Where men fall...

 

            Punsalan. Capil. Maglanque.

MAYOR ABUNDIO “JP” PUNSALAN, JR. of San Simon. Unseen. Unheard.

Whereabouts unknown since the Sandiganbayan issued two arrest warrants against him in November 2025 for graft – with P90,000 bail – and malversation of public funds – non-bailable – in connection with an allegedly unlawful P45-million land purchase in 2023.

Punsalan had served a number of suspensions from the Office of the Ombudsman and the Pampanga sangguniang panlalawigan for grave misconduct but what projected him into the national consciousness was his arrest in flagrante delicto on Aug. 5, 2025 in an entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation relative to an alleged P30-million extortion on RealSteel Corp., a business company operating in San Simon.

A hold departure order was also issued in November 2025, to prevent Punsalan from leaving the country.

MAYOR JAIME “JING” CAPIL of Porac. Suspended.

“Accused Capil was charged with committing fraud when he gave unwarranted benefit, advantage, and preference to Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. by approving, issuing, and granting a mayor’s business permit in favor of Lucky South 99 to operate as a POGO despite not being legally entitled to such permit,” read a portion of the suspension order for 90 days issued by acting Presiding Judge Josephine Advento of the Regional Trial Court Branch 265, Pasig City on Feb. 23, 2026.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission raided the POGO facilities located in a leased property of the Royal Garden Golf and Country Club Estate in Barangay Sta. Cruz in 2024 and subsequently filed the criminal case, which includes seven counts of graft for violations of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).

In October 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of Capil and other local officials for gross neglect of duty in relation to the illegal POGO operations.

In April 2025, the Ombudsman found Capil guilty of “gross neglect of duty” and imposed the penalty of dismissal from service, including the cancellation of his government service eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from reemployment in the government.

In November 2025, the RTC Branch 265 issued a warrant of arrest against Capil over seven counts of violations of (Sections 3(e) and 3(j) of RA 3019.

In December 2025, Capil posted a cash bond of P630,000 for his temporary liberty. 

MAYOR RENE MAGLANQUE of Candaba. Suspension affirmed.

In a resolution dated April 24, 2026, the Sandiganbayan affirmed its Jan. 19, 2026 resolution placing Maglanque under a 90-day preventive suspension over 97 counts of violation of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and 97 counts of Malversation of Public Funds filed against him and others in relation to the P900-million Malampaya Fund scam.

Notwithstanding Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson tagging former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan in a “family business” connection with Maglanque’s Globalcrete Builders that reportedly secured P2.195 billion worth of flood control projects in Bulacan between 2018 and 2024, and their daughters, along with that of former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, jointly owning MBB Global Properties, no charges have been officially filed against Maglanque.

Punsalan. Capil. Maglanque. They easily make the rogues’ gallery – sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb – in the local governance milieux of Pampanga. Could not think of any other province in Philippines with as much or higher ratio of 3:19 or 15.78 percentage on the suspended vis-à-vis the total number of municipal mayors.

                     Canlas. Capil. Macapagal.

…women stand

BY COINCIDENCE – serendipity, mayhaps – taking over the mayoralty from the suspended three are all women.

VICE MAYOR ANNE CANLAS of San Simon.

In matters aesthetic alone, Canlas readily found the spot in the hearts of the Simonians – seeing her as the very antithesis to the brash, belligerent brusko Abundio.

Her immersion in the day-to-day concerns of her constituents – from tambak on potholes, monitoring market prices, P20-bigas allocation, garbage collection, general neighborhood cleanliness, street lighting, and some such domesticities – struck their chords of endearment.

A singular project that has earned environmental points for Canlas is the recently ground-broken materials recovery facility, for so long absent in a town crammed with factories, warehouses, and all that they entail.

It is in public health though – and rightly so, Canlas being a medical doctor – that the acting mayor is getting all the love. Hands-on, be it in medical missions, regular health consultations, even emergencies, mayor-doc does it all. An indelible mark Canlas imprinted in San Simon’s folklore: Her active participation in the rites of passage of boys to manhood. Something surely to be passed on from generation to generation.

