Quotes For Posterity 2: On the ‘Cars for the Baguio City Council’ Issue
Chi alerted us to the most recent issue of the city council voting to use public funds to issue themselves cars. By the way, we noticed she has switched from Chi from the Coooooool Clouds to Chi from the ‘Hot’ Clouds when commenting, and understandably so. Here’s the news link and there are animated discussions in two wonderful and influential blogs: Bill Bilig’s From the Boondocks and Jack Carino’s where you can head on over and vent, if you wish.
I am only going to join in as far as commenting in these gentlemen’s blogs, and chronicling here how these greedy people voted. Of course, with all the furor this recent move has made, “Mr. Clean” Peter Rey Bautista, who was not party to the shenanigans present during the deliberations is expected to veto it if just for his own (political) good, upon his return from China.
1. Only Antonio (Tony Boy) Tabora, Jr. has voted against it. Quote from the news item:
“Tabora Jr. described the ordinance as ‘infuriating’ because the allocation was done in obvious haste.
He pointed out that he had asked for a deferment but the majority of the councilors prevailed during the voting.
Tabora Jr. said that with the car for each of the councilor, the city’s woes could multiply as it would have to shoulder payment for the driver for each of the councilor, the gas allocation for each of the vehicle and the subsequent maintenance of the vehicles.”
2. Vice Mayor Daniel Farinas, to his credit, was quoted as saying:
“Baguio needs more garbage trucks and sanitary landfill as priority, rather than cars.”
———–
So, for the record, which councilors approved the move for the issuance of cars unto themselves?
- Balisong - as presiding officer did not have to vote, except to break a tie
- Tabanda - voted YES
- Weygan - not only voted YES, was in fact proponent of the move
- Rondez -voted YES
- Aliping -voted YES
- Balajadia -voted YES
- Palaganas -voted YES
- Cosalan -voted YES
- Carino -voted YES
- Bagbagen -voted YES
- Sembrano* - voted YES
- Tabora, Jr, - adamant about the councilors not getting cars, ‘NO!’
- Bayan, Jr. - out of the room during voting
- Panagan - out of the room during voting
*Freshman councilor who was against Rondez’s proposal for a market at Burnham Park, and whom I called attention to last month. Disappointing. Please read an update on that article, if you have the time.
———-
Whether this move is vetoed by the Mayor or not, please know what intentions were in whose persons hearts at this time, for future months and future elections. I am, of course, hoping, that our blogging and commenting about it alone will stop them.
In the latest issue of the Baguio Midland Courier, Baguio needs additional police patrol cars aside from the garbage trucks mentioned by Vice-mayor Farinas. So what is more important right now?
Also, I keep reading about councilors who are out of the session hall during votings. Are these tactics planned amongst themselves beforehand? Unintentional, intentional, or ‘gulang, ‘diskarte?’
Hi Resty,
In most cases, it’s intentional abstention, although I don’t understand why anyone should be ambivalent about the issue. Either they believe that local government officials should be issued cars or not.
In fact, they should be penalized for leaving the sessions, don’t you think? I mean, that’s their job — full time.
Hi Lisa,
Effing PORK BARREL! FOR COUNCILORS. Plain and simple. MAHIYA NAMAN KAYO! Mag-jeepney/puv na lang kayo. Ibigay niyo ang mga sasakyan sa PULIS na nangangailan nito. O di kaya ibili ng garbage trucks. SOBRA NA!
Joseph D. Lansang
public officials as well as “pastors” should live modest lives. certainly not for most of our city councilors. their request for a car plan is totally unnecessary considering that there are more pressing concerns hounding the city. Sembrano doesn’t need a car, she drives a BMW, wow! I guess my assets were right about her (see my comments on her becoming mayor). Those who go out of the session hall during votations, just shows that they cannot make a gallant stand or just like the mayor doesn’t have balls to stand up for what is right.
Do the councilors need a car? The Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Baguio has service vehicles with drivers, which they can readily use upon their request. They also have representation and travel allowance per month which they can use. 20 million is a large amount. they can use this for reforestration, solve the garbage problem or healthcare for kids.
