Skip to main content

The Guray Method

We hate to put it bluntly but there’s only one word that can correctly describe the substation of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Davila, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte: POOR!

We can explain in many ways why we rate the said substation as poor, but let’s just dissect one of them. Essaying on all of the reasons—especially their lack of equipment and capability to do their job—would be an attempt as wide as the West Philippine Sea.

Davila substation is a poor government office because it is a stinking burrow of red tape.

Last week, at least nine Taiwanese fishing vessels were spotted by local fishermen around 30 nautical miles from the shores of Davila. These foreign boats—most of them believed to be armed—were obviously carrying out illegal fishing in the Philippine waters.

Considering the ongoing disputes on the West Philippine Sea, the matter is alarming—and deserving of public attention and dissemination through the media.

So, we went to the PCG substation in Davila for a coverage—and there we saw the burrow.

The place was small. But it was not surprising considering that it is only a substation. What surprised us was the unconcerned demeanor of the petty officers. As if there was no problem confronting them at present. Brutally put, they were ignorantly cool.

When we started asking questions, of course with our camera, they flatly told us to go to their higher offices in Currimao or in the region to get answers for our questions.

What? Currimao is more than 60 kilometers from Davila! We were just asking questions similar to blotter materials—what, when, where, who, how! We were not asking for anything that would compromise their operations or anything that would result to their discharge in service. We were asking simple, almost trivial, facts.

But Petty Officer 2 Michael Guray, the substation commander, said that he is not allowed to speak. And if he speaks he must get first the permission of his superior in Currimao who will get first the permission of the regional command who will probably get first the permission of the national command.

Whew! We wanted to ask Mr. Guray if he already brushed his teeth, but we bet he will get the permission of his superior first before he can give an answer.

But we insisted on the interview. We stressed that as a substation, they have the obligation to inform the public on such pressing matter. So, Mr. Guray made us wait and wait. By the way, in Iluko, “guray” means “wait”.

At last, after a long wait and many debates, Mr. Guray granted us a short interview. An interview about simple, almost trivial, facts. At least we now know that an interview on open facts can also be mentally exhausting and energy draining—only in the PCG.

The coast guard is a part of our line of defense. Being a front-liner of the people’s protection, coast guard commanders must have some training on decision making—a leeway for self-confidence.

But if their substations are pinned on the “Guray Method”, what would happen to our security? What would happen to our country? We will be left hiding in the burrows of the coast guard, hopeless and condemned in their inutile ways.

***

BARD NOTES: Happy bard-reading to Mayor Chevylle Fariñas, Vice Mayor Michael V. Fariñas, provincial treasurer Josephine Calajate, INWD general manager John Teodoro, Dr. Miramar Bumanglag and PNB Laoag branch manager Metty V. Guerrero. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.