Rather than an ad interim stopgap, Canlas is a much-welcomed permanent replacement at the mayorship.  

VICE MAYOR JEN CAPIL of Porac.   

Her father’s daughter, unarguably. But no bratty nepo baby certainly, is this CPA, magna cum laude grad.  

With a just-another-day-at-the-office nonchalance, Capil took the LGU reins out of the familial and familiar frame, imprinting her own brand of governance that impacted most in arts and culture, youth and sports development, and tourism – earning for the municipality five recognition in the recent Department of Tourism-Region 3 TRES (Tourism Recognition of Enterprises and Stakeholders) Awards including Most Outstanding Tourism Month Celebration 2025 Grand Winner.

In so short a time, Poracqueños are getting convinced of the daughter already succeeding her father in more ways than simply subbing at the mayor’s office.

VICE MAYOR THELMA MACAPAGAL of Candaba.

Nothing out of the normal bureaucratic rote obtains in the municipio with the man monikered “Ing Malugud” absent from the mayor’s office: Macapagal, no more than a Maglanque continuity in LGU matters, on the surface.

Still, the odiousness of comparison between the suspended and the substitute somewhat permeated the recent spiritual twinning of the Nuestra Señora de la Merced Parish in Barangay Bahay Pare and the Basilica de la Mercè in Barcelona, Spain.

Macapagal hosting breakfast for apostolic nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown at the town hall and standing beside him during the civic reception raised some what-ifs among not-a-few of the attendees: What if the graft-and-corruption-charged Maglanque were in Macapagal’s place? E ya caya milablab, o minasuc mu man?    

Yes, comparisons are indeed despicable.

Distaff dominance

Canlas. Capil. Macapagal. They have upped the ante among women in local governance in Pampanga with four elected mayors – Malu Paras-Lacson of Magalang, Esmie Pineda of Lubao, Lina Cabrera of Sasmuan, and Vilma Balle-Caluag of the City of San Fernando; three elected vice mayors (aside from the three acting mayors now) – Rhodora “Oday” Nacpil of Sta. Ana, Gloria “Ninang” Ronquillo of Sto. Tomas, and Lucia "Buday" Guintu of Masantol.

That “a woman’s place is in the house” is far from just a sexist idiom but can become a political reality, Pampanga proved with three of its four House districts ruled by women: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2^nd, Mica Gonzales in the 3^rd, and Dr. Anna York Bondoc in the 4^th leaving only the 1^st to Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr.

And then, of course, there’s Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda at the Capitol.

Oh, the women in Pampanga politics, further author sayeth naught.

 

 

 

 

Ode to Labor Day

 

                                                                                                                        Photo: BZL

WORK ‘TIL you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Work. Underpaid? Bereft of benefits? No job security? Work. Be thankful to be working. Work harder.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Give quality time – not to the growing children, but all to work. Keep bills paid. Years pass. Chances pass. Lucky, work you have. Be glad. Thank God.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Get older. Get scared to work less hard. Work harder. Prove you still can.

No time for neighbors, community, friends, or the laziness of leisure. No riches. No home left.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

No savings. No pension. All spent staying barely healthy enough to work harder.

Holidays a time for silent desperation. Of work deprivation. Why stop?

Work. Don’t stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Or maybe go to sales at the stores where workers are working ‘till they drop, reminders of just another working day. Don’t be sorry for them. They work. You don’t. Envy them.

No job here. Work somewhere – sweat to your last drop in Saudi, Dubai, Bahrain, even in war-torn Libya, Iraq, and Yemen. Work in any way – nanny in Singapore, caregiver in Israel, nurse in London, factory worker in Incheon, domestic helper in Hong Kong, duped to be drug mule to Indonesia. Do anything. Stay alive. Keep the family back home alive.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Rich people and bosses have no guilt about holidays, no fear in a nap.

Workers have no need for holidays, all fear in a wink.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up, get up, get up, get up. Do it again.

