Blast from a quarried past

Drone shot of idle backhoes and dump trucks on Porac quarry sites last Nov. 22. Contributed photo

P40-M IN REVENUES AT RISK.

No less than Engr. Romeo “Buddy” Dungca, chief of the provincial quarry regulatory unit KALAM ((Kapampangan a Lulugud at Matapat), has sounded the alarm over the immense losses to be impacted upon Pampanga if the shutdown of 40 quarry sites in Porac which the operators themselves imposed take the full 15 days they set. 

“Nakiusap lang tayo kung pwedeng pag-usapan. Hindi natin pwedeng ihinto nang matagal yan. ‘Yan ang utos sa amin ni Gov Nanay dahil diyan kumukuha ang Kapitolyo sa pantulong niya sa mga Kapampangan,” the former multi-term Bacolor mayor noted in an interview with media persons last Monday, Nov. 24, with the closure of quarry sites into its fourth day.

That sand quarrying takes premium among the locally sourced incomes for Pampanga is solidified in numbers at the Office of the Provincial Treasurer: P5 billion from 2019 to 2025, directly translating to P714,285,714 per year, P59,523,809 per month, P1,984,126 per day.

That despite this massive contribution to the provincial coffers – and undoubtedly, their bank accounts too – the operators and haulers decided to shut down all operations impacts the gravity of their grievance against the Porac local government, notably Mayor Jing Capil, on allegations of double taxation, arbitrariness in policies and processes especially in issuing clearances, and outright harassment.   

In the great scheme of things, the Porac quarry dispute is but a ripple in the otherwise all-too-smooth state of the quarry industry since the ascendancy to the Capitol of Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda in 2010 and through her three terms, onto the tenure of Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda from 2019, and back to Nanay Gov.

There is some dynamics manifesting here, a recurrence that just made me hark back to the Capitol’s management of quarrying pre-Pineda times. Here’s something risible published here Oct. 10, 2007:   

Defining ‘Q’

QUARRY (1). n., pl – ries. 1. A bird or animal hunted; prey; game. 2. Any object of pursuit (Middle English querre, entrails of a beast given to the hounds, from Old French cuiree, variant of co(u)ree, from Late Latin corata, viscera, from Latin cor, heart.
Quarry (2). n., pl – ries. An open excavation or pit from which stone is obtained by digging, cutting or blasting. – tr.v. quarried, -rying, -ries. 1. To cut, dig, blast or otherwise obtain (stone) from a quarry. 2 To use land as a quarry. (Middle English quarey, quarere from Old French quarriere from quarre (unattested), “square stone” from Latin quadras, square.
The lexicographic definitions of the word quarry – the Grolier International Dictionary used here – are too clear for any misunderstanding. (What? No mention of sand in the definition? Well, sand, along with marble, mayhaps only came later to join stone as materials being quarried.)
Well-defined as it is, still – in Pampanga – the word quarry has assumed myriad connotations and varied denotations well outside the parameters of its dictionary meaning.
It was not so long ago that the word quarry meant all of these things: some tracts of lands and fishponds, some choice lots in premier subdivisions, condo units along Manila Bay, and the heart of a Mutya ning Kapampangan finalist.
In that same period, quarry assumed the synonyms of top-of-the-line sports-utility vehicles like Lincoln Navigators and Humvee 2s, luxurious S-type Mercedes Benzes and 7-series BMWs. Forget the Pajeros, they were for paisanos. The Patrols, to the bodyguards as back-up vehicles
Still then too, quarry connoted grand palaces and stately mansions sprouting in rustic Porac.
Ah, those attributions were well within our first dictionary entry of the word: “object of pursuit.” The pursuers making prey of the collection pot for their own ends.
In our common understanding, quarry meant digging. For sand, that is. Still, misunderstanding persists.
Again, an instance in the recent past.
Threatened with suspension over the reported indiscriminate quarrying in his town, my once favorite mayor, rolled his Rs in his spirited defense that: “There is no quarrying in Mexico. There is only the scraping of lahar from private agricultural lands in pursuit of our noble objective to make them arable again for greater productivity and prosperity of our people.”
Only scraping and not quarrying? Even when the lahar scraped was used as pantambak (filling materials) to the pinak (marshland) atop which SM City Pampanga rose? 

One month after the Reverend Governor Eddie T. Panlilio took his seat at the Capitol, quarry assumed the definition of P1-million per day. And at the same time confirmed the earlier definition of quarry as unexplained wealth and plunder.
So we are now all agreed on all that the Q word stands for? Not yet.
Our good friend Mayor Buddy Dungca of Bacolor raised hell when Capitol quarry operatives known for the eponymous BALAS (Biyaya a Luluguran at Sisinupan) moniker stopped desilting operations along the Gugu Creek to relieve the waterway of the volumes of lahar that settled there after the heavy rains of August and September.
The spectre of Oct. 1, 1995 in Cabalantian was poised like Damocles’ Sword upon some barangays, thus the mayor immediately ordered and implemented sustained desilting operations.
Apparently incensed at some insinuations from the Bacolor folk that his stoppage of the operations manifested a most-unpriestly, if not inhuman side, of Panlilio, the governor hit back by declaring that what was being done was not desilting but quarrying, with the qualification that “what was dug was sold, and not used to buttress the earthen dikes or given to the residents as pantambak.”
So there, yet another qualification to the Q definition: “that which is sold.”
Truly, quarry is a very dynamic word. 

