WITH THE Abacan River back to its placid state, Angeles City stirred to life anew. Edgardo Pamintuan, with an overwhelming mandate as elected mayor, electrified his constituents with the clarion call Agyu Tamu! (We Can!) to inspire confidence that the city could rise, phoenix-like, from the volcanic ashes.
Pamintuan was inspired by a few intrepid city entrepreneurs who refused “to heed the voice of reason” and stayed put in the city to rehabilitate their factories and revive their productivity, foremost of whom was Ruperto Cruz who resumed his manufacture and export of high-end furniture within 45 days after the eruption.
To jumpstart the local economy, Pamintuan and his confidant, the activist Alexander Cauguiran, hit the buttons that sparked the city’s vibrancy – the entertainment industry.
Thus was birthed Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan, street dancing and music in the Mardi Gras mold. The whole stretch of MacArthur Highway in Balibago was closed to traffic. The strip shone bright again in a kaleidoscope of lights. Bands on a makeshift stage on the highway itself played all types of music, from country to rock, rhythm and blues to OPM. Restaurants set their tables on the sidewalks. Food was aplenty. Beer flowed like – in the spirit of the times – lahar. Thousands rocked and rolled in a celebration of renewal, of rebirth.
The shroud of grief over the Pinatubo tragedy had been lifted – in Angeles City.
So goes our account in the 2008 book we edited Pinatubo: Triumph of the Kapampangan Spirit (page 112).
Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan did indeed serve as the catalyst for the initial renewal and subsequent resurgence of the socio-economic viability of Angeles City. Warranting “Happy Days” in the three terms of Pamintuan, cascading to the Tarzan Lazatin years at city hall.
Abruptly turning to the worse thereafter. Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan renamed to the unimaginative, all-too-generic “Street Jam” which inevitably turned to a dance with wolves.
A RESOUNDING success, so the organizers were quoted as saying the day after the street jam party that capped the twin fiesta celebration of Angeles City
Indeed it was, with the hordes of sponsors and attendees that trooped to the Balibago strip to dance, dine and wine the three nights away that October.
Now comes the Balibago sangguniang pambarangay asking the Commission on Audit, Mayor Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno and the City Tourism Office to “make a full disclosure” of the proceeds derived from that affair, as well as from its 2008 edition.
The council resolution inquired as to the “legal authorization, financial accounting, identification and application of proceeds derived from (the street jam party) being a local government fund-raising activity conducted annually.”
Specifically asked for was whether such proceeds “for the identified beneficiaries were properly remitted, utilized and consummated.” And, pursuant to the government policy of transparency, whether the city council and the Office of the City Mayor “established the control mechanisms and transparent accountability in the receipt of sponsorships, pledges and ticket sales.”
Further, the resolution reminded the organizers of their “mandated responsibility to make public disclosure of the accounting and proceeds of the project, and that can only be disbursed pursuant to an appropriation or specific statutory authority determined by the Sangguniang Panglungsod.”
The “take” of the party amounted to millions of pesos, from the P100- admission ticket (increased from 2008’s P80), to the sponsorship pledges of private companies, Smart and San Miguel, among them, to the rentals of booths selling various merchandise.
Yes, the sangguniang pambarangay has all the right – as any citizen of Angeles has – to demand an accounting of the funds raised in this public activity.
Respond, the city government did to the Balibago council resolution by way of the city tourism officer “laughing off” the demand for an accounting of the proceeds of the street jam party.
One Pie Flores, identified in media reports as the city tourism officer, was reported to have said that the street jam party was “a private initiative and the city government has nothing to do with it, as no public funds were used for its organization and actual implementation.”
Flores – again per media reports – advised the Balibago village council that if they wanted a full disclosure, they should ask the private companies about the accounting of the proceeds.
Were it not too lamentable – for her abject ignorance of the issue’s ramifications, Flores’s response would have been simply laughable.
Off hand, Flores is lying through her teeth by claiming the city government had nothing to do with the street jam.
One, the closure of a segment of MacArthur Highway, a national road, for three days could not be effected without the imprimatur of the city government.
Two, the high profile role of the city tourism office itself in the affair is enough proof of direct city government participation.
Granting Flores claim that the street jam party was a “private initiative,” then all the more that the demands of the Balibago village council be responded to.
The private “initiators” of the street jam party made a most profitable enterprise of the affair, at the expense of the people of Balibago. This is pure and simple graft and corruption, if not daylight robbery. The people of Balibago – as well as commuters – already denied the use of that segment of MacArthur Highway for three days, were further deprived of whatever benefits accruing to them out of the commerce made of that stretch.
Well said Balibago chief Tony Mamac: “Nung tutu ing sasabian ng Flores na deng private companies deng organizers, menakitan la king pamagnegosyo ra keti Balibago, kaya dapat mung sulatan mila at abalu mi nung magkano ing proceeds a miras karela at abalu mi naman nung magkano ing i charge ning barangay karela. (The private companies who profited from the street jam party, and how much they made had to be known, so that we would know how much tax obligations the barangay would impose on them).”
Knowing that it was the Office of the Mayor through the City Toursim Office that organized the street jam party, no permit was ever required by the barangay of the organizers.
“But now that the City Tourism Office denied any participation as organizer, the private companies are deemed responsible to pay for the amusement tax in Barangay Balibago. After all, it is they that earned from this so-called private event,” the T-Mac said.
A simple demand for accounting now turning to one complex case of possible graft and corruption. That’s where the city tourism office apparently jammed itself in.
So went our piece Street Jammed in Punto’s November 18, 2009 issue.
