Ano'ng fake news, Mayor Malu?

 

KAHAPON, AGOSTO 16, naglabas ng pahayag si Magalang, Pampanga Mayor Malu Paras-Lacson ukol sa aniya’y fake news ng One Balita Central Luzon (OBCL), isang online news platform, hinggil sa kaugnayan niya at ng kaniyang pamilya sa Kingsmen Manpower and General Services, Inc. (KMGSI).

“Upang maiayos ang katotohanan at matuldukan ang panlilinlang sa publiko,” dalawang punto ang inihayag ng alkalde na aniya’y “mga opisyal na katotohanan.”

Una. “Walang Aktibong Operations at Walang Kontrata: Walang umiiral na kontrata ang Kingsmen sa Chuangxing Steel, at kasalukuyang wala nang anumang operasyon (no active operations) ang naturang kumpanya.”

Pangalawa. “Naisagawa na ang Divestment: Ang ating Punong Bayan, Mayor Malu Lacson, kasama ang kanyang asawa, at MENRO [municipal environment and natural resources officer] ay matagal nang nag-divest o ganap nang naglabas ng kanilang interes at shareholdings sa Kingsmen. Bagama't hindi pa ganap na naka-reflect sa pinakabagong General Information Sheet (GIS) ng SEC ang pagbabagong ito, malinaw na wala na silang anumang pagmamay-ari o kinalaman sa pananalapi ng kumpanya.”

Mukhang sa unang punto pa lamang ay lihis na ang pagpapaliwanag ng alkalde. Walang nabanggit ang OBCL na anumang kontrata sa pagitan ng KMGSI at Chuangxing Steel.

Ang ugnayan sa pagitan ng dalawa ay lumabas sa hearing ng Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change noong Agosto 14 kung saan ito ay ipinunto mismo ni committee chairman Sen. Raffy Tulfo.

(Matutunghayan ang bahagi ng talakayan dito sa Raffy Tulfo in Action)

Ani ng senador: “Si mayor [Paras-Lacson] ay mayroong manning agency, Karamihan sa mga worker ng Chuangxing Steel Inc. ay galing sa kanyang agency, referred ng kanyang agency. Kasi, para sa akin, mukhang may conflict of interest. Siyempre, kapag yung mga empleyado nanggagaling sa kanya, there’s the possibility that she might turn a blind eye sa lahat ng mga makikita niyang kalokohan doon dahil pinagkakakitaan niya.”

Nauna rito, tinanong ng senador si Department of Labor and Employment Region 3 director Geraldine Panlilio kung sino ang may-ari ng KMGSI, kung si mayor [Paras-Lacson], at ito ay sinagot ng “Yes.”

                     Siya na nga po.

Inilahad pa ni Panlilio na “Kingsman is an unregistered subcontractor. Hindi po siya registered sa DOLE.”

Kung gayon, Paras-Lacson is barking up the wrong tree with her fake news wailing   against OBCL. Dapat ang tinahulan niya ay si Senador Tulfo at Director Panlilio. Lalo na ang huli sa kanyang isiniwalat – hindi rehistrado sa DOLE ang KMGSI, e di ito ang palsipikado. Hindi fake news ang balita dito.  

Sa pangalawang punto ng alkalde: ang pag-amin ng divestment niya at ng kaniyang mga kapamilya at kasangga sa kumpanya ay nagpatibay lamang sa pagpapatotoo sa inilahad ng OBCL na batay sa 2026 General Information Sheet (GIS) ng Securities and Exchange Commission, na sila ang nagmamay-ari at may pamamahala sa KMGSI, to wit:

Maria Lourdes P. Lacson, president, 30% ownership;

Odilon L. Lacson (kabiyak ng alkalde), corporate secretary, 30% ownership; at

Norman L. Lacson (bayaw at kasalukuyang municipal administrator), treasurer, 30%.

Ang dalawa pang nakarehistro bilang stockholders ay sina:

Pablo Elmer Mercado (kasalukuyang municipal environment and natural resources officer), 5% ownership; at

Jose Tiburcio S. Canlas (hindi tiyak kung kapangalan lamang o siya mismo ang city public accountant ng Lungsod ng San Fernando), 5% ownership.

