PEOPLE, mostly young and claiming to be disaster survivors and environmentalist groups, staged a protest rally in front of the building housing the office of St. Gerard Construction owned by the flood control projects-blessed Discaya couple.
The protesters threw mud at the gate of the office building compound even as they shouted invectives while demanding that the contractors be prosecuted.
It was a good thing that the protesters have only gone that far. The protest could have gone worse had they replicated the actions of the protesters in Indonesia where they burned the house of the politicians they claimed to be excessively corrupt.
There is, however, a possibility that the protest here in the Philippines could turn for the worst and may morph into a major problem, not only for the contractors concerned but for the government itself. And the only way this could be prevented is by a sincere effort of the authorities to hold the erring contractors and their cohorts in the government, specifically at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), accountable for their illegal activities.
This the government should not delay to avoid suspicion that money is working its way into the pockets of certain officials.
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Irony of all ironies.
We Filipinos are now witnessing the investigation conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the now infamous deals between the DPWH and some 15 contractors cornering the multi-billion flood control projects all over the Philippines.
But in the probe edition some three days ago, we saw Senator Jinggoy Estrada asking what appeared to be the most damaging questions to Sarah Discaya, co-owner of nine contractor firms with contracts in implementing flood control projects. Some of the projects are unfinished very long after the deadline, some completed but destroyed seriously by the floods brought by the July rains, and others could not be found on the sites where the projects were supposed to be implemented.
But it is no secret that Senator Jinggoy is one of the senators charged with graft and corruption cases in that PDAF scandal courtesy of woman facilitator Janette Napoles who is now sentenced to life.
Estrada himself was convicted of the same offense. But his conviction came when he successfully made a comeback to the Senate. He also appealed his conviction with the Supreme Court even as he was allowed to post bail.
Now in the Senate probe on the issue brought about by the scandalous implementation of flood control projects, Estrada is the one asking the most probing questions to Sara Discaya and some DPWH officials.
Will Jinggoy’s playing an active role in the probe, supposedly to draw inputs “in aid of legislation,” be able to achieve the investigation’s purpose? If it will, can his tarnished image brought about by his conviction be redeemed?
We can only hope it can so that an exoneration of him by the Supreme Court will not be marred with doubts from the more discerning public.
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We agree with the recent move of certain establishments in Davao City to impose fees on vehicles parking in their allocated private parking areas for customers.
Frankly, we believe that it is not totally anti-customers. In fact, it would even be fair to customers bringing their vehicles while doing their shopping in the malls. At present, customers with vehicles are being deprived of spaces for parking while shopping for merchandise inside the establishments.
Why, because non-customers with transactions near the malls prefer to park their cars inside the establishments’ parking area for shade and security.
Now, the legitimate customers of malls often end up without a space to park and have to go somewhere else, usually far from the establishment they intend to shop.
But while imposing parking fees is the right of the businesses owners, they should not be given blanket authority to determine how much they should charge. It is imperative that the local government must intervene because it is the people of Davao City who will be affected by the imposition.
It is a good thing that Councilor Danny Dayanghirang was quick to notice the possible impact to the establishment patrons if the imposition of parking fees is not properly regulated.
For what is Councilor Danny’s being a veteran local lawmaker for? Good sense Councilor D.