 

Ombudsman redux for 'Congtractor' Dong

 

                                                                                   FB photograb

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- “Congtractor yan eh… People didn’t believe that there would be accountability whatsoever in violating the law, harap-harapan kasi nga walang manghuhuli. Bawal iyan eh. It’s a prohibited activity, it’s a conflict of interest found in so many laws on corruption so mahirap na makatakas diyan.”

A mouthful there from Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Nov. 20, confirming that former House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. is among lawmakers being investigated for alleged involvement in the flood control anomalies.  

“Congtractor” is a recent portmanteau referencing congressmen who also own or manage construction companies that have secured contracts with the Department of Public Works and Highways.

In the case of the former Pampanga 3^rd District congressman, a bigtime infrastructure development player bears his very name -- A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction & Trading Co., Inc.

Of the Top 10 contractors that snagged the lion’s share of DPWH flood control contracts in Pampanga culled from the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website last August, A.D. Gonzales Construction and Trading Co. Inc. ranked Top 5 but was awarded the largest funded single flood control projects in the province, to wit:  

1)     the Abacan River diking and slope protection project in Mexico, Pampanga at a cost of P270.194 million reported completed on March 6, 2024; and

2)     flood control works on the Pasig-Potrero River and the San Fernando-Bacolor section of the San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-Minalin Tail Dike at a cost of P257.255 million and completed on June 5, 2024. (Erroneously placed in La Union in the sumbong website).

One more project listed under A.D. Gonzales Construction is another Abacan River diking, also in Mexico but distinguished as Phase I, with a cost of P96.496 million and completed on Nov. 23, 2023. 

It was precisely these projects that haled Gonzales to the Office of the Ombudsman in September 2023. 

Sto. Cristo barangay chair Terence Napao shows copy of complaint. 

Complainant Terence Napao, chairman of Barangay Sto. Cristo, and president of the Association of Barangay Captains in Mexico, Pampanga alleged that Gonzales and DPWH officials “conspired to corner” P611,577,718.40 worth of flood mitigating projects which were awarded to the construction company bearing the congressman’s name and with business address adjacent to the residence of the then-deputy speaker in the capital city.  

Family enterprise

In his complaint, Napao claimed that Gonzales owned 77% of the shares of A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction and Trading Co. Inc. until 2015, when he held a 25% share.

According to Napao, Gonzales’ son Aurelio Brenz, then a councilor now vice mayor of the capital city, became the company’s president and majority shareholder, while the congressman’s daughter, then-provincial board member now Pampanga 3^rd District Rep. Alyssa Michaela Gonzales, sat as secretary and treasurer. 

All in the family. At the proclamation of 2025 poll winners: CSF VM  Brenz, Pampanga board member Mymy, former House SDS Dong, Pampanga 3^rd District congresswoman Mica. File photo 

Another Gonzales son, Aurelio III, is the company’s vice president while another daughter, Aurelio Michaline is a director along with the congressman’s elder sister Zenaida Quiambao.

“Any right-minded citizen would easily figure out why and how a senior deputy speaker, a city councilor and a bokal (provincial board member) owning a construction company and with DPWH officials under their beck and call were favored with hundreds of millions worth of government contracts,” Napao alleged at the time. “With huge projects such as these, it would be the height of naiveté not to sense a collusion between the congressman’s company and the DPWH.” 

The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the case in 2023. 

Vindicated

Feeling vindicated by the turn of events in the exposè of flood control anomalies and the attendant public outcry last August-September, Napao resolved to refile with the Office of the Ombudsman the case for violations of Section 3 (e and h) of RA 3019 (the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), and the “Possession of Prohibited Interest by a Public Officer” from Article 216 of the Revised Penal Code against former Gonzales Jr. and members of his family who comprise the A.D. Gonzales Jr. Construction & Trading Co. Inc.

Napao said the complaint is unchanged from the one he filed earlier, asserting that the facts have not lost weight despite its dismissal.  

“These projects are glaring examples of conflict of interest in public service, manipulated to favor the family-owned business of then-Congressman Gonzales, a known super-rich contractor in Pampanga,” he alleged.

Rehashed

“I recall that a case against me involving the same projects filed before the same Ombudsman was dismissed sometime in 2023 for lack of merit. It appears to be a rehashed and recycled subject, if any.”

So was quoted Gonzales by the media on Nov. 20 citing a statement he reportedly sent to House of Representatives reporters.

“While I welcome any inquiry on the matter, I am not aware of an ongoing Ombudsman formal investigation against me on prohibited interests,” added Gonzales.

Aside from Gonzales, Remulla said investigations are underway for nine other politicians moonlighting as government contractors. 

“Isa-isa yan. Kailangan hihimayin mo kasi maraming magaling magtago e. Marami namang hindi na nagtago, talagang ginawa na lang. Yung (gumawa) na lang muna ang unahin natin, tinatawag ngang low-hanging fruit,” he said.

 

 

Immunity Index

CULTURE OF impunity. The phrase so oft applied in unsolved media killings, extra judicial executions, abductions and disappearances, that it assumed exclusivity for human rights violations.