Pay your taxes. Pay your bills. Pay their taxes. Pay their bills. You’ve lost everything that you valued anyway. Loser. Loner. Lazy. That’s how the power class sees us all. We are tools of their greed, and the fools who lost all dreams. They are far, far smarter than we. Whoopee.

Labor Day?

Why are you not working? No job? Lost it? A day off? Why are you not working? At least, with the little left in your pockets – if any – go buy something that will swell the profits and power of those who find us all so pliable, so pitiful, so useable, so exploitable, so workable. Listen for the call. It may be the need for profits calling. If so, get up. Now.

Work ‘till you drop. Stop. Drop. Get up. Do it again.

Then stop. When you finally expire – literally and figuratively. Unless the wealthy and the powerful figure out a way to prolong our lives a little longer to make a few more pesos as they inject us with pain killers and tranquilizers so we cannot even scream on the way out of their profit-making schemes. Physically, emotionally all spent. No savings. No pensions. No hope.

Labor Day?

That’s all day, every day, in every way.

The Philippines is a country of holidays – special, national, local, working and non-working. But certainly not for workers or those who wish they were. We labor for the wealthy and the powerful to have their holidays, every day.

Our labor. Their day. Aye, we are their holidays.

(By Donna Smith, executive director of the Health Care for All Colorado Foundation. Published on September 05, 2011 by Common Dreams.org. With minimal alterations/additions by this columnist to fit into Philippine setting. First published here on May 6, 2015)  

 

SABUAGA FESTIVAL: Holy Week closes on a joyous high

STO. TOMAS, Pampanga – Birthed in 2009, the Sabuaga Festival has since become the capping event of the Holy Week observance here, coming as it is after the blasting of Judas at noontime.  

“Sabuaga” is a portmanteau of the Kapampangan sabuag (scatter) and sampaga (flowers) – after the sagalas’ showering of petals on the image of the Virgin Mary in “veneration of her keeping the faith and oneness with her Son in His sufferings, thus her rewards in His joyful resurrection” at the earlier Easter Sunday procession. 

Hence, petals and confetti literally rains on the processional route around Poblacion, usually starting at 2 p.m. of Easter Sunday as revelers join groups coming from the town’s seven barangays  in street dancing. (This year’s though started at almost 5 p.m. due to the heat, and ended past 7 p.m.) 

 

At the town plaza where the revelry culminates, the groups in their most exotic costumes reflective of the product of the barangays they represent – pottery for Sto. Nino, caskets for San Vicente, fish for Poblacion, garments for Moras de la Paz, tinsmith for San Matias… -- or images of their patron saints will each do its own interpretative dance presentation, on the theme sabuag sampaga, naturally. Judges coming from the arts, culture and tourism sector will proclaim the winners. 

Likewise, the Sabuaga Festival has since served as a fitting climax to the Holy Week celebration in the whole province. Indeed, the Maleldo in the City of San Fernando highlighted by the actual crucifixion rites in Barangay Cutud on Good Friday finds culmination in the joy of Easter Sunday’s Sabuaga in Sto. Tomas, which for the longest time was but a barrio of the capital town until its weaning in 1952.  

Ending Holy Week with a big bang

 

IN FIERY red pants and long-sleeved high-collared shirt a la Elvis taking over the flowing robe of his time. Short cropped hair a la early Beatles, and sideburns straight from King FPJ himself. Mick Jagger tongue, yeah that same one hanging from wide open puffed lips that has become the trademark of the now-geriatric-but-still-rocking Rolling Stones.

There is nothing biblical in the countenance and appearance of the Judas on-a-perch at the center of the courtyard of the St. Thomas the Apostle parish church in barrio Poblacion of the eponymously named town. He looked more like a puppet from some Punch-and-Judy show. But the throng, nay, the horde of faithful do not mind at all.
That was the Judas the elders have seen since their youth. The Judas now passed to their sons and grandsons, and to be passed on to their own progenies.