Sipi ng inilabas na GIS ng KMGSI sa OBCL. Binura ang mga tala ng tirahan alinsunod sa mga pamantayan sa data privacy  

Nilinaw pa ng OBCL na ang rehistro sa SEC ay hiwalay sa rehistro sa DOLE ng manpower agency.  

Malinaw sa GIS na sina Paras-Lacson et al. ay nagmay-ari at namahala sa kumpanya. Hindi nabubura ang pag-mamay-ari nilang yaon sa loob ng takdang panahon bago ang sinabi ng alkalde na pag-divest o pagbitaw nila sa kumpanya.

Gayunpaman, higit sanang titibay ang paglilinaw ng kagalang-galang na alkalde kung nakalakip dito ang dokumentong nagpapatunay na nag-divest na nga sila, kung gaano katagal na ang sinasabi niyang "matagal" sa paglalagay ng petsa dito, at sino na ang mga bagong may ari ng divested shares.

Sa halip na paglilinaw at pagtuldok sa sinasabi ni Paras-Lacson na “panlilinlang sa publiko,” mga red flags ang nagsulputan na sumisigaw ng imbestigasyon para umiral ang katotohanan, sa ngalan ng transparency at accountability.

Una, ang conflict of interest na ibinandila ni Senador Tulfo na maaring ihagkis kay Paras-Lacson, sa kanyang kapamilya, at sa kawani ng munisipyo na direktang may sakop sa mga alituntunin sa operasyon ng Chuangxing Steel Inc.

Pangalawa, ang paglabag sa mga batas sa paggawa bunga ng hindi pagka-rehistro sa DOLE ng KMGSI.

Pangatlo, ang mga hinaing ng mga manggagawa sa Chuangxing Steel Inc., partikular ang safety and occupational hazards sa kumpanya na nagbunga ng mga sakuna.

At iba pa.

Ukol sa kanyang babala, karapatan ni Paras-Lacson na magsampa ng asuntong cyberlibel “laban sa mga may-akda, tagapamahala ng pahina, at sa lahat ng mga indibidwal na napatunayang nagpapakalat at nag-share ng malisyosong fake news [ng OBCL].”

Dahil sa tinalakay din natin ito, isinasama ko na rin tayo sa mga “nagpakalat” nito.

Kung ang layon ng kagalang-galang na alkalde ay maghasik ng pangamba o pananakot sa media – yaong sa English ay tinatawag na chilling effect – upang iwasan ang pagbusisi sa anumang isyu sa kanyang pamamahala na minamarapat niyang nakaka-mantsa sa iwing kadalisayan ng kanyang pagiging punongbayan   -- ay, “You should have another think coming, Madame Mayor.”

At sa kanyang paghimok sa publiko na “maging mapagmatyag at huwag magpadala sa mga gawa-gawa na balitang may layuning pampolitika lamang,” sino po ba ang pulitiko? Yaong mga tinutukoy sa kawikaang “Politics is the last recourse of scoundrels.”  

 

 

 

 

 

The Capas conundrum

 

"WE stand by personnel who perform their duties professionally and lawfully, and we remain committed to constructive engagement with the local government."

Pointedly dismissive on one hand, tactfully receptive on the other is the official statement of the Philippine Air Force in defense of the commander of the Col. Ernesto Ravina Air Base (CERAB) in Tarlac who has come under fire from the Sangguniang Bayan of Capas.

Lt. Col. Owen Avenido "in her capacity as the base commander, was only performing her lawful duty to protect" the facility and nearby communities. So declared PAF spokesperson Col. Ma. Christina Basco on July 28.

Avenido, commander of the PAF 790th Air Base Group at CERAB, was declared persona non grata (PNG) by the Capas SB via Municipal Resolution No. 112-2026 unanimously approved during its special session on July 27.

The resolution clarified that the PNG declaration "is adopted not out of hostility toward the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the PAF but out of the municipality's continuing commitment to protect and preserve the dignity of local government, and uphold the principles of mutual respect, courtesy, accountability and cooperation among all public institutions."