Culturalization though starts small, petty things, which often repeated, graduate to big things. Like the culture of the lie attributed to Goebbels: If a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes the truth.

Hence, if a wrong is done often enough, it becomes not necessarily right, but altogether tolerated, aye accepted as a no-wrong.

Thence – to my simple mind – rises the culture of impunity. Impunity, if I remember my seminary Latin right, rooted in im – without, and punitas – punishment.

So even as I continue to join my media comrades raise clenched fists every 23^rd of the month to remember the Ampatuan Massacre of November 23, 2009, and shout for an end to the culture of impunity, I keep my own impunity index on the petty side of things unright, if not illegal.

Like the passenger jeepney drivers dropping and picking up commuters in No Loading/No Unloading Zones right under the very noses of traffic enforcers.

Like the passenger jeepney drivers – again! – taking the outermost lanes and zooming through red lights right on plain sight of traffic enforcers.

Like the passenger jeepney drivers – again, again! – keeping their vehicles’ headlights off in the dark of night. That’s no simple driving with reckless imprudence, that’s wanting – not waiting for – an accident to happen. So where’s the LTO?

Then there are the tricycles traversing stretches of the national highways in direct violation of the law, being confined only to crossing them.

There too are the whole families of three, four, five, once I saw even six, on board single motorcycles, where but tandem riding is decreed.

And helmetless motorcycle riders or those who wear them on their elbows not on their heads.

And what do you make of the padyak-sikels who lord it all over city streets – making terminals atop bridges, counterflowing traffic at will, do pick-and-drop passengers wherever?

They all flout the law with nothing more than their stupid grins to flaunt, but nobody dares apprehend them. Not even reprimand them. And these are but the “small folk” far below the ladder of power and influence in local society.

If, in their “lowness” they can get away with these small violations, so can the high and the mighty get away with bigger violations, murdering newsmen not exempted.

Ending the culture of impunity in this country is ever invoked at each unsolved high profile killing, abduction, disappearance.

Ending the culture of impunity in this country should be invoked at each unpunished illegality, no matter how seemingly trivial.

Ending the culture of impunity in this country demands the draconian exercise of political will. By all persons in authority. With full respect to the rights of the people, but of course. 

Will. Will not. A whale of a difference in the nut.

(First published June 21, 2012 before the culture of impunity reached hellish proportions under Duterte) 

     

   

 

Pork: A Recurrent Evil

         Image from the National Council of churches of the Philippines page

A RECURRENT evil. Aye, make that the eternal scourge of the Filipino nation.

Rushing to fill up this issue’s Page 4, I rummaged through nearly forgotten stories that would still find some relevance in these times of plunderous misgovernance. And voila, this from Sept. 23, 2013 ringing timelessness in its truth. Especially viewed from the INC spectacle just past.

Pork to perdition

PORK IS evil.

So spake retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno at a gathering of Methodist churches at the Good Samaritan Church in Quezon City last week.

“The pork barrel is an evil practice and it is our duty to fight evil by engaging it and not running away from it, not escaping from it,” he declared. “The fight against evil requires that we not only start the fight but we finish the fight. The fight against evil demands a period. The fight cannot be postponed by a comma, cannot be suspended by a ceasefire. Evil deserves but one end—defeat.”

No war of attrition there but the war to end all wars. 

As well addressing all men of faith, the esteemed magistrate said: “In sum, the Methodist position in regard to abuse of governmental power is clear, unchanging and unchangeable. Our North Star has always been and will always be the Word of God. We maintain that government derives its power from God; that it is the sovereignty of God that counts, it is the sovereignty of God that controls, it’s the sovereignty of God that should dictate the direction of human destiny.”

So sadly, some divine attribute arrogated unto themselves by those in government, thus: “However you look at it, the pork barrel scandal is all about abuse in the exercise of the powers of government, especially the legislative power over the money of the people.”

Indeed, “the only rationale of the government is to maintain order by promoting good and not evil, and above all, the government must be an instrument of God, hence no government can subvert the sovereignty of God.”

Indeed, government – at least in the case of the pork barrel scam – did just that.

The evil of “mass theft” of the people’s money compounded and complexed by how it was “misused against the people’s interest.”

“It was misused for political patronage; to buy the loyalty of people whose politics is for sale; to corrupt our system of making laws; to corrupt our systems of enforcing our laws; to corrupt our system of election; to perpetuate poverty; in other words, to violate the dignity of our people, to demean our democracy, and worse of all, to defy the sovereignty of God.”

Drawing the lines of battle thus, “between God’s power and evil people in power.” Verily, the final conflict, Armageddon itself, to be waged there.

Pork is an abomination.

Haram, as the Qur’an proscribes -- "Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah." [Al-Qur’an 5:3].

In the Old Testament too -- "And the swine, though he divideth the hoof, and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you." [Leviticus 11:7-8]. The same phrase in Deuteronomy 14:8 reverberating.

As well as – and more terrifying – in the New – “And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine feeding.  So, the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.  And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.” [Matthew 9:30-32, King James Version]. 
And so, the devils went into the congressional pork, and, behold, the whole House of Congress rocked violently and now lies precipitously on a steep cliff, teetering to fall into the sea of rage of a people wronged, and to perish…  

Pork is damnation.

