Army Bn Commander sinigawan ng pulitiko sa Binmaley

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Lalong nagiging pangit ang away ng Army 78th Infantry Battalion na pinamumunu-an ni Lt. Colonel Edgardo Batinga at ng Municipality of Binmaley, Pangasinan na nag ugat lamang sa dumptruck ng huli na inimpound ng una dahil sa pagtatapon nito ng basura malapit sa Dagat at kampo ng sundalo.

                          FRICTION WITH THE ARMY. A smarting Binmaley Mayor Sam Rosario who is

 flanked by two of his village chiefs told media men how the snail pace letter-order

 for him to cease and desist in dumping the town garbage at Barangay San Isidro

 Norte from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office caused the 

seizing by the Army’s 78th Infantry Battalion of the town garbage truck, the Army’s 

encroachment on the shoreline property of the town, and the failure of Brigade

 Commander Lt. Col. Edgardo Batinga to pay him a courtesy call as customarily 

practiced by his predecessors.

Noong June sinabi ni Mayor Sam Rosario na siya at ang kanyang mga abugado ay nag uusap sa hakbang legal kontra sa pag seized ng truck nila, later on I heard na si Col. Batinga ay binalaan na kakasuhan sa Ombudsman at isa-cite ng Persona Non Grata ng Town Council dahil sa hindi nito pag dalo sa session nito to shed lights on the brouhaha brought by the impounding of the truck and the encroachment ng Battalion sa salvage area ng beach sa Barangay San Isidro na hindi na part ng military reservation.
Kamakailan lang nadinig ko sa radio si Col. Batinga deploring that he and his men ay sinigawan sa meeting ng Binmaley’s Municipal Development Council.
“Nasigawan pa kami doon sa Development Councilo meeting kung saan kami ay nag-ala-ala sa pagtapon ng basura sa dagat,” ani nito.
Ang lesson na makukuha natin dito ay kung ikaw ay naninirahan sa isang local government unit (LGU) magpakita ka pa rin ng courtesy at humility sa mga taga LGU na masyadong ma pride at sensitive.
Kita mo naman Colonel, ni impound mo nga ang truck nila, nakita-an ka naman ng butas sa pag illegally occupied ng salvage area at iba pa.
Naintidihan ko ang situation ni Col. Batinga, mali ang municipyo ng Binmaley sa pagtatapon ng basura kaya nga binigyan ng babala ni Leudina Co, head ng Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer of Pangasinan, si Mayor to cease and desist otherwise he would be penalized.
Pero masyadong mayabang ang pinakita ng mga taga Battalion. Ayaw ni Batinga na pumunta sa kay mayor sa office nito (despite his early demeanour not to pay a courtesy call as customarily done ng mga predecessors nito) when the mayor asked somebody to invite him. Gusto niya si Mayor ang pumunta sa office niya sa San Isidro.
Colonel, kahit general pa kayo bigyan niyo pa rin ng respeto ang ama ng bayan at mga leaders nito.
Dapat marunong din kayong ma-mulitika sa pag acquiesced sa invitation ni mayor.
Nakita niyo na ang nangyari dahil sa konting “arrogance” niyo. You’re now being threatened by an administrative case at the Ombudsman , Persona Non Grata, and being shouted at.
Ganoon ang kalakalan sa LGU, masyadong mataas ang pride at sensitivity ng mga local politicos.
(To read about the hubris of politicians please access my column on U.S Senator Barbara Boxer (California, Democrat) chiding then Army Brig. Gen Michael Walsh by accessing http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com/2015/02/senator-scolding-general.html
***
Lingayen Councillor Ramon Bataoil told me that he mulls to run for the vice mayoralty of the Capital Town in the 2016 electoral derby.
When I asked him why not throw his hat at the provincial board seat in the 2nd District of Pangasinan since his older brother Congressman Pol Bataoil, a retired general and a PMAYer, has earned the respect of the voters there, he told me that the two seats for the Board are too congested.
“Andiyan si Board Members Raul Sison and Niki Boy Reyes, andiyan si former Board Member VonMark Mendoza, si Butch Merrera,” ani nito noong magkita kami sa Lingayen, Pangasinan.
He said the vice mayoralty seat is the logical move.

When I bumped into Joe Ferrer, a former town councillor and a 2010 mayoralty bet at the boondocks of Barangay Hacienda, Bugallon during the introduction of Congressman Bataoil of his Ylang-Ylang export projects in a 120 hectares government land there, he told me that Lingayen would be seeing a three-cornered mayoralty fights among incumbent Mayor Iday Castaneda, Vice Mayor Nepthalie D.Pasilao, and former Police Provincial Director Sonny Verzosa.
So if that would be the case Ramon Bataoil would be a shoo-in vice mayoralty bet dahil ang mga heavy weights doon mag uumpugan sa mayoralty seat.
***
I asked Vice Mayor Mylvin Junio if there was truth to the rumour from the Camacho Camp that he and the  five councillors charged by Bayambang Mayor Camacho for gross misconduct and dishonesty with a prayer for  six month preventive suspension where exonerated by the Committee on Good Government of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board) because somebody paid P2 million to the Committee.
He vigorously denied it but instead told me how their lawyer, the octogenarian legal eagle, Vic Millora mesmerized the members of the Committee and the lawyers who attended the hearing.
“Tumayo iyong matanda, sinabi niya na bakit i-preventive suspension ninyo ang vice mayor at limang members ng SB (Sangguniang Bayan) dahil wala silang power na i-manipulate ang kaso ni file (Criminal and Administrative cases of Anti-Graft & Corrupt Practices versus Camacho at the Ombudsman-MCO). Anytime from now ma preventive suspended siya. Ngayon, pag sinuspende ninyo si Vice Mayor Junio and mga councillors, paano na lang ang bayan ng Bayambang pag suspended na ang mayor, vice mayor, at halos lahat ng councillors?” passionately narrated to me by the vice mayor last Thursday before the start of the program on the inauguration of the P100 million corn and palay drying facility, a Rep. Kimi Cojuangco project, in Alcala, Pangasinan.
Junio told me that Pangasinan’s Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued and Board Member Angel Baniqued,Jr. a young lawyer, were "stupefied" that he rested his jaw to his right hand, listen attentively to the nuggets chalked up by the old legal warrior.
“Baka hindi na naituro o umihi sa C.R sila ng tinuro sa law schools iyong sinabi ni Attorney Millora kaya stupefy sila,” a media man jocularly told Junio.
I overheard last Thursday morning Board Member Alfonso Bince telling Bombo Karen that his committee decided not to mete the suspension of the vice mayor and the dads. He said the respondents have no capacity to manipulate the case since they are not the subject of the corruption charges.

(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)