Where are the fountain heads?

Ben Contreras

THE issue on the “missing” fountain heads (are these really missing?) resurfaced on account of the budget requested by the Moreno administration for the Gaston Park fountain at a cost of P10 million.

At the radio program of Ronnie Waniwan, a councilor had his information quite accurate. It all started when the renovation of Gaston Park was allegedly undertaken by the first lady of the city. After a while, somebody noticed that the fountain heads were missing.

The first lady was put on the spot. But she was not careful to declare that they’ve been missing during the time of then Mayor Dongkoy Emano.

It was this issue that created the rift among Save CDO Movement members when the first lady didn’t heed the good counsel of one of the members. Instead, the first lady took it as an affront against her integrity.

Someone would belie Arlene Moreno’s claim. A picture was posted on Facebook with the fountain functioning. It was already during the time of the Mayor Oscar Moreno as shown by the date. Arlene compounded her problem with undue remarks. But that is now beside the point.

Almost two weeks later, if my memory serves me right, the fountain heads resurfaced on Facebook with Atty. James Judith. The caption says the fountain heads were in the care of one office.

Why the denial by Arlene? What took Judith that long to produce the photo? And by the way, it was only a photo. Nobody actually saw them physically.

The fountain heads have historical value and can be considered collectors’ items. Why Arlene would lie about it and why it took them long enough to produce them, we can only speculate.

But the issue faded away, drowned by many more other issues, until this request for a P10-million budget for the fountain. People began to ask: “Where are the fountain heads?”

According to the councilor, Mayor Moreno said in his radio program on Saturday that the fountain heads were already “gitaya” or rusty. How did he know? Does the mayor even know where they are? This prompted me to react, and I called Waniwan.

The fountain heads are made of copper, and copper does not rust. Unless the mayor intend not to show us the fountain heads and just forget all about them, their whereabouts should be made public.

Government properties, no matter how old, are still government properties. No government official can lay claim on any.

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Even little creatures like black ants (sulom) feel the heat. And because it’s too hot outside, they are invading homes the way they did years ago when we had a long dry spell.

I usually use Baygon mosquito killer to spray on them. But they just keep on coming back as if it never ends. So, I have to look for a cheaper one and kerosene came to mind. Kerosene is also effective but you have to bear the smell that last for hours or the whole day.

This evening, I discovered they were nesting in my air-conditioning unit. A little spray of Baygon made them crawl out in hundreds so that I had to remove the cover and the filter and use my vacuum cleaner to clean up the inside. It’s quite a mess, really. Anyway, my unit is due for its semestral maintenance check-up and washing.

Tomorrow, I need to spray the whole house with kerosene. They are everywhere, in edges and nooks. I suspect they are already in my sofa chair making a nest. Sigh! I bet you have the same problem!