Easter Sunday noon has always been the designated time for the Judas show. But the concelebrated Mass traditionally officiated by the archbishop almost always takes a little too long with all those post-communion remarks of the pastoral council president and the awarding of some certificates of appreciation to the comite de festejos, Easter being the fiesta too.

The tensed uneasiness turns to collective relief, and explosions of joy, at the pealing of the church bells, the music from the band, and the explosion of kuwitis that signal the end of the Mass. 

Some more minutes of waiting had to be endured as the patio gets cleared of the parked vehicles. Then some firecrackers woven in large sipa ball-like contraption are let loose around the platform holding Judas’ perch to clear it of people. To establish a sort of a safety zone. 

Then, the show starts. 

Four papier-mache pyrotechnic black ravens from four corners of the platform “peck” at Judas’ feet igniting them and propelling Judas to make dizzying twists clockwise and counterclockwise, then turns upside down, round and round, the tongue sticking in and out. 

Then the explosions begin with the feet, the legs, the hand and arms – the head last, and loudest. Judas gets blasted to smithereens. In all of 15 minutes. 

A murmur of disappointment. Judas did fewer twists and turns. His tongue did not stick out that long. And the head exploded too soon and not too loud, as the crowd desired.

In years long past, this would have borne an ill omen. The loudness of the bang ending Judas then deemed a sign of the volume of the year’s harvest in the then-farming town: the louder the bang, the higher the yield. 

In 2012, instead of Judas, what exploded on Easter Sunday noon was a globe. No, it was not meant to signify the end of the world, not to presage any interpretation of the Mayan calendar that purportedly pointed to that year as the end for humankind. 

What was blasted away, symbolically, were the worldly sins – Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride – that keep mankind away from God. It was some sort of raising the event from pure vengeful glee to a higher level of spirituality. 

Whatever, the loss of Judas at the scaffold unsettled, utterly disappointed the loyal crowd who, year-in and year-out, come from near and far – even from overseas – just to be part of the annual spectacle.

With Judas back for blasting since, all has been well again here. 

SO, THE tradition continues this Easter Sunday of 2026. With the currency of the times impacting a political perspective on the Judas character – the Filipino politician who betrayed the nation for billions in flood control contracts.

 

 

Biz Icon 2026: JDN Realty Group

 

NEPO. Angeles City’s original commercial center has not only withstood the test of time – surviving the double whammy that was the American withdrawal from Clark and the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions, foremost – but even stood toe-to-toe with the corporate titans setting shop in its home ground… and excelled.  

That excellence defined in the JDN (Juan D. Nepomuceno) Realty Group, finding full meaning in the Nepo Center at the very heart of the city and its citizens, Nepo Mall Dagupan and Nepo Mart Alaminos, both in Pangasinan, and Nepo Mall Jaen in Nueva Ecija opened last Oct. 17, 2025.

That excellence monumentalized in the Power Plant Mall Angeles, upscale Rockwell Land’s first expansion into Central Luzon under a joint venture with JDN, set to open by Q3 of 2027.

The very core of that excellence distinguished in JDN earning its first Great Place to Work certification, a global, employee-validated credential confirming a high-trust, people-first culture in the workplace. JDN among the few real estate organizations to receive the distinction.  

That “high-trust and people-first culture” affirmed in BPO tenant Connext International Inc. expanding its operations at JDN’s eNtec 1 from just one floor to all of four floors covering total office space of 1,914.47 square meters.  

Of square meters, 2,000 have been allotted as retail and amusement space for entertainment companies Kids Paradise with a play center at Nepo Mall Angeles; iSports Billiard Club at Newpoint Mall; and Games City at Newpoint Mall and Nepo Mall Dagupan, offering a variety of arcade games for all ages.

Beyond business

JDN is not just building spaces for offices and malls but forging relationships with the host communities through close collaboration with like-minded organizations and government instrumentalities toward the wellbeing of the general public. The storied beneficence of the Nepomuceno patriarch embodied in his eponymous company’s programs.

