A year to watch

Ben Contreras

RETIRED Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año was recently appointed to head the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). He vows to fix the image of the police. Is he saying National Police Chief Ronald Bato failed to do it? Perhaps!

Has there been any investigation in the alleged overpriced police cars bought when Mar Roxas was DILG secretary? Surely, Mahindra cars do not cost that much no matter how you redesign them or whatever additional gadgets you put in there. Ah, nobody wants to stir the hornet’s nest. Some officers involved could be friends, allies or relatives. Police matters are police matters. F@#k off, right!

So, DILG Secretary Año might be interested to take a look into the perceived partisan DILG official in the city. While DILG officials are busy serving suspension and dismissal orders in other cities in the country, here, a local official seems to be getting special treatment either by not serving an order on him, deliberately delaying the serving of the order to give time for the concerned official to find other remedies, legal or otherwise, or allowing the accused to perform a disappearing act.

Change is not coming to CDO, so it seems.

Being one of the battle cries of our President, change has not been felt in the city and in Region 10. Corrupt practices in government offices still persist.

When Roy Cimatu came to Cagayan de Oro in December, the PRRD Coalition was not represented. Maayo pa ang mga kawatan kay naay representation.

It seems that good intention is never enough because along the way, there would be those who would serve as hindrances to achieve a goal. Finding the right connection can even be tricky. One can be given a name but even this name, after hearing you out, would become unreachable afterwards. Alas, truth can be disappointing when you realize you don’t belong to the same side of the fence.

BBL is a new term learned. It’s not the kind of BBL that aims to seek peaceful coexistence with our Muslim brothers. This is “Buhay-Buhay Lang.”

Are some of the President’s men into BBL? Is the President ready to crack the whip on those who are into BBL? I heard more than a hundred are in the chopping board this early. How about those who are reported to be very close to the President? Would they be axed?

There are now fears that the President’s men will destroy their boss faster than their enemies. How sad. Who cares? After Digong, it’s back to the good old days. But at least, busog ang bulsa.

There are good people around the President who really are sincere. The President cannot rely on his political allies in the PDP because the party is dominated by turncoats who are reportedly doing a disservice to the people and giving the President a black eye, by design or otherwise. They have their own agenda for the post-Duterte era.

A Federal system of government may not be realized. Our lawmakers will not make self-serving laws if they have no intention of staying in power. With power, money comes easy. And with money, power is enhanced.

All the talk and speculations on PRRD seeking a term extension may just be just that but if ever, it should be done the radical way so as not to owe too much to so many that would make payback a necessity. Paybacks could be counter-productive.

2018 is a year to watch!