‘Localizing’ targets

During one of my lectures at the Development Academy of the Philippines (the original DAP), I made a “bold” prediction that soon, very soon, the media and the authorities will be targeting LGUs or local government units regarding their collection and use of “pork barrel funds.” I did not expect it to happen in a matter of weeks as a party-list congressman asked for LGU pork barrel to be investigated. Yesterday our editor in chief Ana Marie Pamintuan took several shots at LGUs that have so much money but hardly any accountability.

This is an inescapable outcome, as more and more ordinary citizens detest ever increasing taxes being imposed by local governments, without sense or science in their computation and purpose. To make matters worse, it does not escape the eyes of people in these communities how local governments keep wasting money on what they see are unnecessary expenses or plain and simple excuses to spend money and get kickbacks. Imagine living in a city or town where lamp posts multiply every 2 or 3 years, where sidewalks and streets are constantly ripped and repaired just before elections, where Barangay gates can compete in grandeur with those of private villages, where local government officials duplicate the political dynasties and lifestyles of legislators feeding from their pork barrel!

For sometime now there has been a growing call to revisit, review and rewrite the Local Government Code of 1991 because of the growing abuse, policy conflicts and stumbling blocks that a number of local officials have managed to create using or citing the Local Government Code. Clearly, what then Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel had meant to empower and advance local governments, is now being used by local politicians to advance their personal and political ambitions. The situation is so bad that even some people at the Office of the President have openly expressed the need to end the madness and the abuse.

Well, the beginning of the end may have begun. Just the other day I read that Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano has called on the Commission on Audit to “launch a detailed special examination of what they described as the P361-billion pork barrel of local government units.” Unlike the politically charged call of oppositionists for the COA to investigate administration senators, Alejano’s motion deserves immediate action from the COA because it goes beyond suspicion but is already an observable fact as well as common knowledge.

If the COA’s review officially certifies what everyone has suspected all along, maybe then, the younger Koko Pimentel can produce a new and improved version of the original Local Government Code.

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I just came back from a one day visit to Puerto Princesa City to hook up with local media as well as to invite car enthusiasts, businessmen and transport operators to the grand opening of the first ever Goodyear Car care Center in the city which will formally open on Friday, March 21. As an informal “Brand Ambassador” and “resident emcee” of events I have seen the continued growth and expansion of Goodyear car care centers in the country especially in the last year. If anything, the opening of the Goodyear store in the city is a vote of confidence that business and motoring in Puerto Princesa is so healthy it is justifiable to make a major investment this far west of the islands.

The last time I was here was about 10 years ago and so much has changed. Tourism has undoubtedly taken over and surpassed all other businesses in the city as more and more hotels, inns, restaurants and cafes pop up like never before. In terms of visitors, there is the usual amount of foreign tourists coming in on the flights, but there is clearly a larger population of “permanent foreign residents” in Puerto Princesa.

I also learned that there is anywhere from 500 to 900 vans that service tourists going to different parts of the city as well as southern Palawan.

Most popular of these destinations are El Nido and the Underground River, then there’s the crocodile farm, Iwahig Penal Colony that features the firefly boat ride, green thumbs and mission oriented people still head out to the Aloha Orphanage that has become more popular for organic farm management.

Being familiar with the city, I was quite impressed with how local businessmen keep improving their facilities and service to the community. Notable among these are “Ka-Lui” and Kina-Butch, two of the most popular restaurants in the city. From a tiny garden style food place, Ka-Lui has become a showcase of Filipino art, native architecture, use of indigenous materials and embracing the environment. As you walk barefoot inside the premises you find yourself like a child going through artwork, designs, nature and an entire visual journey. I actually spent more time looking than eating because the scenery was a total feast not to mention how healthy and delicious the actual food was.

On the other side of the road you’ll find “Kina-Butch” as in we’re eating “at Butch’s place,” meaning Butch Chase, the Hall of Fame motorcycle racing legend. I had set out to meet the “American” only to discover he was half Kano/Half Russian, as white as my Dutch wife, but as Filipino as dangit and tuyo.  His resto-bar is apparently the unofficial clubhouse of a number of expats residing in Puerto Princesa, especially for motorcycle and bicycle addicts such as myself. The main attraction at Kina-Butch aside from the man himself would have to be the many classic bicycles and motorcycles hanging suspended on the rafters as well as the laid back “Chill” atmosphere.

There is certainly much to see in Puerto Princesa, but there is currently the ugly business of recall politics hanging in the air that has a number of residents bothered or disturbed since the contending parties are the former Mayor Ed Hagedorn and the incumbent Mayor, his brother in law. My only advise to the family, please keep your politics out of tourism because you’ve all worked so hard for this, and politics and family feuds should come last to public interest.

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