Brutus

“He was my friend, faithful, and just to me; But Brutus says, he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man.”Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

In what apparently is in pursuit of her education agenda, Congresswoman Janette Garin facilitated the construction of several multi-purpose gyms within the premises of several public schools including Miagao Central Elementary School. Implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the structure, once completed,is intended to be used for school programs and activities, physical education classes and waiting area for parents. From the get-go, the project was apparently very much supported by the teachers, the students and their parents, its completion eagerly anticipated in time for this year’s graduation exercises. All of a sudden, the Building Official of Miagao issued a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) against the DPWH. A sort of pediatric coitus interruptus if I may say. Killjoy.

Enter Brutus, err… Gerry Flores. Last February 3, 2012 during an interview in Aksyon Radyo Board Member Gerardo Flores admitted to being the mastermind behind the non-issuance of building permit for the ongoing gymnasium in Miagao East Central Elementary School. Read: Gerry Flores grabbed the Building Official by the balls and had him sign the CDO. That should hurt; especially to the teachers, students and parents – stakeholders all. Never mind the Building Official: he has no balls.

We are also reminded of the Garin-Flores turf war: once Garin takes care of the turf, Flores goes to war. For countless of times, Miagao turned out to be an ex-future recipient of government projects because Gerry Flores deems it honorable for Miagao NOT to accept the projects. If not for a few but hardy and courageous Punong Barangays of the Municipality, Miagao would have gotten a big fat egg as regards these development projects. These true Honorables had the guts to stand up against Gerry Flores and accept projects initiated by Congresswoman Janette Garin. “In your face, Gerry Flores;you can shove it up yours”, they seem to say.

Yet, this is a sad reality. These acts of courage are few and far apart. At any given day, the white eggs would always outnumber the hard balls.And so; Gerry Flores goes on with his “honorable” ways. Idiotic. If Gerry Flores is in pursuit of his own greatness, he badly needs a moral compass. He should take cue from Duc De La Rochefoucauld:  “Great men's honor ought always to be measured by the methods they made use of in attaining it.”

And so, it can be said: Congresswoman Garin is my friend, faithful, and just to me; But Gerry Flores says she is ambitious, And Gerry Flores is an honorable man – with an “honorably” disoriented moral compass.

The Neanderthal scavenger

“Success has many parents; most of them illegitimate.”

Anonymous

Salakayan Festival of Miagao is the champion of the Kasadyahan during the Dinagyang Festival 2012. It is a fitting reward for the students who toiled day in and day out practicing their routine albeit sometimes on an empty stomach. It is poetic justice for teachers and school heads who risked the ire of parents for exacting slave labor out of their students. It is a profound and concrete lesson for parents that with their unqualified support, a child can be more than what he or she is. Take a bow, people; you earned your bragging rights.

Just as when those who toiled were savoring their hard-earned victory, Gerry Flores takes the center stage. In a media interview Gerry Flores claims credit for the whole thing. One wonders whether he also danced, choreographed or financed the endeavor. The entire Miagao knows he did practically nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

To label Gerry Flores as a credit grabber may just be the understatement of the year.

You see, in the animal world, organisms are usually either the predator or the prey. The predator hunts the prey and slays it for food. But there comes a third kind – not exactly the science fiction close encounter of the third kind of Steven Spielberg. It’s more of third sex, if I may say. They are called scavengers.

Sociologists have proof that the first humans did not hunt for their food; they scavenged. Hence, the Neanderthal tools we see in museums were not really meant for hunting but for slicing dead meat. The Neanderthals waited for their food to die and then feast on the carcass. They were inherently lazy and opportunistic. See the similarity with Gerry Flores?

In harder times, not one of the students, teachers, school heads or choreographers saw a shadow of Gerry Flores doing anything to help them out. Surely, Gerry Flores missed a good opportunity to get his hands dirty in the right way. But we do not fault him for that. Maybe he had more pressing concerns, like making sure that his political enemies do not easily get the business permits they are inherently entitled to under the laws of man and the law of God. Maybe, he was too engrossed with his obsession to put an end to all government projects delivered by his political opponents. Maybe … well, that’s a lot of maybe’s.

