Magsie may have
outsmarted himself

Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña may have outsmarted his political opponent. But he may have also placed himself in a dilemma.

Or, perhaps, Elda Mondia, spouse of his rival Samson Mondia, may have turned the tables on Magsie by having 45 of the 187 Pulupandan residents against whom warrants of arrest had been issued surrender themselves to the police.

Now Peña faces a headache that is truly challenging. What to do with the 45 who had been booked and where to place them, considering that the Pulupandan jail does not have enough room to accommodate all of them.

Thus, the Pulupandan case has become a cause celebre. Not that Peña cannot find his way out of the gridlock, but that there is now an ongoing public indignation over the detention of the 45.

The police were also caught in the bind. They could not refuse to book the surrenderees. But they did refuse the others who would have clogged further an already overcrowded facility.

Now Magsie has to toss the problem of the 45 to Elda for having brought them in. But the former mayor's wife had no option but to turn them over. After all the Mondia couple do not have enough funds to pay for their bail.

The trouble now seems to be that the situation had provided the 45 and their wives a forum from which they managed to tell the public of their respective ordeals, including their families and children.

Magsie did try to wriggle himself from the problem posed by the mass arrest. He tossed the blame on Elda for surrendering their supporters to the police despite Magsie's rejoinder to go slow on their arrest.

He also passed the buck for the situation to both the Church and the provincial government. But that does not change the situation - what do you do with so many under arrest and the remaining 187 still subject to arrest?

Peña deftly managed to extricate himself from responsibility for the filing of the case against the 187, by pointing out that the complainants were different persons than himself. He had not charged any of them. Thus, he wisely offered to broker the talks between the families of the complaints and the respondents.

Knowing Magsie, however, I don't doubt that he will come up with a rabbit from his pocket that will enable him to settle the case with a flourish that will address the plight of the ordinary folks who are even now undergoing anguish and pain.

And with the help of Church people, I am sure that Peña will come up soon with a solution to the problem that now confronts him and his incipient administration.

***

Rep. Monico Puentevella (Bacolod City) is impatient. Although the President is arriving here on July 13, as he told local media last Tuesday, he rightly pointed out that the 500 meter extension of the runaway remains unresolved, although the budget for it had long been approved.

The President, though, may end up inaugurating only the main terminal of the new Bacolod Airport in Silay City.

When will it become operational? That's a major guess. Right now, the main issue boils down to the access road. Where will it be located and where will it end?

There is supposed to be its interconnection with the Circumferential Road. But there is the other alternative. So, how long will it take to be finally completed?

Anyway, that may be providential. That gives local officials time to address the problem of transportation to and from that airport. We find ourselves confronted by what could be considered as prohibitive fare (taxi) from downtown Bacolod to the Silay airport.

Exactly the same question that now hounds Iloilo City passengers in going to Cabatuan, 25 kilometers away. That cab fare, at the present rate, will entail about P385 one way. And cab operators are petitioning for the rate to be pegged with the additional P100 extra to make up for possible loss in case the cabs return to Iloilo sans any fare.

That makes it unaffordable for the average traveler and could discourage air travelers. It is good that the Iloilo Convention bureau had withdrawn the P80 gratuity that would have been imposed over and above the metered rate. Not only was that considered illegal, but also commonsense would make it prohibitive if a "patong" is made on the P385 fare.

The most logical is for the Air Transportion Office or enterprising entrepreneurs coming up with commuters vans as they have in Mactan Airport in Cebu. That makes it affordable. Those who can afford the taxi fare can do so without having to cough up additional for gratuity or tip.

Anyway, I think the President may be able to address the problem when she comes in July 13.

Meanwhile, there is also the problem of the present Bacolod airport. What to do with it? I agree with Councilor Jocelle Batapa Sigue that it be converted into an export processing zone, provided that Lucio Tan would agree to the idea.

And, if a port cannot be put up there, it is best now to study the feasibility of putting up an access road from there to BREDCO which can serve as the port of entry and exit.*

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