In August 2025, JDN relaunched Farm Ni Juan, a community weekend market providing farmers and MSMEs with a stable platform to sell their products directly to consumers. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry nominate participants in the project that has evolved into a rotating market setup that follows foot traffic within the Nepo Center commercial complex.

“This is also part of our CSR. Hindi lang ito pagbebenta, ito rin ay pagbuo kung paano sila kikita,” noted JDN president and CEO Aaron Jeffrey Montenegro.

For this undertaking, the DTI awarded JDN the Simbul Award at the Pamitipun 2025 celebration in recognition of its active support to the agency’s goal of “Enabling Business, Empowering Consumers.”

With the Department of Migrant Workers, JDN launched in October 2025 the Juan BayaniHub at Nepo Mall Dagupan, serving as the first satellite office of the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Region 1. It operates as a one-stop center offering services such as overseas employment certificate processing, welfare and reintegration programs, legal assistance, and overseas employment support. A public assistance and complaint desk is also available to address OFW concerns.

A notable CSR project is the annual Brigada EskwelaJUAN where JDN donates cleaning tools, sanitation items, school materials, and emergency preparedness kits to public schools in its host communities, as well as do volunteer work to help create cleaner, safer, and more equipped learning spaces for both students and teachers.

As noteworthy is Juan HEART (Helping Everyone Attain Resilience and Transformation) with its singular goal of uplifting communities during challenging times. In the wake of the devastating typhoons in July 2025, Juan HEART mobilized material and human resources, partnering with the Department of Social Welfare and Development in relief operations for 500 severely affected families in the cities of Alaminos, Dagupan, and San Fernando. 

Juan Gift shared in December 2025 the Christmas spirit with personnel of the Angeles City Environmental Management System in appreciation of their daily toil to keep the city clean, orderly, and environmentally responsible – helping ensure public health and sustaining the city’s clean and green initiatives.

JDN has as much green ventures of its own toward environmental sustainability and responsible property development that have received recognition, such as its Solar Power Initiative during the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Green Summit 2025.

By incorporating solar technology into its developments in Angeles, Alaminos, and Dagupan, JDN continues to take meaningful steps in reducing its environmental impact while enhancing the long-term value of its properties.

Celebrating values

Commercially profitable, JDN properties are as much valued as community centers and cultural hubs hosting social events, exhibits, performances, and some such activities aligned with local culture in the host communities.

In November 2025, JDN launched its tri-city Christmas celebration themed “Liwanag ng Pasko” to communities in Angeles, Dagupan, and Alaminos as one of the company’s largest holiday campaigns, connecting its developments through simultaneous festive events.

In line with JDN’s commitment to celebrating Christmas in ways that respect local culture and honor community identity, the generic Tagalog phrase gave way to the local language of each host community, thus: the Kapampangan’s “Sala ning Pasku,” the Pangasinense’s “Liwawa ya Pasko,” and the Ilocano’s “Raniag Ti Paskua.”   

“Purpose-driven community commitment.” Aptly worded and rightly deserving of the recognition the Social Action Center of Pampanga, Inc., the social service arm of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, bestowed upon JDN and its sister companies Angeles Electric Corp., Angeles Power Inc., and Raslag Corp. during its 35^th founding anniversary in April 2025.

Never seeking recognition for its involvement in social causes, the awards reflect a core belief shared across JDN: Businesses bear a responsibility to help build a more compassionate and hopeful society.

If anything, recognition is a silent reminder that meaningful impact is not measured by visibility, but by the sincerity and consistency with which it is made.

Of which, JDN Realty Group is. Contributed photos

 

SIDEBAR

Power Plant Mall topped off

Leading the topping-off ceremony on March 10, 2026 are Eugenio L. Lopez III, JDN Realty chairman Arsenio N. Valdes, JDN Realty chairman emeritus Peter G. Nepomuceno, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Jon” Lazatin II, Rockwell Land chairman and CEO Nestor J. Padilla, and Rockwell Land treasurer and senior VP for office development Miguel Ernesto L. Lopez. Contributed photo

 

Biz Icon 2026: The Infinity

CENTRAL LUZON’S emerging premier outdoor lifestyle destination—where shopping, dining, leisure, and sense of community come together in an open and vibrant setting – definitively, The Infinity. 