The dignity of the LGU sullied with Avenido allegedly twice rejecting requests of Mayor Roseller “Boots” Rodriguez for a dialogue over the simmering issues his constituents had been raising against the CERAB contingent, principally of its personnel imposing restrictions impacting on the day-to-day affairs of both “unat” and “kulot” communities in Barangays Sta. Juliana, O'Donnell, Maruglo, Buena, and Sta. Lucia, all within the 17,000-hectare military reservation.

Affected residents in July 14, 2026 rally in Barangay Sta. Juliana, Capas against PAF checkpoint restrictions, calling for dialogue and respect of IP rights over their ancestral domain. Photo: Capas Information Office

Issues ultimately ventilated at the Capas session hall resulting to Avenido being declared persona non grata, to wit:

With military checkpoints, bringing into the communities basic necessities like rice, drinking water, groceries, and the like became an ordeal for the residents.

Before the SB, an Aeta resident articulated their situation verily bordering on violation of indigenous peoples’ rights: "If they say we have rights as IPs, why are we not allowed to bring construction materials into our community? What the military says is not reflected in what we experience. We want the freedom to improve our homes and to enter with our materials through an agreement that respects our rights."

 

IP representatives speak at the Capas SB session hall. Contributed photo

No red-tagging but allegations of PAF personnel reportedly referring to Aeta residents as "illegal settlers" smack of discrimination, if not outright racism.

The municipal social welfare and development office was deterred from its bound duty to conduct validation activities for IPs and beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program as its personnel were denied entry.

Even assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development to the communities were not allowed. Barangay Maruglo chair Lota Guanla told the SB: "They asked us to move outside the checkpoint. We had to bring tables and chairs under a mango tree instead of using our barangay covered court. Residents had to receive their assistance outside under the heat."

Personnel from the municipal civil registrar's office were forced to cancel a scheduled late birth registration outreach for IPs after they were reportedly denied entry.

In like manner, the municipal agriculture office was prevented to distribute vegetable seedlings intended for IP communities when its personnel allegedly were barred from entering the reservation.

Tarlac Electric Cooperative II director Eliseo Rivera cited an instance when personnel were allegedly prevented from responding to a reported electrical emergency of a burning electric meter and an energized power line inside the reservation.

Mayor Rodriguez himself recalled being “put on hold for an unreasonable amount of time," on his way to Barangay Sta. Juliana to officiate a wedding.

 

                          Mayor Rodriguez. Photo; Pampanga Journal

No relief

Calling for Avenido's relief from her post, Capas SB asked PAF for the designation of a replacement "who will strengthen cooperation, mutual respect, constructive dialogue and partnership."

Just as quick, spokesman Basco said there is no need at this time to relieve Avenido from her post, stressing that the service will review the allegations through established procedures and equally emphasizing PAF remains open to dialogue with local officials, but said “actions taken in good faith to secure military property should be viewed in the context of official duty.”

In the face of all the issues raised at the Capas session hall. Notwithstanding the PNG declaration against its commander, PAF maintained that the security protocols enforced at CERAB are “essential and standard procedures to safeguard military readiness, protect national defense infrastructure, and ensure public safety within the military reservation.”

Hence, Mayor Rodriguez’s quip during the session stands out all the more: "We are not happy with what's going on."

Standstill. An irresistible force impacting an immovable object to break the stalemate. In all appearances, for now.  

Pax Silica

What can properly be discerned as an affront to local government dignity, curtailment of freedom of movement, and infringement of IP rights vis-à-vis draconian security protocols is fast impinging on the dilemma that is Pax Silica.

Already, there are Capas locals seeing the current PAF-Capas controversy as portentous of the AI phantom poised to take over their land, if not a security dry run, indeed, already the commencement of what, in Cold War parlance, is called “softening the ground.”  

It does not take a conspiracy theorist to unravel this. 

Sources: Media reports

Dingalan, Aurora: July 24, 2026

 

BLUE AND GREEN,

Cerulean skies and azure waters,

lush hills and verdant mountains –

nature’s picture-perfect postcard

captured in a single frame.

PEACH AND CORAL

INTO GOLD SHIMMERING…

Mystical, majestic the pinkish foreglow

breaking the dark, ember orange blending,

solar gold, shimmering, shining

to the brightness of a new day.  