In both its scriptural and political sense. Woe unto you, pork scammers. Hell has a special place for you.

Abolish pork. Be saved.   

Duh?  
 

 

That Yolanda-effect

Donations from the United Nations, European Union, and the United States in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda reached $231,587,655 (P11.19 billion) or 26.77% of the total foreign aid received by the Philippines. Rappler

THERE IS something in the series of earthquakes and typhoons of late that I find far and away from the previous calamities that impacted the nation.

Not so much in terms of intensity or in the scope and scale of devastation, as in the global response and concomitant relief. So, has anyone even noticed some semblance of international aid groups coming to Cebu or to any of the disaster-impacted areas?

Donor fatigue? Political intrigue? Whatever, I dare not think. In matters of analysis of this magnitude, I am poorly equipped. Mine is just to look back to what has come to me as Yolanda-effect from the perspective of relief.

Here’s a Punto! piece dated Nov. 23, 2013 – aye, 12 days short of 12 years, and finding some relevance if only for this.

Epiphany            

“GOODNESS IS self-edifying; ethical living satisfies the conscience; virtue is, as proverbially advertised, its own reward, and don’t look to God for a bonus.”

Thus, the language maven William Safire iterates a moral doctrine in his work subtitled The Book of Job in Today’s Politics.

“Prayer has a value in itself. That’s the flip side of the negative, don’t-look-for-a-material-payoff lesson. The truly religious person, in Joban theology, not only worships God with no payoff in mind but is uplifted by that unselfish love.”

So, I rearranged the order of Safire’s paragraph to transition to the point whence this discussion takes off.

PAYOFF TIME. Emphatically tolled across the globe by the devastation wrought by Super Typhoon Yolanda. Notwithstanding the aforesaid Joban precept.   

“We will never forget what the Philippines did for us in 2011.” So was quoted Kenzo Iwakami, the team leader of the Japanese medical mission to Leyte. In reference to the Filipino nation’s contribution to relief efforts at the time Japan was ground zero of the destructive earthquake and tsunami that killed over 15,000 people. 

                               Philippine Embassy in Japan photo

Seconded Dr. Joji Tomioka, sub-leader and medical coordinator for JICA’s medical team for disaster relief: “This time, we have to help you. Because two years ago, you helped us. So, this time, this is our turn.”

In what could be its largest military overseas aid deployment to date, Japan has dispatched two warships carrying some 1,000 troops, along with 10 planes and six helicopters to join relief efforts in the Visayas. It has likewise pledged $10 million in aid.

Purely personal payback it was to Kenji Hirakawa who donated 200,000 yen (P87,000) to the relief efforts “for all the troubles my father may have caused to the Filipino people.”

“My father lies sleeping in a mountain somewhere in Luzon,” Hirakawa said in the letter he sent to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, qualifying his old man was a member of the Japanese Imperial Army that occupied the Philippines in World War II and never made it back home. 

A tug at the heartstrings was that Japanese pre-schooler who went to the Philippine embassy to donate his piggy bank savings.

PAY IT FORWARD.  In 1939, some 1,200 Jews “who otherwise would have almost certainly died in the Holocaust” were given sanctuary in the Philippines.

“The people of the Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when the time of need came, their country was willing to extend a welcome hand.” President Manuel L. Quezon’s word at the time proved prescient, if not prophetic, today.

“A particularly heroic piece of history (that) should be recalled by the global Jewish community, which owes a debt to the island nation.” Wrote Alan H. Gill, CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, in JTA, the Global Jewish News Source.

And the Jewish nation did. Setting a field hospital right at ground zero within seven hours of the arrival of the Israel Defense Force, its 125-member delegation of medical doctors, nurses, technicians, lab workers treating as much as 300 patients a day. And members of its Homefront Command coordinating logistics comprising over 100 tons of equipment and supplies.  

                               IsraAID photo

Aside from treating injuries and ailments, 12 babies have been delivered, the first of whom was named “Israel” in gratitude to the volunteers. Enough to move one to tears.

Writes Gill further: “These efforts now come full circle, especially for one member of our team arriving in the Philippines later this week, Danny Pins. In addition to being one of our development and employment experts, Pins’ mother and grandparents were among the German Jews who fled to the Philippines to seek safe haven in 1938. His posting, in many ways a homecoming despite previous trips to the country, is highly symbolic.” 

“Today, in the wake of one of the worst storms in history, with perhaps more than 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, we are fully committed to fulfilling President Quezon’s prophecy and returning the favor to the Filipino people. Not just because we are Jews, the heirs to this nation’s life-saving actions, but because we firmly believe in mutual responsibility and the idea that each individual life is valuable beyond measure.” Beyond mere payback, there rises international solidarity, indeed, One Humanity, most manifest in the Filipino value of kapwa.  

SOLIDARITY AND FAITH. The greatest means to survive, and ultimately triumph over a disaster.

This, the people of Pampanga have shown to the world, rising over the devastation, death, desolation, and despair wrought by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, and the lahar rampages that buried whole communities in the aftermath. 

“The desire among Kapampangans to help is spurred by our own Pinatubo experience.” So articulated San Fernando Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David at the launch last Saturday of the “Pampanga for Visayas/Palawan” mission which calls on the Kapampangan faithful for donations, the archdiocese’s 94 parishes serving as drop-off centers.