With Pamintuan back at city hall and the frenzied preparations for a grander Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan in full swing, may the highs and low of this signature festival of Angeles City serve as inspiration to the organizers.
Pamintuan was inspired by a few intrepid city entrepreneurs who refused “to heed the voice of reason” and stayed put in the city to rehabilitate their factories and revive their productivity, foremost of whom was Ruperto Cruz who resumed his manufacture and export of high-end furniture within 45 days after the eruption.
To jumpstart the local economy, Pamintuan and his confidant, the activist Alexander Cauguiran, hit the buttons that sparked the city’s vibrancy – the entertainment industry.
Thus was birthed Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan, street dancing and music in the Mardi Gras mold. The whole stretch of MacArthur Highway in Balibago was closed to traffic. The strip shone bright again in a kaleidoscope of lights. Bands on a makeshift stage on the highway itself played all types of music, from country to rock, rhythm and blues to OPM. Restaurants set their tables on the sidewalks. Food was aplenty. Beer flowed like – in the spirit of the times – lahar. Thousands rocked and rolled in a celebration of renewal, of rebirth.
The shroud of grief over the Pinatubo tragedy had been lifted – in Angeles City.
So goes our account in the 2008 book we edited Pinatubo: Triumph of the Kapampangan Spirit (page 112).
Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan did indeed serve as the catalyst for the initial renewal and subsequent resurgence of the socio-economic viability of Angeles City. Warranting “Happy Days” in the three terms of Pamintuan, cascading to the Tarzan Lazatin years at city hall.
Abruptly turning to the worse thereafter. Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan renamed to the unimaginative, all-too-generic “Street Jam” which inevitably turned to a dance with wolves.
A RESOUNDING success, so the organizers were quoted as saying the day after the street jam party that capped the twin fiesta celebration of Angeles City
Indeed it was, with the hordes of sponsors and attendees that trooped to the Balibago strip to dance, dine and wine the three nights away that October.
Now comes the Balibago sangguniang pambarangay asking the Commission on Audit, Mayor Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno and the City Tourism Office to “make a full disclosure” of the proceeds derived from that affair, as well as from its 2008 edition.
The council resolution inquired as to the “legal authorization, financial accounting, identification and application of proceeds derived from (the street jam party) being a local government fund-raising activity conducted annually.”
Specifically asked for was whether such proceeds “for the identified beneficiaries were properly remitted, utilized and consummated.” And, pursuant to the government policy of transparency, whether the city council and the Office of the City Mayor “established the control mechanisms and transparent accountability in the receipt of sponsorships, pledges and ticket sales.”
Further, the resolution reminded the organizers of their “mandated responsibility to make public disclosure of the accounting and proceeds of the project, and that can only be disbursed pursuant to an appropriation or specific statutory authority determined by the Sangguniang Panglungsod.”
The “take” of the party amounted to millions of pesos, from the P100- admission ticket (increased from 2008’s P80), to the sponsorship pledges of private companies, Smart and San Miguel, among them, to the rentals of booths selling various merchandise.
Yes, the sangguniang pambarangay has all the right – as any citizen of Angeles has – to demand an accounting of the funds raised in this public activity.
Respond, the city government did to the Balibago council resolution by way of the city tourism officer “laughing off” the demand for an accounting of the proceeds of the street jam party.
One Pie Flores, identified in media reports as the city tourism officer, was reported to have said that the street jam party was “a private initiative and the city government has nothing to do with it, as no public funds were used for its organization and actual implementation.”
Flores – again per media reports – advised the Balibago village council that if they wanted a full disclosure, they should ask the private companies about the accounting of the proceeds.
Were it not too lamentable – for her abject ignorance of the issue’s ramifications, Flores’s response would have been simply laughable.
Off hand, Flores is lying through her teeth by claiming the city government had nothing to do with the street jam.
One, the closure of a segment of MacArthur Highway, a national road, for three days could not be effected without the imprimatur of the city government.
Two, the high profile role of the city tourism office itself in the affair is enough proof of direct city government participation.
Granting Flores claim that the street jam party was a “private initiative,” then all the more that the demands of the Balibago village council be responded to.
The private “initiators” of the street jam party made a most profitable enterprise of the affair, at the expense of the people of Balibago. This is pure and simple graft and corruption, if not daylight robbery. The people of Balibago – as well as commuters – already denied the use of that segment of MacArthur Highway for three days, were further deprived of whatever benefits accruing to them out of the commerce made of that stretch.
Well said Balibago chief Tony Mamac: “Nung tutu ing sasabian ng Flores na deng private companies deng organizers, menakitan la king pamagnegosyo ra keti Balibago, kaya dapat mung sulatan mila at abalu mi nung magkano ing proceeds a miras karela at abalu mi naman nung magkano ing i charge ning barangay karela. (The private companies who profited from the street jam party, and how much they made had to be known, so that we would know how much tax obligations the barangay would impose on them).”
Knowing that it was the Office of the Mayor through the City Toursim Office that organized the street jam party, no permit was ever required by the barangay of the organizers.
“But now that the City Tourism Office denied any participation as organizer, the private companies are deemed responsible to pay for the amusement tax in Barangay Balibago. After all, it is they that earned from this so-called private event,” the T-Mac said.
A simple demand for accounting now turning to one complex case of possible graft and corruption. That’s where the city tourism office apparently jammed itself in.
So went our piece Street Jammed in Punto’s November 18, 2009 issue.
With Pamintuan back at city hall and the frenzied preparations for a grander Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan in full swing, may the highs and low of this signature festival of Angeles City serve as inspiration to the organizers.
