fault.” In English that would translate as: WARNING “This serves as a warning of the danger presented by the movement of the fault line.”

The sign has caught the attention of many people since it clearly sits on top of the “West Valley Fault” not to mention the fact that several townhouse developments as well as a grade school and high school is within 20 meters of the sign marking the fault line. This of course is no surprise since the last two years have seen enough stories from media to educate everyone that almost all the middle and upper class residences and businesses generally sit on top of the fault line. What makes people curious is why the sign or signs were put up.

The general impression is that it is a precaution or act to protect local government officials from the Mayor down to the Barangay Captain from billion peso legal action or life in prison in case an earthquake happens or the fault line moves and kills thousands of people that were given legal permission to construct, reside or establish businesses and communities on top of the fault line long after the danger and the risk had been clearly established by scientists and officials of the national government.

It reminds me of those “Waivers” that companies ask people to sign in the mistaken belief that just because you signed a waiver, people guilty of gross negligence or reckless endangerment can get away from court cases, damages or jail time. The fact of the matter is that local governments beginning from San Mateo, Quezon City, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, etc. are all aware of the clear and present danger posed by the fault line. While it is politically inconvenient or impractical to relocate people and structures in those places, these LGUs have no excuse for giving permits, clearances or to allow construction and occupancy within the danger zone. Given the scientific facts, allowing construction and occupancy thereof amount to reckless endangerment, criminal negligence and putting up those stupid signs simply confirms that the officials knew all along and resorted to the slogan “Buyer Beware”.

Aside from many townhouses and condos being allowed to build right along or on top of the fault line, I recently learned of a brewing controversy in the “Blue Ridge area” where a school called MIIS or Multiple Intelligence International School has acquired a 3,000 square meter property to build a 7-story facility. Residents in the area are up in arms in fear of the subsequent traffic and congestion MIIS will generate. But my bigger concern is that no one is talking about the FAULT LINE! Another school with maybe a thousand students on fault line?

Given the threat of the fault line and the observation of many that Metro Manila has become a “Failed City” we should all seriously consider moving schools and similar facilities outside the Metro boundary.

As for the LGUs, perhaps it is time for members of Congress and the Senate to haul these local Pontius Pilates who are trying to wash their hands from future liabilities. Haul them to Congress and hold them liable for intentionally prioritizing development and income generation over lives and public safety.

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Speaking of public safety, I’d like to call the attention of our pro-kids Mayor in Pasig, Mayor Maribel Eusebio to personally visit the Rizal public High school between Capitol 8 and Barrio Kapitolyo on San Ignacio Street. The entire front of the public school including the sidewalk, which should be for the use of students but has long been used as private parking of car owners, delivery vans and tricycles as well as dumping ground of odds and ends.

As a result students are forced to mingle all over the road or across the street before and after school, placing many of the younger students in grave danger from the many cars driving by. As I drive by the area many times of the day, I also noticed that there are no policemen in the area to somehow discourage drug peddlers or criminal elements. I know Mayor Maribel to be a hands-on mother who appreciates the need to provide safe zones and protection for grade school and high school students. Just because Rizal High is a public school, the students should not be treated as second-class humans! Please give them back the sidewalk and clear the road in front of the school so the tricycles or vehicles that bring them to school can pull over to the sidewalk.

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