 

 

-- NATURE’S TREASURE

IN DINGALAN SEEN.

 

 

 

Junk Pax Silica

 

“WHEN PEOPLE hear the words AI supply chain, they think of computer chips. But the chips are only the tip of a very long tail. The chain runs on thousands of inputs. It runs on the precision motors, rare-earth magnets, packaging and testing that turns a slice of silicon into something a buyer can plug in, moldings, plastics, and so much more…

For each of those parts, our position today is unacceptably overconcentrated… When 90% of a critical input comes from one country, you do not have a supply chain. You have a hostage chain…

The State Department would treat economic security as a product to be built, not a policy to be announced. Today, on this piece of ground, we are here to see the first such product come into being — a partnership of a kind that has not been tried before, between the United States and its oldest ally in Asia, the Philippines.

This is the site of a planned Economic Security Zone to fuse together the predictability and certainty of American law to the speed and scale of Asia.

Predictability, speed, and scale, in one place.” 

Thus, spoke US Undersecretary of State Jacob Helberg on his visit to the planned Pax Silica site at New Clark City on May 18, 2026. His very rationale for the project already brimming with all the horrors – geopolitical, economic, environmental – attendant to it.

Horrors, that the Philippine government has, at the onset, masked with platitudes to development, notably the Bases Conversion and Development Authority ordaining the 4,000 acres allotted to the project “to serve as a Pax Silica Coordination Office where technology firms, research institutions, and government agencies can converge to build a robust AI ecosystem, accelerate innovation, attract high-value investments.” 

Indeed, calling it as the “Golden Node – a new model for AI-native investment acceleration hubs, translating into more quality job opportunities for Filipinos and greater participation of local enterprises in the growing innovation-driven economy across the globe.”

“Hundreds of thousands of jobs” becoming Finance Secretary Frederick Go’s recurring refrain at every mention of Pax Silica. The hype with which government tried to impact Pax Silica into the nation’s consciousness indeed worked – to the applause of the gullible, but adversely so to the astute. Though it really does not need a genius to see the farce behind Pax Silica.

 

US imperialism redux

“This is fundamentally about war production, not neutral industrial development. Pax Silica is the production aspect, while the US-Philippines critical minerals framework is the foundation. Together, these lock in a pipeline from extraction and processing of strategic minerals to semiconductor and electronics output, aimed at reducing US dependence on China-linked materials and supply routes.”

So declared members of the Makabayan Bloc as early as April 19, warning that it “will further subordinate the Philippines to US strategic priorities and expose our people, economy, and environment to heightened risks.”

Rather than its promised development for the nation, Pax Silica will push the country into low-tier roles in the value chain, especially assembly, testing, packaging, and other labor-intensive, lower-value segments while the foreign locators take all the real money and technology back to their home countries, the group warned.

Environmental impact

It is a research-given that data centers place major stress on public water systems, especially during hotter days when cooling demand rises. Estimates raised in public discussions put at the range of 5 million to 20 million gallons of water per day the requirements of AI data centers in the proposed Pax Silica hub, “depending on the scale, cooling system, and final design of the facilities.”

That’s just much too much an impact not only on the commercial, industrial, residential, and recreational areas of New Clark City, Clark Freeport and Special Ecozone, including the Clark International Airport but also on the contiguous communities of Pampanga and Tarlac, the site being a watershed area. 

This impending crisis to be compounded by energy capacity, or its insufficiency: The Luzon grid frequently experiences thin operating reserves, triggering red and yellow alerts during the dry summer months. With Pax Silica shall come massive power shortages and spiraling electricity bills. 

Surrendering our patrimony

“It just completely compromises our sovereignty for someone else's gain,” noted creative director Gerry Cacanindin in his FB page. “The people pushing for it say we need this to finally become a high-tech nation instead of just relying on call centers and OFW remittances. But the way it's set up right now, it just feels like we're inviting someone into our house to use up our electricity, drink all our water, mess up the living room, and leave us with a tiny tip.”