Yet, Gerry Flores has the gall to claim credit for a success for something he tirelessly did NOT support. That’s a lot of crap if I may say.

A-hole.

There’s no fool like an old fool

“Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.” 

Henry David Thoreau

“ILOILO Provincial Board Member Gerry Flores will make Board Member Mac Napulan's life miserable. No Mayor's Permit will be issued to Doc Macario's clinic in Miag-ao because of lack of sanitation requirements.” 

Thus went the Lapsus Calami item in the January 12, 2012 of Panay News.

On the surface, this nakedly blatant and unembellished threat appears to be a knee-jerk (not to mention childish and stupid) retaliation of  Gerry Flores to the privilege speech given by Board Member Dr. Macario Napulan more than a month ago about the filthy state of the slaughter house in Miagao, Iloilo (see my previous posts). One scratches the surface and sees more.

The Local Government Code of 1991 delegates the power to issue Mayor’s Permit to – you guessed it right – the Municipal Mayor. Why Gerry Flores was not able to make the correct guess is, no pun intended, anybody’s guess.

As of last regular session of the Iloilo Provincial Board on January 17, 2012 Gerry Flores was still a Board Member, having personally answered to the roll call made by the SP Secretary. A prudent man may therefore become confused whether Gerry Flores resigned as Municipal Mayor to become Provincial Board Member, or has already resigned as Provincial Board Member to become Municipal Mayor, or is performing both functions as Board Member and Municipal Mayor. Otherwise, why would he issue such foolish statements?

Well, the prudent man may well be adviced not to give too much thought about Gerry Flores, lest he may himself become confused. He should realize Gerry Flores is, by nature, a confused individual. That explains why more often than not he finds his foot inside his mouth. Gerry Flores is a constant reminder of a T-shirt with words printed at the back: “Don’t follow me! I’m lost, too!”

His periodic intrusions into the realm of logic and reason also reminds me of one lampoon artist who said: “His mission is so secret he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Ahh, a super-uber-secret secret agent not necessarily with Her Majesty’s Secret Service. If Gerry Flores wants to be James Bond-ish, he fails miserably. He takes more semblance of Johnny English: He knows no fear; he knows no danger; he knows nothing.

Gerry Flores should see a doctor pronto. He is stricken with the “foot in the mouth” disease. On second thought, I take that back. He should see a veterinarian.

Kidding aside, he should see a shrink. Seriously. 

River Diversion Project turned Quarrying?

Mayor Julieta Flores, ably supported by her husband Gen. Gerry Flores, has launched a River Diversion Project in SitioHalin in Barangay Bagumbayan, Miagao. On its face, this is a laudable project to protect the environment and promote the safety and convenience of the residents in the barangay.

But, coincidentally, the flow of the water is now on the one side of the river, threatening the riverbank with erosion, if not outright flood or worse, deluge. Typhoon Frank comes to one’s mind. What the hell happened to the Flores couple? Have they become senile that they can’t tell the difference between left, right and center? Or, maybe they became blind? Or, maybe they became stupid?

Maybe none of the above.

As shown in the pictures there is something else going on in this so-called “River Diversion” Project. In the dried up area of the river, bulldozers and trucks have been gathering sand and gravel.This doesn’t look right. So is it just “coincidence” that the river’s flow was diverted and left a vast area which has large amounts of sand and gravel? Obviously, somebody has got some people to “dig up” wealth of sand and gravel in the river. And this somebody is clearly benefiting from the whole “River Diversion Project.” Pictures really paint a thousand words: “kickback” is one of those.

There’s this voice in me saying that a person who cannot do things right is either corrupt or incompetent. 

Are the Floreses incompetent? Maybe. Are they corrupt? My neighbor says they are not; they go to church and hear mass without fail.

But this voice inside me says that perfect school attendance doesn’t make an honor student, much more a valedictorian.

Damn right.

Miagao joins Kasadyahan 2012: The People's Sacrifice.