Where, indeed, global brands meet everyday essentials in one thoughtfully designed environment offering a retail experience that goes beyond convenience, creating a space where shopping feels both effortless and enjoyable.

Anchoring the vibrant retail scene at The Infinity are standout destinations like Landers Superstore—the largest in the area—and the region’s first Uniqlo roadside store, bringing together quality, variety, and convenience, creating a lifestyle destination where everyday shopping becomes part of a bigger community experience.

Iconic standalone stores and dining outlets like Starbucks, Burger King, and Jollibee further elevate convenience, offering world-class drive-thru and dine-in options. Here, everyday moments from quick errands to special gatherings unfold effortlessly within one vibrant and dynamic destination.

Beyond its key anchors, The Infinity offers a diverse mix of retailers designed to support everyday convenience. The Shoppes offers a refreshing take on retail as an alfresco lifestyle destination. Its open-air design, low-rise structures, and breezy corridors create a relaxed setting where guests can explore dining options—from local Kapampangan favorites to international flavors—alongside lifestyle and wellness services such as aesthetic clinics, salons, dental care, and chiropractic treatments. Together, these experiences create a vibrant outdoor hub that reflects The Infinity’s vision of limitless possibilities.

More so, The Active Park is The Infinity’s outdoor playground, designed for movement, fun, and community life. From morning jogs to celebratory runs to group fitness sessions, or simply enjoying a sunny afternoon with loved ones, the park brings people together for an active, healthy, and vibrant lifestyle. Complementing the experience are wellness features including a new Fitness Gym and a Pickleball court set to open in April 2026.

The momentum continues with more exciting developments in the pipeline. Soon to open are new lifestyle spots including Tom N Toms, offering another inviting space for coffee and connection. It will also welcome the Lima Prime Extension, a three-storey retail building, and a two-storey commercial strip designed to house a diverse mix of retail brands. Expected to open in September 2026, these new spaces will further energize The Infinity’s growing community.

More than just a place to visit, The Infinity is becoming a space where life unfolds—whether it’s morning coffee, an afternoon workout, or an evening stroll with friends and family.

In creating a dynamic lifestyle experience for the community – across all ages, social classes, gender, and some such other pigeonholes categorizing humans – inclusivity is verily defined in The Infinity. Photos: Exploring Pampanga, FB

 

SIDEBAR  

First Uniqlo Roadside Store in CL

Exclusive store tour “guides” during the opening on Sept. 5, 2025 are (L-) Byron John Siy, general manager Jenra Group of Companies; Geraldine Sia, COO Uniqlo Philippines; Josefina Tan Siy, BOD finance director of Sacred Heart Medical Center; and Albert Tan, BOD AST Group. Contributed photo

 

 

 

 

Hagkis ni Tulabut sa batang Fernandino

SA HALIP na bigyan ng kaukulang pag-iisip ng School Division-City of San Fernando Pampanga ang liham ni kagalang-galang na kagawad Noel Tulabut ng sangguniang panlungsod, ay pikit-matang tumalima na lamang ito sa payo (advise) na nakasaad na pansamantalang itigil ang lahat ng feeding program sa mga paaralang sakop nito. 

Sa pambungad na pangungusap pa lamang, kitang-kita na arbitrary o ayon lamang sa sariling kagustuhan ni Tulabut ang ipinapayong aksyon – “the undersigned [SP] member of [CSFP] is currently in the process of deliberating proposed ordinance.”

Mismong sa kanyang nilagdaang liham ang pahayag na hindi ang SP kundi si Tulabut lamang ang naglilimi sa minumuni pang ordinansa. Kung nasa SP na ang usapin, dapat lamang na imbes na “the undersigned,” ang nakasaad ay “the SP of the CSFP is currently in the process of deliberating proposed ordinance.”  