A number of business groups, socio-civic organizations and committed non-governmental of organizations throughout Pampanga are likewise engaged in raising funds and relief goods for the victims of Yolanda.

The Kapampangan community, quoted the Inquirer of the good Among Ambo, is “extra generous because of our awareness that we have to look back and to give back.”

Awareness evolving to sanctifying grace.

Thus, Ignatius of Loyola: “…to give and not to count the cost, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek for reward, save that of knowing that we do Your will.”

Hence, Francis of Assisi: “…where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy…For it is in giving that we receive.”

Enough to restore one’s trust in the innate goodness of man, to renew one’s faith in his God.

The ravages of Yolanda are an epiphany for all the world to witness, to experience, to believe.

 

                      Photos: USAID, AFP

 

 

 

                                                               

JB-Hell: Huwag yurakan (daw)

ATAS NG patas na pamamahayag at bilang paggalang sa karapatan sa pagtugon ng sinuman sa pagkalimbag ng anumang isyung kanilang kinasangkutan, ating inilalathala dito ang “Opisyal na Pahayag ng Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital Tungkol sa mga Batikos sa Serbisyong Medikal.”

Ito marahil ang kasagutan sa ating pagpuna na may pamagat na Ill-treatment at JB-Hell, (matutunghayan sa https://punto.com.ph/they-just-lie-there-and-they-die-there-ill-treatment-at-jb-hell/), pati na rin sa mga ibang lathalain at online platforms ng mga kasapi ng Central Luzon Media Association-Pampanga Chapter.

“Ang pamunuan ng [JBLMGH] ay patuloy na naglilingkod sa mga mamamayan ng Central Luzon,” bungad ng opisyal na pahayag.

“Sa kabila ng limitasyon ng pasilidad at kakulangan ng kawani, lahat ng pasyenteng idinudulog sa [ER] at [OPD] ay binibigyan ng atensyong medikal…,” susog nito, kaakibat ang litanya ng paghihirap at pagpapakasakit dala ng mga limitasyon – 137 na critical care beds sa ICU, sa kabila ng pagdagsa ng mga pasyenteng nanggagaling hindi lamang sa Pampanga kundi sa buong rehiyon at referral mula sa ibang ospital na pribado o pampubliko.

“Sa bawat araw may mahigit (sic) kumulang sa 300 na pasyente sa Emergency Department at 1,200 sa OPD ang aming pinagsisilbihan,” punto ng pahayag. “Sa gitna ng lahat ng ito, ang mga healthcare workers ng JBLMGH ay patuloy na inilalaan ang kanilang talino at kakayahang upang mapaglingkuran ang taong bayan sa kabila ng puyat, pagod…”  

Panaghoy na pangangatuwiran – sa wikang Ingles, argumentum ad misericordiam – na tumatagos sa kaibuturan ng puso, bagama’t fallacy o kamalian sa lohika ay tumitimo na rin sa lunan ng kaisipan. Ito ang salpok ng opisyal na pahayag, na nagmuntik-muntikan nang magpaluhod sa akin upang pagsisihan ang aking sinulat… kaipala’y maliwanagan lamang sa kawastuhan nito – ng aking komentaryong Ill-treatment at JB-Hell – dahil na rin sa idinugtong pa ng kanilang opisyal na pahayag “… at hindi makatarungang panglilibak lalong-lalo na sa social media.”

Kailan pa naging panglilibak ang paglalahad ng pighati sa pagkawala ng mga mahal sa buhay – lola, lolo, ina, ama, asawa, anak, kapatid, tiyo’t tiya o kaibigan man lamang – dahil sa di-tama o kakulangan sa panlapat ng lunas, o di man lang pag-aasikaso sa pasyente na kanilang dinala sa JBL?

Kailan pa naging panglilibak ang paghayag ng kanilang masasakit na karanasan sa kapalaluan ng iba’t ibang mga kawani sa JBL, mula duktor at nars, hanggang doon sa mga tanggapang-administrtibo, kasama pa ang mga sikyu?

Hirit pa ng pahayag ng JBL: “Hinihiling namin sa mga pasyente at mga mamamayan na maging mapanuri sa mga nababasang mga pahayag at sa ating mga mamamahayag na magbigay ng makatarungan at patas na mga pabatid.”

Ang hiling ng JBL ay hindi na kailangan: Tunay na mapanuri ang mga pasyente at mamamayan -- lalo’t higit yung mga namatayan – sa mga nalathala nitong mga araw tungkol sa ngayo’y sinasabing batikos sa serbisyong medikal. Ang resibo? Ang matagal nang kinikimkim na sakit ng kalooban sa madilim nilang karanasan sa JBL ay sumambulat sa liwanag bunsod ng mapanuring paglalathala sa mapait na sinapit sa ospital ng kawani ng modistang si Mich Viray. Ang sulat reklamo ni Bb. Viray kay Dr. Monserrat Chichioco, pinuno ng JBL, ang nagsilbing mitsa ng pagsabog ng nagpupuyos na damdamin ng lahat ng nakaranas ng kalabisan, kakulangan, o kapalaluan sa JBL.

