Finally, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Region XI has filed cases against certain officials of the Local Civil Registry (LCR) office of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
This move is a bit late but still a very welcome development. Imagine, how blatant was the act of those people issuing delayed birth certificates as Filipinos to Chinese nationals! And how much are the officials concerned charging the applicants? Who are the people behind or bridging the foreigners to the Sta. Cruz officials concerned so that they can acquire their birth certificates as Filipinos?
We therefore strongly recommend to the NBI that its investigation should be made deeper and wider so that it could establish the total picture and level of corruption involved in the racket perpetrated by the concerned Sta. Cruz LCR officials.
The investigative agency must also establish how long the racket has been done in the said office if it is to discover whose term as mayor had the laxity started to prevail. It is very important that the NBI will be able to identify the top local official who should be blamed for failure to exercise the ideal command responsibility that gave rise to the mess.
On the other hand, the supposed suspension of the LCR official who is believed responsible for the issuance of the delayed birth registration certificates must not be the kind of “child-like” punishment. Meaning, the person should have been suspended from his office without pay and not reassigned to another department in the Sta. Cruz LGU. Such action is clearly the “kid=gloves” kind.
Now, if the person and his associates are found without guilty by the Ombudsman where the cases against them are filed, then they should be reinstated with payment of their back wages. In so doing, there is no doubt that their cases will serve as warning to those who are doing the same in their government offices, and possibly deter those who are about to be tempted to do the shenanigans for fast money.
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So some councilors have noticed indications that a scion of a popular political in Davao City is doing lovey-dovey with the alliances of parties identified with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.? The councilors’ observation was manifested in a privileged speech by second district councilor Diosdado Angelo Mahipus. The prime target is fellow Second District Councilor Javi Campos, nephew of Second district congressman Vincent Garcia.
Mahipus wanted Campus to “clear the air” whether or not he would still be with the political party organized by former Davao City Mayor and former President Rodrigo R. Duterte. Campos ran under the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod party in his first and second terms as local lawmaker.
The suspicion of the “Hugpong” aldermen came about when Campos was allegedly seen photographed attending the gathering of national administration allied political groups when they announced their candidates for Senator.
On the other hand Campos told members of the media that he understands the sentiment of Mahipus and the other councilors but he claimed he cannot speak for the entirety of the family (Garcias).
Now, reading between the lines of Campos’ response, it is clear that the family’s position as to where it may end up aligning with is clear. It is therefore possible that alliances with the Nograles political family and other now “silent” nemesis of the Dutertes could be in the offing. Therefore, the 2025 election in Davao City for local officials may not be boring after all.
“Let us to see.”
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We closely monitor the first day of the filing of certificates of candidacy for both local and national elective offices. The major observations we have is that more and more celebrities are joining politics despite the good money they are earning from the entertainment business.
We also noted that many filers including that for local posts are members of long-known political families that have been dominating the local scene for as long as more than half a century already.
The late comers in the political scene who have immediately established their foundation as ruling families, have shown that they too, are out to form their own dynasty in politics. Their lineage started even during the time of their great, great grandparents, down to their parents, to the children, further down to the grandchildren, branching to the wives, the in-laws and relatives to the nearest of consanguinity.
So how could they possibly talk of doing away with political dynasty? What moral authority they have of even just bringing out the subject when their actions speak of perpetuating the dynasty rule in the country’s political system>
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By the way how is the performance of the individual councilor in the present Davao City Council assessed? By the number of resolutions sponsored and ordinances introduced and passed by the local legislative body and subsequently approved by the City Mayor?
We assumed it is the main parameter based on the news reports made by the local media.
All the while we thought that it is more on the relevance of the resolutions sponsored as well as the ordinances authored and passed by the legislative body.
Yes, the ordinance authored by a Councilor, or resolution introduced should be with great significance in enhancing governance of the city. It has to have wide-ranging positive impact on the city’s population and economic well-being of the city.
It should not be ordinances or resolutions that after organizing the text of its body into complete documents, it immediately finds itself dumped inside the City Council’s archives and end up lost in oblivion.