Miagao joins Kasadyahan 2012..Question is, can they do it?
Kasadyahan Festival is celebrated the day before the main event during the Dinagyang Festival. It's colorful, fun and exciting that's why many tourists visit Iloilo just for this.

This year, the town of Miagao (under the leadership of the Mayor Juliet Flores in collaboration with her husband, Board Member Gerry Flores, who are  now getting more and more oppositions) decided to join the Kasadyahan Festival.


The parents have been clamoring since the start. Their children have been missing most classes for practice. Not to mention spending the nights outside their homes, still for practice. According to parents, they were even the ones to buy the needed sweatshirts for their children. Even the food is not provided by the so-called organizers. All that is given to them are multivitamins. These are not enough to cover up for the strenuous practice the children are having. Their education and their health are suffering. All for the misguided idea of tourism of the Local Executive.

A celebration this big needs a lot of money. They would need costumes, practice , trainers, food for practices, managers and a whole lot more. Where would the local government get the fund for all this? Well, the organizers found a solution.....to get funds from "donations" from the townspeople and the barangays! These people are now "donating" to make the plan possible. Question: How is it that for the longest time, there has always been failure on their part to make good decisions? 

Come to think of it, the town itself is starting to look dilapidated and worn out. What with the lack of improvements and progress. The Local Government of Miagao is making plans and spending money to make the town look good for others without realizing and making the town look and feel good for those living on it...aside from themselves of course. WHY CAN'T THE LOCAL EXECUTIVE SEE WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN REALLY NEEDS???  And to think that husband and wife have been the only ones "leading" the town for as far as even I can remember. Since forever, I can barely see remarkable changes. And look! They are planning to squander a lot of money for some festival that would result to what?? Even if they win, the prize money would be enough only to cover a small part of all the expenses. Seriously. This is a very bad investment. Looking at the town, the Local Executive have been making some really bad investments for a long time.

If these are for marketing our Tourism Industry, there are a lot of surefire ways to improve tourism. Basic requirements like an improvement of the Plaza, Parking Spaces and basic and useful ammenities. NOT making the people especially the children and students do all the hard work and sacrifices for lack efficient decision-making of those in power.

This is wrong and people have been clamoring, although apparently, nobody hears them. People are tired of "SPONSORING" events wherein still the town still looks the same. No improvements at all. There are a lot of question regarding this grandiose idea of Mayor Flores, her husband and of course supporters: Will it make the town better? Is all the sacrifice worth it? Will it make the people proud? Are we ready?...

Education and Politics

Just a few days ago, Board Member Gerardo Flores of the First District of Iloilo gave a speech in one of the Christmas programs in one barangay in the Municipality of Miagao. As usual, he gave a lengthy speech on how it is not all about politics nor is it a campaign. He stressed that education should not be mixed with politics. He said that education, scholarships, etc should not be put in the hands of politicians who would decide on who they want to admit in such. Well anyway, after ranting about it, he announced that he would be starting a project in which he would give FREE master's education to those who are willing. ............. So much for not mixing education and politics. One more thing, this kind of project needs money and a whole lot of other resources which he will get where?? Not to mention that an Ordinance should be made to this effect first unless he plans to make it all private, meaning, he'll fund all of it himself. And since he is a provincial lawmaker, this is really not exactly his concern unless he's with the municipal government. But one cannot help but think that this is some sort of a campaign speech with a proposed project-in-case-i-win thing.

Election time is still a long way to go. This "plan" also needs a lot of planning, not to mention all the legalities it has to go through to make it valid. It is a reckless announcement I think. It may not even be realized just like all the other previous promises. People of Miagao have long since realized this. The promises all sound so good, too good even but rarely come true. All because of lack of planning, premeditation and management or they may all be just some sort of marketing strategy for politics. The people are not stupid. As a matter of fact, a number of people went out and went home when this speech of Board Flores was going on. They were tired of it all. They all want change. We all want change. You need more than promises to make people trust you or believe in you...

This kind of situation have been going on for years. The executive department of the local government in Miagao have been called upon years ago to take action regarding this matter. However, it seems that no action has been done yet. Sad but true...