21 December 2005
OPINION: Saving at Christmas, again (of all seasons!)
AFTER ALL
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.
SOMEHOW, they managed to come up with quaint, brightly lit rows of lamp posts on Dagupan’s major bridge, the Quintos bridge downtown. And that’s about all. Evenings when you cruise further down the main thoroughfare, the dull glow of the old streetlights is what illumines the heart of Dagupan’s commercial center as though keeping in spirit with the general downcast feelings of cash-strapped Dagupenos and Pangasinenses in, of all seasons, Christmastime and Fiesta-time.
Whoever decided to light up Perez bridge miserably forgot its twin, the Perez bridge (or de Venecia bridge, whatever you call it) that parallels it along the same Pantal river which is making do with the old, broken “Golden Gate” replica of lights. Some nights, the lights are turned on, some nights they’re not.
The difference is striking – on one side, the downtown area, the spirit of motorists and pedestrians is lifted just passing by the bright lamp posts (wonder how much those lights cost the city again, and we’ don’t just mean the purchase price but the coming electric bill); on the other side along Perez Boulevard, one gets the feeling he’s suddenly passing through the darker side of the moon (at least on some nights when somebody forgets to switch it on, we don’t know).
But no matter how city hall spins it, there’s some problem in city finances on ‘dar hills. It’s saving, it’s scrimping, it’s spending with utmost care – quite uncharacteristically, we might add. And Dagupenos so used to having bongga fiesta seasons are suddenly seeing and feeling the difference between a profligate past and a penurious present, both under the same city administration.
Oh, but you have to hear all the wailings and bayings among City Hall employees now who see the tightening of the once liberal or open coffers as Disaster Signal One – not to mention the most unfortunate cut in GMA’s-mandated P5-T cash gift for government workers to just P3T with all its attendant and frantic last-minute sourcing of fund among sanggunian’s appropriations committee chair Michael F and the city treasury, accounting and budget offices , just so the waiting workers won’t be left hanging at Christmas, again, of all seasons.
The times, they’re hard. And the ghost of the spending binge of the past, aside of course, from the fat salaries of City hall consultants of all sizes and shape (that’s according to some rank-and-file employees commiserating with the laid- off emergency workers who have been doing much of the dirty work) seems to have come back hauntingly to the Lords of the Ring at city hall this Christmas, again , of all seasons.
One thing sure, many contractors would have to wait until next year anew to be paid their services’ and labors’ due. Some imaginative accounting will have to be done yet between now and the closing of the books for audit this year, see?
Now you know why the Pangasinan Star wouldn’t want to add to the financial burden by running that city fiesta ad you see in most local newspapers. It’s not out of pride, it’s out of civic duty. Hello, CIO chief Butch Velasco!
Behn Fer. Hortaleza, Jr.
SOMEHOW, they managed to come up with quaint, brightly lit rows of lamp posts on Dagupan’s major bridge, the Quintos bridge downtown. And that’s about all. Evenings when you cruise further down the main thoroughfare, the dull glow of the old streetlights is what illumines the heart of Dagupan’s commercial center as though keeping in spirit with the general downcast feelings of cash-strapped Dagupenos and Pangasinenses in, of all seasons, Christmastime and Fiesta-time.
Whoever decided to light up Perez bridge miserably forgot its twin, the Perez bridge (or de Venecia bridge, whatever you call it) that parallels it along the same Pantal river which is making do with the old, broken “Golden Gate” replica of lights. Some nights, the lights are turned on, some nights they’re not.
The difference is striking – on one side, the downtown area, the spirit of motorists and pedestrians is lifted just passing by the bright lamp posts (wonder how much those lights cost the city again, and we’ don’t just mean the purchase price but the coming electric bill); on the other side along Perez Boulevard, one gets the feeling he’s suddenly passing through the darker side of the moon (at least on some nights when somebody forgets to switch it on, we don’t know).
But no matter how city hall spins it, there’s some problem in city finances on ‘dar hills. It’s saving, it’s scrimping, it’s spending with utmost care – quite uncharacteristically, we might add. And Dagupenos so used to having bongga fiesta seasons are suddenly seeing and feeling the difference between a profligate past and a penurious present, both under the same city administration.
Oh, but you have to hear all the wailings and bayings among City Hall employees now who see the tightening of the once liberal or open coffers as Disaster Signal One – not to mention the most unfortunate cut in GMA’s-mandated P5-T cash gift for government workers to just P3T with all its attendant and frantic last-minute sourcing of fund among sanggunian’s appropriations committee chair Michael F and the city treasury, accounting and budget offices , just so the waiting workers won’t be left hanging at Christmas, again, of all seasons.
The times, they’re hard. And the ghost of the spending binge of the past, aside of course, from the fat salaries of City hall consultants of all sizes and shape (that’s according to some rank-and-file employees commiserating with the laid- off emergency workers who have been doing much of the dirty work) seems to have come back hauntingly to the Lords of the Ring at city hall this Christmas, again , of all seasons.
One thing sure, many contractors would have to wait until next year anew to be paid their services’ and labors’ due. Some imaginative accounting will have to be done yet between now and the closing of the books for audit this year, see?
Now you know why the Pangasinan Star wouldn’t want to add to the financial burden by running that city fiesta ad you see in most local newspapers. It’s not out of pride, it’s out of civic duty. Hello, CIO chief Butch Velasco!
