Those who oppose the president are now complaining about his clean-up project of Manila Bay. They oppose the current administration because he is not part of “their group” and they object to everything he does. However, national leadership has done much more than what his detractors claim; accomplishments they choose to be blind to.
When the administration campaigned against illegal drugs, the opposition complained.
A lawyer noted, “Even the church has not [declared] they are against illegal activity.”
A teacher shifted gears and began discussing election period habits.
“Some sectors in Bacolod City are cleaning up their barangay communities, which have been stinking and dirty for decades,” they said. “[But] they only clean up since it is [the] ‘election campaign [period]’ – how amusing politics is – but [while] they were in power for the past three years, they never lifted their hands to clean their barangays.”
The teacher then brought up an issue this column discussed just last week about dirty public markets. In the piece, I noted, “Many believe the local health office is solely concerned with giving out sanitation permits (without inspections).” This point was affirmed by the teacher, who stated, “City health officers are now issuing health permits to business establishments without even actually inspecting the sanitation standards of the business.”
“When a fire hits boarding houses is only the time authorities inspect dormitories,” stressed a banker.
Also in the aforementioned previous column, I asked, “Visit a public market and look where the meat is being sold, check if the floor is clean, then ask yourself when was the last time a firetruck sprayed down the area?” The teacher posed a similar statement: “Local officials have not even asked firemen to [conduct] a monthly clean-up of these places that sell the food [to] residents.”
The group also discussed the lack of concern exhibited by barangay officials over cleanliness and road obstructions.
An engineer chimed in: “You know this is election time and local officials who dream to be reelected are literally afraid to lose votes so they allow and blindly tolerate all violations by squatters, road vendors, erring drivers, illegal vendors, illegal traders, trisikad drivers, and what have you as long as they get their vote – what’s new?”
“Ask the politicos and they will quietly agree,” they added.
The group felt sad about the scenario today.
“Who cares?” the teacher pointed out. “It is winning, and not accomplishment, that is most dear to all candidates.”
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This column greets Rodel Parcon, Marlon Navarro, Mon Gochuico, Myla Abellana, Pete Gellada, Pipoy Olaira, Renato Novero, Ritchie Macabane, Rennel Napial, Sandra Gomez, Ray dela Paz, Richard Oquendo, and Roland Jubilag./WDJ
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