Advocacy, friendship, truth

Ben Contreras

THE recent unprovoked attack against me by Bency Ellorin prompted me to pursue the printing of these series of columns which at that time in August 2014 were withheld upon request by one who wanted to give peace a chance and another who warned that this may boomerang due to my involvement (employment) with a mining company. What you’re going to read are firsthand accounts on what really happened. I dared Bency for a debate/talk on all the issues raised against me and Ralph Abragan at the COPC hall so Ralph could defend himself against the tirade of the ATM boys.

After one year in office, the honeymoon should be over! Is it Change that we are witnessing or is it “kami na sab”?

When the civil societies supported Mayor Oscar S. Moreno in the last elections, they were hoping that, at least, there would be changes in the way he would run the city government. Although Moreno’s victory cannot be totally attributed to the civil societies, they nevertheless played a vital role in portraying the past administration as the evil one and Moreno, the savior. But, is he (Moreno)?

Moreno’s early days were rocked by alleged overpricing in the purchase of computers and office furniture and fixtures, projects allegedly done without the benefit of bidding and extravagant if not wasteful banquets.

At the height of City Hall facelift, Roy Raagas, our City Administrator refused the renovation of his office unless the budget and program of work were clearly defined and approved. He didn’t want his office to become another subject of criticism and scrutiny by the Majority. I admired him for that.

Mayor Moreno almost lost Roy Raagas in what seems to be a misunderstanding over Dael’s role at the CLENRO office. Or, was it? Mayor Moreno also almost lost his allies when they felt that they’re being ignored and neglected and was about ready to announce their break-away. Well, they allegedly got something in return aside from the promise of a weekly meeting/fellowship.

But these negative feedbacks were outweighed by the improvement of the city hospital, concreting of roads and construction of new school buildings, etc. The innovations introduced inside City Hall are also creating a new image of efficient and effective governance.

What about the Mayor’s men and women? Except for Atty. Egay Uy of Task Force Hapsay Dalan (TFHD) and CLENRO Edwin Dael whom we have been in direct contact in our many joint operations, I have less to say of the others.

Egay surprised the Kagay-anons with his initial operations in our public markets, impressed us with the cleansing and hiring of new recruits at the RTA, pleased us volunteers with a Memorandum of Agreement/Understanding under which are beautiful incentives and lastly, intrigued us with his pilot area for a no-nonsense implementation of Traffic Rules and Regulation that is Divisoria.

Alas, nothing was meant to last. He started with “Walk the Talk” and ended with “Talk and Talk”. Except for Divisoria, the rest of the city is back to where it used to be. He can’t be faulted, they say, because the reason behind is allegedly political. Whatever happens to the Tuesday meeting where volunteers are always part of it, I can only speculate. I guess we’re no longer important or needed. A word would have sufficed! Ah, taking care of the traffic must be too big a challenge. But the greater challenge must be how to defend the Boss and his political interest.

CLENRO Edwin Dael gained our respect and admiration in the raids against illegal mining and lately, illegal cutting of trees. Being a member of SULOG, we put our all-out support to his office and his effort to contain the destruction of our environment in the hinterlands.

Alas, things seem to have changed.

I asked three people this question: What is more important to you, advocacy, friendship or truth?

The first one said, advocacy. The second said truth, because advocacy and friendship are anchored on truth. The last one has this to say. “I advocated for truth and gained friendship”.

In my next column, I will write about what is happening at CLENRO and how the above question is affecting my belief in advocacy, friendship and truth!

(Ben Contreras worked for a mining company but, at the same time, he was actively involved as a volunteer in environmental advocacy work. He and his close associate Ralph Abragan were also involved in the local mining regulatory board and in some actual operations against illegal miners in the city. Their involvement with the regulatory board stopped when the environmental group Sulog replaced Abragan as its representative to the board after finding out that he was engaged in the business of quarrying. Not even a punctuation mark in this opinion piece has been touched so that it can be read as is, and exactly how it was written. The author’s views do not necessarily reflect the position of this paper or any of its staff members who are in no way involved in mining or quarrying. -Editors)