Let’s see what pedz will do. this is a test case for him.
james
I have nothing against councilors having appropriated amounts for service vehicle. For the record, the city council approved not just the car. . . in fact it has alloted more funds for the priority projects of various barangays. . 2007 Annual Investment Plan of the City shows that for major development programs alone the amount approved is P54,731,023.00. . in the same manner they have approved P30,750,000.00 for Barangay Development Projects or a total approved amount of P85,481,023.00 . . .for 2008 which is stil pending they are in unison to approve the total amount of P60,400,000.00 and the council members are moving to increase the budget so that they can still raise the amount for development projects that will surely benefit not only the community but also the entire department of the city hall and national offices that the city is helping in terms of subsidy in their operation here in the city. . . the comments should not focus on one approved projects alone as it will make our elected officials in bad publicity . .let us also scrutinize all other priority projects that they have approved like garbage truck,police cars and all other request of various barangays, national offices and department of the city . . record will show in the Annual Budget of the City that all other offices including BCPO has requested vehicle and it is casually granted without hitches . . . the purchase of additional garbage truck is underway and so forth and so on. . . and listen to this, the City Mayor and the Vice Mayor and the whole department of the City including some national offices who received subsidy out of the City’s coffers has their own cars purchased out of City Government Fund . . now, if these offices is allowed to be alloted vehicle why the Councilors are not? Isn’t that they are elected officials too and officers of the City? In fact, the vehicle will not own by the Councilors becuae it is own by the government . .it is a city property that will fall under its Assets . . meaning if this elected officials will end or leave the office then the vehicle assigned to them will stay so that other incoming officials will use the same . . in a simple understanding, a computer or a tv set purchased and assigned to a certain office or to the city councilors is not the property of a councilor. . .since it is a city property . . . . are we going to say that these councilors are not entitled to this privileges? . . because they are just councilors? . . the people should be outrage on the issue these councilors will approved the purchase of their assigned vehicle but garbage trucks are not or school building is not, road improvement is not and all other projects that will redound to the benefit of the general public . . . And I do not believe that these elected officials do not know of the approval of the vehicle, whatr I know is that before a councilor will move or proposed the issue is consulted to their colleague so that this will gain support if not it is just a waste proposal . . in fact, in the sunstar issue of today front page, Councilor Weygan, countered the statement of the City Mayor Bautista that he doesn’t know about it, because accordingly, Mayor Bautista knows about it before he went to canada and added that the City Mayor even asked for additional funding for his car so that it balloned to P4.6 Million . .so who are we going to believe now? . . . But one thing I know for sure . . the City Council Approved the purchased of vehicle in “good faith” because they have also approved more than the needed amount of priority projects of the City . .and that I beleived that, If the City Mayor, the Vice Mayor, the department heads, the heads of some national agencies, the BCPO are entitled to such privileges then the Councilors are also entitled because they are also a public servant . . . to go further, yes the City Council has two (2) Van for the use of their department but lets face it, there are 15 members of the Council, if just three(3) of these members needs a service vehicle for the same dates and time for their official function then the other one will have no service to use, not only that there are at least five (5) divisions of the City Council and they too needs service vehicle for their official functions . . . . . in conclusion, let us present to the people the totality of the issue not to single out the approved project, in that way the the one who read the publicity have the option to weigh the approval of the same to compliment anybody’s argument . .that’s all!
hello
heloo. .ok lang yan
Thanks for the link. I made another post and linked to your article so people will see how the councilor’s voted. You are right about us blogger’s focusing on this. Hopefully, the mayor will veto this shameful budget legislation.
i believe we’re focusing on it simply because it reeks of impropriety.
do they really love baguio? or shall we as a collective people force them to leave baguio! Let us see what our travelling mayor will do. Veto it or approve it. Then we can take the action in the streets and march and express our disgust. Abangan. People are really anxious to march to city hall and speak up.
Kakahiya, kapalmuks nila.
