Pangasinan's "New Police Director"

BY MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

In a round of beers recently with a prolific media man of Pangasinan Governor Amado T. Espino he told us that the governor would fight tooth and nail for the victory of his son Board Member Amado “Pogi” Espino III (president of the Liga ng Barangays ( League of Barangays) in Pangasinan) in the 2016 gubernatorial race.

Police Lt. Col. Lawrence Sison (4th from left) giving rewards
last year to two school children who returned the belong-
ings they found. Photo Courtesy Philippine Star

 Pogi instantly became a passionate topic after I told him that I couldn’t fathom some political spectators who analyzed that Pogi, a three term mayor of Bautista, is still a green horn and should run instead as vice governor in tandem to whoever his father anoints for the governorship in the 2016 polls.

“They have the gold, why his father bankrolls him instead for the governorship,” I told the battle scarred media guy.

“That’s right. And incase Pogi runs for the governorship his governor-father can spend up to P1 billion for him just win while his rival_ _ _ _ _ _ huff and puff by spending up to P100 million while the other rival _ _ _ _ _pants by shelling out P50 million. Hindi nila kaya si Espine sa 2016 wala silang ganoon kalaking pera and whether we like it or not Pogi becomes the shoo-in governor!”

He however cautioned me and the other beer swigging media men that the political landscape would be different if Congresswoman Kimi Cojuangco (5^th District) throws her hat in the gubernatorial charivari.

“Ah iba ang Cojuangco incase pumasok sila sa gubernatorial race!” he quipped.

***

I was amused reading recently the “vulgar” column of Jun Nardo of the Filipino tabloid Bulgar when I was answering the call of nature in our comfort room.

You see every Sunday I see to it the every time I go to the toilet bowl I read a tabloid to hone my vocabulary in the vernacular. Who knows I’ll be a columnist someday in the screaming headlined sensational prone newspaper.

The effeminate Jun Nardo lambasted some tightwad politicians and showbiz personalities who did not give him and tinsel towns’ columnists’ cash and gifts.

But he lauded actresses the matron looking Sharon Cuneta and the petite but pretty Marianne Rivera who was generous enough to send them their Christmas presents in cash.

Nardo hailed too showbiz guys Laguna Governor ER Ejercito and Senator Jinggoy Estrada for their altruism through cash by Ejercito and raffle prizes by Estrada but assailed another showbiz senator (Bong Revilla?) as ingrate after most of his colleagues in the opinion world of the celluloid  screen threw their all-out support to the politician’s family in the last local election.

***

Why I was amused by Nardo’s column? Showbiz columnists’ vulnerability or propensity to accept cash from third parties are no different to the “envelopmental journalism” practice by many columnists in the conventional press. The only difference between the duos is the latter are more discreet by not crowing to the public how much and what kind they received from whom.

If Nardo, the late gay Tita Swarding and Chito Alcid could parrot who gave and who did not give them cash at their Sunday program at DZRH, radio commentators and political columnists  of the conventional media found that actuation taboo and cheap.

***

In one of my early meetings last year with the low profile Supt. Lawrence Sison (PMA ’92) at the Pangasinan Police Office  (PPO), I asked him his first name.

“Lawrence,” he told me when we were walking from the target range to the parking lot.

“Lawrence, hmm, it was a name given to royalty like Lawrence of Arabia. Have you seen the movie Full Metal Jacket directed by Standley Kubrick? ” I posed to him.

“No, I didn’t,” he retorted smiling in Filipino.

I told the regularly built Lieutenant Colonel that a 6 ‘ 3” fat Marine trainee there who became an M-14 assault rifle sharpshooter who killed his brutal drill Gunnery (Master) Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey in real life who was assigned in Subic, studied at University of Manila, and married a Filipina) was named Leonard Lawrence.

“This is my rifle. This is my gun. This is for fighting, and this is for fun!” we suddenly heard PPO spokesman Police Captain Ryan Manongdo (PNPA), who was a hard core fan of that popular flick Full Metal Jacket that I myself played for the umpteenth times in my video player, popped out  from nowhere at our back and mimicked the Rifle’s Creed in the movie.

Oh, probably you readers wondered what the heck I was driving here about Lawrence of the Full Metal Jacket and Lawrence of the PPO.

 Son of a gun, Lawrence Sison ( mistah or classmate of Lt. Colonel Romeo Caramat (former chief of police of Dagupan City)) whom I used to see at PMA ground during his cadet days in the early 1990s (yours truly used to work at the Academy’s public information office) has been designated as caretaker provincial director of the huge province of Pangasinan according to my source at the police regional office in San Fernando City, La Union.

Until the Philippine National Police or the National Police Commission assigned an officer-in-charge or recommend the three nominees for Governor Espino to select, Lawrence Sison, a son of a farmer from Bautista Pangasinan, a police warrior assigned in Sultan Kudarat Province, runs the police affairs in Pangasinan.

We hope that Lt. Col. Sison marbles shine amid the rampage of shooting incidents in the province.   

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com).