Youth call

“Anuman ang ipinapangakong kaunlaran, pamumuhunan, o paglikha ng kabuhayan ay hindi kailanman magiging sapat na katuwiran kung ang kapalit nito ay ang pagkasira ng likas na yaman, paglabag sa karapatan ng mga komunidad, at paglalagay sa kapakanan ng mamamayan sa panganib. Ang tunay na pag-unlad ay dapat nakabatay sa katarungang panlipunan, pangangalaga sa kalikasan, at paggalang sa dignidad at karapatan ng bawat Pilipino.”

The Bulacan State University-College of Science and Social Philosophy – Local Student Council said in its call for the government to junk Pax Silica, pressing: “Hindi kailanman maaaring tawaging pag-unlad ang isang proyektong yumayaman sa kapinsalaan ng mamamayan at ng kalikasan. Ang pag-unlad na may kapalit na pagkawasak ay hindi pag-unlad—ito ay pagsasamantala.”

A call lost in the wilderness, there. Tethered to Uncle Sam, government makes the proverbial monkey trio of no-hear, no-see, no-speak. With media reports. Photos: FB screengrabs, credits to owners.  

 

Lubyak na pabilog

 

Ani environmental management system ng lungsod: “Nagpatuloy ang waterways task force sa pagsasagawa ng regular na clearing operations ngayong araw ...”

…sa araw-araw, lahat ng araw

paikot-ikot

pabalik-balik

walang hanggang paglilinis

walang katapusang pagbasura sa paligid.   

pati paskel na bawal

ginawang tambakan

multa, walang bisa

parusa, kailan pa?

isip-isip –

kung walang itinatapon

ano ang liligpitin?

entonces –

aanhin pa ang basurero

para que pa ang kaminero?

kalat-kalat

linis-linis

ekonomiya ng basura

paikot-ikot,

pumapaimbulog.  

 

 

 

Pinatubo at 35/Part 5: The Triumph of Thievery

ALONG WITH Independence Day, the Mount Pinatubo eruptions take centerstage every second week of June in Pampanga. With the celebration of the resilience, iron will, and triumph of the Capampangan spirit as recurring, indeed, unvarying, theme. 

This, if only to for the younger generations to learn, if only in passing, the hardships their elders hurdled, the sacrifices made for this life they live today. 

That triumph literally memorialized in at least two books I had the privilege of crafting – Pinatubo: Triumph of the Kapampangan Spirit commissioned by the San Fernando Heritage Foundation in 2008, and Agyu Tamu: Turning Tragedy into Triumph commissioned by the Agyu Tamu Movement of the friends of Mayor Ed Pamintuan in 2011.

We are not short in remembering either the agony of the Pinatubo devastations or the ecstasy of the Capampangan rising, aye, soaring, from it.

In our remembrance though, we have glossed over the evil – yes, that evil that was worse, much more hellish than the ashfalls and lahar flows – that struck the Capampangan in the wake of the volcanic havoc. It was as though Satan himself came with Pinatubo’s vomit. 

There was the plunder of the American-abandoned Clark Air Base.

Under the patronage of someone most appropriately named “Hakot” – the way we Capampangans pronounce it with our penchant for adding the letter H where it should not be – the once bastion of American imperialism and decadent capitalism in the Asia-Pacific was cleared not so much of volcanic debris as of anything of value that remained in it. Yeah, not even door knobs, toilet bowls and sinks were spared.

An even more profitable enterprise that arose from the devastated base: the total demolition of damaged buildings, the scrap – galvanized iron roofing, wood paneling and ceilings, parquet and tile flooring, steel beams – contracted out to junk dealers. Egress of the contraband from Clark’s guarded gates facilitated by the guards themselves.  
A living monument of that thieving to this day – the CAB Hospital a ruined shell of its former self as the best military medical facility in the whole of the Far East.

So, it was futile to fight nature’s course. Still, to save the “saveable” was proffered the nobler cause. Hence, the engineering interventions that were the sabo dams and the earthen dikes. 

Nothing more than Sisyphean – those dams and dikes in an endless cycle of building, being washed out at every heavy rainfall, rebuilding, washed out again… — the interventions were nonetheless pursued most zealously for reasons that turned out to be least humanitarian but most cornucopian – their being inexhaustible source of cash, mountains of cash – for certain public works officials and their private contractor cohorts, best known for the moniker “Pajero Gang” after their preferred mode of transport.  