Cars for public servants??? Who is this Farinas? What is he thinking? Are these people real? They think that being elected as officers they will be served by the people as Kings and Queens. These people should know what they’re in for before taking the job. They’re supposedly public servants. They should take the jeepneys like every ordinary people (not to mention saving the planet). Buy the garbage truck if there’s fund available. The officials should set their priorities or resign from your post if all you need to perform your job is having a car publicly funded. What a shame.Where’s their sense of pride owning something that they worked hard for? If you can afford a car, buy it yourself. Who will maintain these cars???? Be prepared Baguio folks, people in city hall are in spending spree. Maybe we should all ask for a little something for Christmas. Merry Christmas!!!
hi lisa,
“councilors okay car plan in good faith.” title of a news article. but one can put a spin on almost anything these times. truths become lies and lies become truths.
Hi people,
any update on this issue? sobra na yan! let’s be vigilant. wag natin hayaan na makuha nila ang gusto nila. baka sa susunod bahay at lupa na hingin ng mga yan. “public servant” pa naman sila. sana maging role models sila. kung mapapansin nyo ang baguio roads ngayon sobra na traffic. tapos dadagdagan pa nila ng 14(or 12?) na bagong luxury cars na gastos pa ng bayan!!!!!!!!!
Ngayon ko narerealize na tama ang desisyon ko wag bomoto nung nakaraan eleksyon dahil sa tingin ko walang nararapat na umupo opisyal sa baguio.
yun lang.
if you intend to be public servant, dont expect for privileges. Be of service for others and not for yourself. Kung kulang ang sasakayan ng sangunian panglungsod, e di dagdagan, diba, common sense. No need to give each counilor a venicle. Very disappointed and marami, lalo na sa mga bagong councilors. Next election, hwag na sila iboto. at yung mga karapat dapat, tama na ang reklamo, takbo na kayo, boboto ko kayo.
james
hi lisa.
it’s been a while since i read your pages. this is really a disgusting resolution. a real public servant will feel, breathe and mix with the masses to get their pulse. providing these already insensitive elected public servants with cars will just further immunize them from what is really happening in the city and its people. tabora is right. this is just the beginning of an ostentatious display of arrogance and squandering of public funds.
the piece you wrote about what can be done is a masterpiece! with a macrovision like that maybe you should be the mayor.
as a descendant of one of the pioneers of baguio but sadly now living in manila, you make me feel guilty of treason and dissertion in the midst of battle. through your site maybe i can make restitution and contribute in the war effort of restoring the grandeur that was once the pride of the country.
baguio no longer needs a master plan. my grandfather himself left the city in defeat unable to stop the mutilation of the plans his comtemporaries set out when they began building in 1916 and again in rebuilding after the war.
what is needed now is a martial plan >a restoration movement and vision planning for the future, taking stock of the mistakes, foibles, short-sightedness and plain stupidity of past admnistrations.
baguio is not alone. all over the country, the pain from envronmental to socio-cultural damage inflicted by abusive and insensitive governance is felt by everyone who is still human.
thank you for keeping the flame of concern and love for one’s hometown brightly shining in our hearts. thank you for coming to baguio.
How to Spend P20-M????
It’s been almost a week since this P20-Million car plan thingy came and I am still in this mode.
The unmasking of Baguio’s “Character City” campaign into a “CAR-acter City” malady was a letdown really.
Just how can one call something that depreciates in value an asset?
Lately, me and my friends tried to be as “upbeat” as the councilors. If we had P20-M in our hands, or even that proposed One Billion city budget, we thought where we’d spend the money, and so we dreamed quite “wildly” for Baguio.
First, we thought there was an urgent need to decongest the city’s streets.
The private cars are parked everywhere while the public utility vehicles have encouraged vendors who make the sidewalks so squalid with their solid and liquid wastes dumped into the canals especially.
Enough of these stench and ugly mess.
A multi-level parking system was needed, we thought, with at least 5 buildings that would be so strategically located to become effective: 2 at the market area, 1 near City Hall, 1 near Session Road, 1 along Gen. Luna. (And this plan should never mess up with the Burnham Plan, of course!)
Next, we did the math and felt so frustrated.
At the rate prime lots are going up in Baguio, even a Billion budget for just one lot would be inadequate to meet our “wild” simple dream.
We concluded: “Why are the councilors behaving then as if Baguio has oodles of money?????”