Sa panig naman ng mga mamamahayag, ano ang hindi patas at di-makatarungan sa naibalita tungkol sa isyu ng JBL? Dokumentado ang reklamo ni Bb. Viray, nagbigay ng pahayag ang mismong biktimang si Ruby Ann Lazaro, inilabas din ang sagot ni Dr. Chichioco. Kompletos rekados ang balita.

O baka, ang tinutukoy ng kanilang opisyal na pahayag ay ang nasulat nga nating “They just lie there, and they die there. Ill-treatment at JB-Hell” (kumpletong pamagat)?

Ito po ay opinyon – isang komentaryo na nagbubusisi, nagsusuri, tumutuligsa, at lumiliwanag sa isyung tinatalakay. Walang naisulat sa ating salaysay ang hindi nakaugat sa katotohanan. Pati na ang pagtaguri ng “JB-Hell” sa ospital – bunsod ng mga paglalahad sa social media ng mga totoong katauhan ng anila’y mala-impiyernong karanasan sa JBL.

Iyon ang aking naging batayan. Hindi ko na nga isinulat: “Kung impiyerno na nga ang JBL, kailangan pa bang itanong kung si ‘Taning ang naghahari dito?”                

Samo ng JBL: “Huwag po sanang yurakan ang reputasyon ng institution at ang mga kawani na tapat na naglilingkod sa pamamagitan ng pangkalahatang pamamahayag na walang sapat na batayan.”

Ang paglalahad ng katotohanan, gaano man kahapdi, sa mga napapatungkulan – lalo’t higit sa mga nanunungkulan bilang mga lingkod bayan – kailan man ay hindi pagyurak sa kanilang reputasyon.

Ang masamang gawa at di-mabuting gawi ang yumuyurak hindi lamang sa reputasyon, kundi sa mismong pagkatao. Kaya walang dapat ikabahala ang mga tapat na naglilingkod, mandi’y marapat lamang na sila ay gawing uliran.

Hindi rin natin minamaliit o inaalis ang bilang ng mga napagaling sa JBL. Por diez porciento, este, por Dios por santo, ospital yan at pagpapagaling sa maysakit ang tanging dahilan ng pagkakatatag nito.

Entonces, ang mga kakulangan nito sa pagpapatupad sa natatanging misyon ay marapat lamang na suriin para iwasto.   

Dahila sa katagalan ng kawalang kalunasan, ang problema sa JBL ay matatawag nang systemic dysfunctionality – sa mata ng madla, wari baga’y kanser na kumalat na sa buong katawan at tanging hintuturo’t hinlalaki na lamang ang hindi pa tinatamaan. Ito ang dapat pagtuunan ng masinsinan at malawakang pagsisiyasat.    

Hirit pa more ng JBL: “Ang lahat ng reklamo at hinaing ng mga pasyente ay patuloy na tinutugunan at makakaasa ang taong-bayan na lahat ng karampatang aksyon at pagtatama ay ginagawa at patuloy na gagawin ng pamunuan upang patuloy na makapagbigay ng “Serbisyong may Lingap, Husay, at Malasakit.”

Ito ay isang malaking kabulaanan. Bukod sa inihain ni Bb. Viray, may iba pa bang reklamo ang napabalitang tinugunan ng JBL?

Ang nagdudumilat na katotohanan: Ang delubyo ng hinagpis at siphayo, ng nagngangalaiting galit na bumulwak sa social media at bumaon sa JBL ay patunay ng kakulangan kundi man ganap na kawalan ng katugunan, lalo’t higit karampatang aksyon, at pagtatama sa mga karaingan ng mga pasyente at mamamayan.      

 

They just lie there, and they die there: Ill-treatment at JB-Hell

WHAT HATH fashion maven Mich Viray wrought! No, not in the sosyal realm of haute couture but in the arena of social media justice.

Taking the cudgel for her Casa Moda staff Ruby Ann Lazaro, Mich wrote a complaint letter to Dr. Monserrat Chichioco, medical center chief of the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH), over alleged medical negligence arising from misdiagnosis performed on Lazaro.

In her letter dated Oct. 30, Mich accused the attending medical team led by resident physician Dr. Leonil Anthony Bais Arante of overlooking multiple pelvic fractures sustained by Lazaro in a vehicular accident along MacArthur Highway in Barangay Baliti, City of San Fernando on Oct. 21.

While Lazaro underwent X-rays, ultrasound, and CT scans at JBLMGH, she was discharged two days later with a diagnosis of contusion despite persistent complaints of severe hip pain and immobility. A later review of her X-ray reportedly revealed complete displaced fractures in both superior and inferior pubic rami – findings that were not disclosed during her confinement.

Lazaro later sought a second opinion at Makabali Hospital, where an orthopedic surgeon confirmed the fractures and recommended pelvic surgery to install a metal plate.

“This serious oversight placed Ms. Lazaro’s health and recovery at significant risk,” Mich wrote, adding that the delayed diagnosis caused unnecessary pain and could have led to long-term complications.

She ended her letter with a call for internal investigation, a written explanation from the doctors concerned, and a review of the hospital’s diagnostic and discharge protocols to prevent the recurrence of similar cases.