Even more lucrative were the desilting operations whereby contractors could just say what they had dredged and dug out of the river channels was washed back by the rains to the same rivers. 

Indeed, some guys have all the smarts: finding the greatest opportunity in the worst adversity. Tumubo, tumabo sa hagkis ng Bulkang Pinatubo, as some wag came to calling these contactors then.

Come to think of it now, Angeles City – its Balibago entertainment district specifically – could have owed its rising to this cabal of government engineers and private contractors as it was in the remaining night joints there that the transactions of por diez, por diez porciento were dealt, sealed, and delivered. Under the cover of darkness – oh, so appropriate.

As with the dams and dikes, so with the relocation and housing sites.

The fair market value of the chosen sites suddenly becoming fairest, not so much to the landowner’s but to the government purchaser’s delight.  

The initial houses and lots instantly damned as fit for swine not for humans. Pigpens at the cost of homes, right there.

Then, what about the donations of tens if not hundreds of millions directly going to the bank accounts of certain local officials, and/or laundered in some feeding program, stress debriefing, or-relief giving?   

Aye, as much as the triumph was the thievery that obtained with the Mount Pinatubo eruptions and its devastating aftermath.

So, we – the survivors – rightfully celebrate and congratulate ourselves for our resiliency, our excellence in raising Pampanga to an even higher level of development, wanting to impact the lessons of Pinatubo to the current and coming generations of our race.

So, those who made money out of our misery have their own kind of celebration. No one went to court, much less to jail. Their crime did, indeed, pay. The greater lesson of Pinatubo is right there. Unlost to succeeding generations of unmodified greed and unbridled corruption that birthed the “politicontractors,” evolving into the “congtractors” of the flood control project scams.    

(Updated from original published on June 17, 2019)

 

 

Pinatubo at 35/Part 4: The forgotten hero

 

BY CALAMITY defined.

No, not for having caused the calamity but for facing it, taking its full brunt, and rising above it. Thus, Mayor Roy David of Porac, Pampanga found his defining moment in the Mount Pinatubo devastations consequent to the eruptions.

Buried in the volcano’s vomit, besieged by the onslaught of lahar rampages, Porac turned into a ghost town, ready to be abandoned by the national government as catch basin for all pyroclastic flows from Pinatubo. A sacrifice worthy of a holocaust to appease nature’s deity, in this case the Aetas’ Apo Namalyari, for the salvation of the rest of Pampanga.

But no, David would have none of all the talks to “let nature take its course,” and with it, give up all hopes for Porac.

The town cut off from its then-principal economic lifeline that was Angeles City by the chasm that the Pasig-Potrero River had become, David made the impossible passable in a variety of ingenuous means as the truck-mounted metal contraption euphemized as the “London Bridge” (as in the song, “falling down, falling down” sans a fair lady in sight though); the lined-up, sandbag-filled container vans serving as bridges; the sugarcane trucks providing piggy-back rides to smaller vehicles; as well as the immediate scraping and dredging of the riverbed after each lahar passing. Earning for the mayor the uncontested moniker “Lahar Fighter.” 

Beyond the devastation of his town, David saw the impending swamping of the municipalities downstream from what he then called “the vantage point of geography and mandated by the law of gravity” – the elevation of Porac higher than that of San Fernando, Bacolor, Guagua, down to the even lower lying towns of Sto. Tomas, Masantol, Macabebe, and Sasmuan.

Guiao

Sharing his insights during a meeting of mayors and Gov. Bren Z. Guiao, David was readily ridiculed as the boy who cried wolf for his insistence that lahar, which within the first months of the eruptions have already devastated his whole town, would ultimately inundate the capital town and all areas downstream Pasig-Potrero.

“E mu ke piyabe-yabe keng problema mu," was how the mayors dismissed David’s alarums.

It was about this time too that Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Raymundo Punongbayan broached the foreboding scenario of a Pampanga buried in lahar, duly reported by Ding Cervantes in the Philippine Star.