Grrrrrrr…..
erratum
in my comment of 11-24-07 i mentioned baguio needed a martial plan. i meant MARSHALL plan similar to the european rehabilitation program after world war II but a modern one that will include all the new and emerging socio-political-cultural-economic-psychological dogmas developed over the last 60 years. Padma has also contributed quite a load of sensible actions on what can be done.
perhaps the value of being away for seven years enables me to take a look at the city in a more objective manner (which i will still need to master) and better equipped to be be detached from an issue so close to my very being like a doctor having to operate on a member of his family.
baguio’s problem is not isolated and is duplicated in every major city in the world as part of the systemic malady that afflicts human civilization. what you see in baguio is the micro-manifestation of a global-wide damaged culture where even as far back 100 years ago, Rizal already referred to as “social cancer”. as a living organism, a society will always reflect the pulse of its members. our apathy towards graft and corruption and distorted values and poor taste in urban planning is similar to that of healthy cells that allow a cancer cell to eat everyone up and eventually destroy the entire system including itself. and that is what our cities are..a reflection of a culture out to self destruct.
a new world view has emerged over the last 20 years and although still at its infant stage is already proving to be the solution to organizational and social concerns. i am referring to the quantum world view and mesomorphic field concepts that appear to be at the forefront of the information revolution and heralding a new world order.
the first step in solving a living system’s problem is to accept that the individual parts are a manifestation of the whole and are interconnected within the structure. when we impose external solutions hoping it will seep into the culture, history has proven this method fultile. no matter how beautiful and clean we make a city etc, a people that have no sense of beauty and cleanliness will always turn it back into the dump and squalor they have been accustomed to (comfort zone). we will need to work more on the inside (values)and the reflection will show how successful we are with the transformation. a people who value order, health, cleanliness and beauty will manifest the same without need to be threatened with sanctions (fines) or deprivation (holding back garbage collection).
that 20M can be better off starting a cultural revolution/reformation/transformation through a multisectoral summit that will make baguio residents take a look at what we are doing to ourselves and setting up the gas chamber for future generations.
we can even already start with our own families, homes, backyard, neighborhood and when a collective consciousness has evolved, come together and share information and ideas on how the whole rather than the parts can be addressed.
one sector alone will not be able to solve a social problem. we will need to act as a whole as the action of one affects the other. it will not make sense to keep our backyard clean by throwing our garbage next door. let us reflect on how our actions affect each other and make adjustments so that everyone can live together in harmony.
THINK GLOBAL. ACT LOCAL
my typo errors reveal the hastiness in releasing my frustrations and dispensing my thoughts. in relation to the new world view, i meant morphic field (Rupert Sheldrake) and not mesomorphic.
as i let off steam, i gain clarity in seing what can be done. thank you lisa for this forum.
Rupert Sheldrake’s theory on morphic fields is but a new term for the principle of Karma and the evolution of consciousness.
This has been tackled lucidly in (Baguio’s very own) Dr. Katrin de Guia’s seminal book, “KAPWA: The Self in the Other,” published by Anvil Publishing.
Lisa and everyone commenting: Thank you for your comments. They’re enlightening! I fully support Mike Arvisu’s view of changing values.
AS for the car plan - first let’s look at the motives of the city government officials for requiring a car. I think it’s their way of showing “I’ve arrived.” I bet they can’t go to City Hall on a pony (from Wright Park) because they don’t know HOW TO RIDE A HORSE, let alone get on one. They never did have the energy to walk to Wright Park, as any Baguio-born kid could do — and learn how to ride a horse, one of our trademark “Baguio symbols of being The Mining Town of Benguet.” They’re probably too weak inside as they are outside. And as you could see, there’s not much “park” left in front of City Hall. Thus, the car plan. Second, they’ve timed it for the Fil-Am Golf Tournament. To show all those balikbayans (who can now play golf, thanks to working overseas) that they “can make it” in their own country - if they learn to be another group of people - “manloloko.” (The Indian saying goes, “There are only 2 kinds of people in the world” - those who deceive and those who allow themselves to be deceived.) And on this Indian saying, I end this comment because Lisa has just had a “Let’s go around Baguio” moment.
How long will the Baguio citizens allow themselves to be deceived by a group of deceiving politicians? (then I’ll move on to part 2 on this car issue)
I don’t really understand why people needs a car in Baguio. It’s a lot easier and greener just to
walk or take public transportation. These councilmembers who want a car should know better.