Sa demokratikong pamamahala, ano’ng puwersa ng batas mayroon ang isang ordinansang pinaglilimian pa lamang ng isang kagawad? O baka naman ang paniniwala ng school division superintendent ay isang one-man-SP si Tulabut kaya naging sunud-sunuran na lamang ito?

Ang titulo ng iniisip pa lamang na ordinansa ay “Regulating and institutionalizing the conduct and operations of feeding programs, medical missions, and dental missions within [CSFP], providing implementing guidelines, mechanisms, and implementing penalties for violations thereof.”

Ang ibinigay na dahilan para sa “temporary moratorium” ay “to ensure proper coordination, compliance, and alignment with the forthcoming policies and guidelines under the said ordinance.”

Ito ay isang malaking kabalintunaan: ano’ng tiyak na pagsunod o pagtalima na maaaring gawin sa isang panuntunan na nasa imahinasyon pa lamang?      

Makatuwiran lamang, at makatotohanan, na balangkasin muna at isabatas ang anumang panuntunan bago isakatuparan ang pagsunod dito. Hindi ako abogado o nagmamarunong sa batas, pero sapat ang aking kaisipan para maintindihan ang katumpakan ng “laws are prospective, not retrospective.”

Hubad sa katwiran, hubo sa diwa ng batas, lumalabas na gimik-pulitika itong pakana ni Tulabut kundi pagsisipsip sa patron nito. Muli, ito ay malinaw pa sa sinag ng araw sa kanyang mismong liham kung saan kanyang hiling sa schools division superintendent “…to consider the implementation of a temporary moratorium on the conduct of feeding programs on all public schools …until the ordinance has been enacted…”

Sa titulo ng iniisip pa lamang – hindi pa ito panukala (proposed) – na ordinansa, sakop nito ang “feeding programs, medical missions, and dental missions.”

Bakit feeding programs lamang ang ipinapahinto?      

Fernandino kang kahapon lamang isinilang kung hind mo alam na mula pa nitong Enero ay umiikot na sa mga paaralang-pampubliko hindi lamang sa San Fernando kundi sa iba’t-iba pang bayan ng Pampanga ang Tatay Bong Feeding Program ng pamilya Pineda na naglalayong mabigyan ng masustansyang pagkain pati na mga bitamina ang mga batang mag-aaral na kulang sa tamang timbang o akmang nutrisyon.

Isa kang walang kamuwang-muwang o ganap nang nilayasan ng kaisipan kundi mo mawari ang tiwarik na dahilan ni Tulabut sa kanyang liham.

Biglang sumagi sa aking alaala ang matalinghagang mga kataga ng isang dakilang makata noong ako ay nasa kolehiyo at ngayo’y aking sinisipi sa kaganapang ito -- Mula sa palikwad-likwad na balintataw ay rumagasa ang dumadagundong na panagimpan ni Tulabut para maghagkis ng dusa’t pasakit sa mga batang Fernandino.

Marapat lamang ang mga umaalimpuyong batikos na inihahampas kay Tulabut sa social media sa pag-isip man lamang ng pagpigil sa isang gawaing ang tanging layon ay sa ikabubuti ng mga kabataan tungo sa isang maaliwalas at malusog na kinabukasan.

Sa pagkakatugma nito sa panahon ng kuwaresma, todo-higit ang hagupit kay Tulabut mula mismo sa Banal na Aklat, Mateo 25:35, na ating hinalaw: “Sapagka’t ako’y nagugutom at naglatag ka ng ordinansa na pipigil sa pagapapakain sa akin.”  

Karumal-dumal na sumpa ang mababanaagan sa mga susunod pang mga bersikulo, Mateo 25: 41 – “… ‘Lumayo kayo sa harapan ko, kayong mga isinumpa! Doon kayo sa apoy na di namamatay na inihanda para sa diyablo at sa kanyang mga kampon” at 45 – “… ‘Tandaan ninyo, nang pagkaitan ninyo ng tulong ang isa sa pinakahamak sa mga ito, ako ang inyong pinagkaitan.’” 

Nakakakilabot.