SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — I surf, I saw through the trough and crest of cyberspace, and I see a seesaw.
The MetroPost has posted that the Governor and the Vice-Governor are locked in a legal seesawing maze. Who is who? Who of the two has the mojo to the governor’s seat at the Provincial Capitol?
As it stands, one time you see Degamo up, as Macias goes down. While just a time ago, Macias was up above, and Degamo down below. What goes around comes around.
The political merry-go-round and confusion arise from three Ombudsman suspensions. Before the mandated successor could hardly warm up the Capitol seat, the Court of Appeals also issued three Temporary Restraining Orders. To date, there are three pairs of suspensions and TROs.
The TRO hangs on a legal technicality that an SC-abandoned Aguinaldo Doctrine can’t be applied retroactively.
Who rules the Capitol seems not to matter at all. There is no emerging outrage from the people of Negros Oriental regarding the distraction and disruption of vital government services.
Naturally, the provincial government is just piggy-backing on the national agencies. Public services such as health, law enforcement, welfare, education, electricity, water, fire, etc. are mainly provided by the provincial offices of the national agencies.
Worse, there is no publicized and urgent provincial development plan that needs pushing by the Governor everyday.
In all likelihood, year in and year out, he is present only to maintain the status quo.
But perhaps, I am just speaking too soon. This is yet January, the first month of the New Year.
With the new year, it is tradition to renew our minds. To come up with a firm commitment for a new year resolution.
There is a crying need, as pointed out by Dr. Angel Alcala, an internationally known environmentalist, and a leading columnist of the MetroPost.
Negros Oriental’s forest cover, like the rest of the Philippines, is now down to less than 10 percent, far way down from a desired 30 to 40 percent. The lack of this forest cover leads to the extinction of animal and plant species. It also causes flash-flooding as denuded mountains are deprived the absorptive power of the rainforests.
Flooding has become a natural occurrence even in Dumaguete lately. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that the provincial government is coming out with an integrated plan for the 21 towns and four cities of Negros Oriental?
It would be great to feel that NegOr is ahead of all islands in the Philippines in restoring its forest cover. From tree to tree, the venture is worth striving for.
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Author’s email: capromeo@gmail.com