In letter reply dated Nov. 4, Chichioco expressed apologies for the incident, said she had directed “my team” to initiate an “impartial and comprehensive investigation,” and assured “appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.”

Alas, Chichioco could have just told it to the marines!

“Kung sila lang naman mag-imbestiga sa sarili nila, alam mo na ang resulta:  ginawa nila ang trabaho nila at wala silang pagkukulang,” a netizen’s comment readily damning Chichioco probing her own ilk.

Wrath unleashed

Published in the social media platforms and online publications of members of the Central Luzon Media Association-Pampanga Chapter, Mich’s letter did not just open a can of worms but virtually unleashed the floodgates of wrath of victims of maltreatment, both physical and emotional, and mistreatment, both medical and fatal. A sampling from the hundreds of comments, verified as coming from real people (edited to formal writing):

“Marami nang buhay ang nawala dahil sa kapabayaan nila. Kaya ka nga pumunta sa JBL para magpagamot at gumaling hindi pra lumala at mamatay. Ganyan sila diyan parang hindi tao ang turing sa mga pasyente … Ayusin nila dapat ang JBL – ospital ‘yan, hindi po funeraria…

Hindi ka mabubuhay sa ospital na yan mapapadali ang buhay mo. Sa ospital na ‘yan, auntie ko namatay lang din. Nagalit pa doctor nung nagsumbong ako…

Yun pong bayaw ko namatay din diyan, marami po namamatay diyan parang may something…

Mama ko po namatay diyan nung Sept. 24. Gising pa ng Sept. 23, tinubuan (intubated?) siya tapos bigla tumawag sa amin ang ICU ng JBL: Patay na daw mama ko. Sobrang sakit po sa amin…

Katulad ng papa ko wala man lang paliwanag kung ano ikinamatay…

Kung susumain yung pagkamatay ng anak ko kapabayan talaga nila. Nagwawala ang bata dahil sa sakit at uhaw na nararandaman niya, tapos namamaga na siya, tumatawag ako ng doctor at nurse ni wala mang lumalapit isa man sa kanila. Nang sumigaw ako na ‘di ko na marandaman ang pulso ng anak ko, dun pa lang lumapit. Ano pa silbi nila? Wala na…

Minsan sila pa ang papatay sa ‘yo. Katulad na lang ng biyenan ng pinsan ko: cause of death is katandaan, eh 65 years old pa lang siya. Grabe…

Diyan po namatay ang kapatid ko, sa kapabayaan nila…

‘Yung hipag ko ang tagal sa ER (24 hrs) nakaupo lang, hirap na hirap siya bago nalapatan ng lunas; lumala pa ang kalagayan. Kapiling na siya ng Diyos ngayon…

Imbes na surgery gawin, hinayaan sa ER ng three days na nakaupo – nakaupo habang kina-catheter, naghihingalo ng nakaupo, dina-dialysis ng nakaupo. Binayaran lang namin yung nagbigay ng bed kaya after three days, nakahiga rin ang aking mama. Pero wala na. Namumutla na ang mama ko, panay turok pa kayo. Pinatay niyo mama ko…

When my lolo died there last year, nagtuturuan pa mga nurses sino magre-revive, tapos doctor ‘kala mo ‘di emergency slow motion walking. So heartbreaking!... 

Kapag nagdala ka diyan ng pasyente sigurado mamamatay. Yung kapatid ko dinala namin diyan: naglalakad nung pumasok, nung lumabas patay na…

Ganyan din po nangyari sa anak ko last April lang po, accident din po na open pelvic naman po case niya, sabi nila direct operation siya. Hanggang umabot ng two days, tuwing lalapitan at magtatanong ako sa kanila sinasabi nila na siya na yung susunod hanggang sa nawala na anak ko, hindi man nila naoperahan. Sana man lang sinabihan nila kami na hindi nila kaya kesa sa binigyan pa kami ng assurance na siya na ang susunod na operahan, dahil sa kapabayan nila nawala ang anak ko.”

THAT SAD, sorry state of medical services at JBLMGH effectively reduced it to that euphemism of a “Mona Lisa” hospital – not so much for Da Vinci’s masterpiece as for the lines in the song it inspired, to wit: They just lie there, and they die there... not so much for the dreams laid on La Gioconda’s doorsteps, but for the patients taken at what is now called – oh, so aptly – JB-Hell.

Plea for understanding

To be fair, there is at least one netizen cautioning against outright judgment:

“JBL po ay Isang pampublikong hospital at minsan talagang nangyayari ang mga bagay na yan sa dami ng pasyenteng pumasok. Subalit hindi po ito dahilan para hindi gawin lahat ng pagsusuri para matukoy ang talagang sakit ng pasyente.

Ito po ay issue ng protocol ng isang hospital na kung kulang sa kagamitan ay marapat na ipasuri sa mga may ganoong kagamitan Hindi po natin matukoy talaga kung bakit hindi nakita ng doktor na sumuri ang sakit, maaaring kulang sa gamit o protocol ng ospital o pagpapabaya pero huwag po natin siyang husgahan hanggat hindi ito natutukoy.”

So overwhelming though the torrent of grief, the onrush of rage suppressed for long in resignation that that complaint letter of, of all people, a haute couturier so socially distant and economically separate from the folk availing themselves of JBL services, that Chichioco’s probe will fall flat on its face before it can even stand.