Only to be abruptly denied by Punongbayan after some closed-door encounter with Guiao and the local businessmen, thereafter issuing certification of the capital as “safe from lahar.” This, so as not to panic incoming investors and those transferring from Angeles City which bore the brunt of the initial eruptions.  

Left veritably alone to fend for his townspeople, David thereafter found an ally in his townmate then-Vice Gov. Manuel “Lito” Lapid who shared the same sentiment of saving Porac from physical obliteration at all cost. This turned into the cause that sparked Lapid’s gubernatorial run that subsequently buried Guiao in an avalanche never before seen in Pampanga politics. But that is another, if closely related, story.

Diking, dying

“To dike is to die.” Came the cry that reverberated across the province, reaching Imperial Manila, in spirited opposition of the townsfolk against the enclosure of Porac within a diking system that would have buried the whole town.

And with the highly popular Lapid at the Capitol, the wholesale consignment of his town to oblivion was stayed.

This, even as David’s warnings proved prescient with the first lahar flows reaching villages in Bacolor, right at the fringes of the capital town.  

It was the turn of the mayors and the businessmen to raise the alarm – crying “Time to Panic” they mobilized rallies and marches in San Fernando, one virtually on the eve of the Cabalantian tragedy of October 1, 1995 that turned panic into raw terror. 

“To dike or to die.” So morphed the cry of Porac with its arrogation by the Save San Fernando Movement to themselves, joined in by the other towns’ copycatting “save movements” as well as the province’s own. 

This time, the object of their supplication being a megadike system that shall effectively contain and control lahar movement in the Pasig-Potrero River.

Credits

To give full credit to the save movements, notably San Fernando’s, for the erection of the FVR megadike – as what contemporary narratives have come to tell, the accolades getting grander at every retelling – is not only to revise history but to halve the truth. It is to deny the contribution of the hundreds of other individuals and groups that worked as hard and long, if not even harder and longer, for the megadike to come to concretion, literally and metaphorically. 

There were the people of Bacolor led by Mayor Ananias Canlas Jr. and parish priest Rev. Fr. Sol Gabriel who made the most sacrifice with the greater part of the megadike occupying their town.   

There was the Mount Pinatubo Commission led by its executive director Tony Fernando. The public works people from Secretary Greg Vigilar to his Pinatubo point man Florante Soriquez and his engineers Sev Enriquez and Lita Manalo – whatever unsavory things may have been written about them – and yes, Rafael “Pye” Yabut.

There were the “good” contractors and constructors that did not come short of, but even exceeded, the specifications of construction. Yes, Marni Castro – dubbed “Mr. Megadike,” distinct and separate from the movement he was member of – for doggedly making sure the constructors did as programmed. 

There was Sen. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Cong. Oscar Rodriguez who took the cudgels for Pampanga in both Houses. San Fernando Mayor Rey Aquino, Angeles Mayor Ed Pamintuan and Cong. Tarzan Lazatin too. Lest we forget, Cong. Zeny Ducut, Pampanga Mayors League president Lubao Mayor Lilia "Baby" Pineda, Vice Gov. Cielo Macapagal-Salgado. 

There was by then former Governor Guiao, in situ in Malacanang as chair of some movement called Kabisig, within earshot of the President.  

There was Lapid with his famous impassioned “sardinas” plea to President Ramos – a euphemism for the P555 million to start the construction of the megadike. (555 Sardines, anyone?). And then there was – backstopping and brain trusting Lapid in anything and everything that had to do with Pinatubo at that time – none other than Mayor Roy David.

And most assuredly, there were even more.

“To dike or to die.” So was the collective cry.

The dike was built. The Kapampangan did not die.

Comes then the bitterest sadness at every commemoration of this much-hyped “triumph of the Kapampangan spirit” when the usual limelight-hoggers are celebrated the most while the many who worked harder, sacrificed more, are barely recognized, if even remembered.  

Yes, I write as much as I witness to all these. Privileged as I am for having covered it all, first as a journalist, then as senior consultant to Governor Lapid in his first term, and back as journalist.  

(First published June 15, 2020. All photos from the book Pinatubo: Triumph of the Kapampangan Spirit (2008), edited by Bong Z. Lacson)