“Deka-dekada na ang mga reklamo sa mga doctor at pamunuhan sa JBL. Huwag na po tayung umasa na may magbabago sa hospital na ito. Bulok na sistema ng hospital, ipasa-diyos nalang natin ang lahat. Kung may pera o wala man, pilitan niyung magpatingin sa ibang hospital kesa sa umasa sa JBL,” as one netizen articulated the long-drawn frustration of most.

Despite everything, a glimmer of hope though for another netizen:

“Balada po kasi utang tamu lub karela ing maka libre. Anya nung i-tratu dakatamu makalunus tamu. Tutu napu nyan, misan ala namu choice anya mumunta la ken deng tao. Pero eta pu migaganaka pag akapali de pu buntuk y Gov. Nanay Lilia Pineda, sigurado sabunan nano naman den, itang alang banlawan. Ena kunsintian ing anti ‘yan.”

Wronged, to the end

Felix M. Garcia. Poeta Laureado. 30 Enero 1938 - 31 Octubre 2025. 

HIS FINAL verse metered and rhymed,

Calliope – poetry’s muse most divine –

Unto Felix the golden laurel crowned.

Alas, unto death poet laureate Felix M. Garcia remained dispossessed of recognition of one major work of his lifetime. Here’s that story published here on March 21, 2019.

Intellectual property wronged

“JUSTICE TO Mr. Garcia was already delayed. I hope it will not be denied this time.”

So prayed Jose Irwin M. Nucum, a committee deputy chair of the Multi-Sectoral Governance Council of the City of San Fernando, in a letter – dated Dec. 8, 2010 – to the city council on the “Subject: Recognition of Poeta Laureado Felix M. Garcia as the true lyricist of the Himno Fernandino.”

Addressed directly to then Vice Mayor Edwin T. Santiago, Nucum, himself a composer – both lyrics and music – of a number of hymns and anthems, wrote that he took it as “supreme responsibility” that Garcia be accorded that recognition that is rightfully his as “true lyricist” of the city hymn.

It was on Feb. 5, 1997 that the then sangguniang bayan – San Fernando was yet to be a city – passed Resolution No. 97- 004 adopting the Himno Fernandino as the official hymn, and recognizing Geronimo F. Del Rosario, Jr. as the composer.

No, there was absolutely no question of the authenticity of Del Rosario as composer of the himno. The problem – epic at that – was that Garcia was deprived the credit, aye, his very share of his intellectual proprietary right to the himno as its lyricist.

Garcia has all the proofs of having written the himno’s lyrics, duly subscribed to by other Capampangan poetas laureados, notably the much-prized Jaspe Dula.

But self-effacing as he is, Tatang Felix – as I address him, with as much awe and respect for his brilliance in the amanung sisuan – let all these injustices to his person thrived in his silence.

Content with but one letter he sent on Feb. 14, 2011 to then-Councilor Jimmy Lazatin, addressed as the “hearing officer” on the “Conflict of Claims between Felix M. Garcia and Geronimo F. Del Rosario over an issue on who really wrote the lyrics of Himno Fernandino.”

The letter detailed the whats, hows, whys and wherefores that led to the crafting of the himno and the controversy that arose from it, closing: Nung dekayanan ne agyang kapurit mu mang rekognisyun ing akasaup na, a miras marahil king punting yan. (E ku buring sabyan ing makasarili ya y pareng Norming. Pero pagmulalan ku mu nung bakit selikut na ing tutu. Kumpara keng metung a basung danum, e na ku inugsyanan agyang kapatak mu bista’t kayabe na kung mepagal kaniti…

E sukat maging dalan iti ban pikamuan da ku at misimpan sakit a lub ampon paginakit kanaku ri Mr. Del Rosario at ding pamilya na uling e ku kasalanan nung bakit mipakanyan. Atyu keya bilang kompositor (ning musika) ing kakulangan nung bakit e na binye ing karampatan a pamangilala king lyricist.

Whatever hearing the sanggunian bayan of San Fernando held on the “conflict” appears to have gone nowhere in resolving it.

It has been over eight years since the controversy came to fore. Then Vice Mayor Edwin Santiago is now contesting the last of three terms as mayor. The hearing officer, then Councilor Jimmy Lazatin is already twice reelecting as vice mayor.

And, as Nucum wrote, “Garcia is left in oblivion.” 

                                                 Felix and Irwin 

At every singing of the Himno Fernandino, a great injustice is done to its unrecognized “true lyricist.”

How can a city government that prides itself as champion of culture and the arts, indeed, that arrogates unto itself “lahi cang marangal… dayang pantas… tune uliran, sandigan at duyan king kalayan” can even tolerate such monumental wrong? Could sweep it under the rug of haughty indifference?

“To recognize Mr. Garcia is like completing the puzzle and will not in any way lessen Mr. Del Rosarios role and contribution in the composition of the hymn.” So, Nucum wrote succinctly.

And spot-on: “The fulfilment of a writer or any artist lies in the appreciation and acknowledgement of his obra. No pecuniary consideration can ever replace that feeling of being appreciated and recognized – especially for having written the lyrics of this hymn of every Fernandino.”

Is that too much to ask of the local government of San Fernando?