Stinking

IT WAS bound to happen.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her son 2nd District Cong.

Mikey getting stinked by the muck and stench of Porac piggeries.

Cried the lead of our banner story yesterday: "Pres. GMA if you want our support, stop this conspiracy – pigs’ stink and flies."

"Cong Mikey Arroyo, bakit mabaho ang sinasakupan mo? (Why is your district stinking?) Show your concern."

Finding the least relief from their local officials – both at the barangay and municipal levels – residents long suffering from the foul odor and swarms of flies coming out of the Porac piggery farms raised their cries of indignation notches higher, to their "unconcerned" representation, and to a "blindsided" President said to be wanting to represent them.

Unconcerned, Cong Mikey is taken to be. Having not a word on the long-running misery of the people of Barangays Sta. Cruz and Manibaug Paralaya as well as those in the nearby Angeles City villages.

Maybe Cong Mikey is just unaware of the problem, not really unconcerned. So we told one Porac community leader.

"If Cong Mikey feigns ignorance of the stink from the piggeries, then he has proven his detractors absolutely right about his IQ. Ignorance of what’s happening right in his own district negates his very role as the people’s representative," he retorted.

What about the President being dragged into the mud?

"Blindsided" was used as a qualifier to President. How was that?

Said our Porac leader: "In the many times that GMA visited Porac town to deliver her goodies, never was she taken by the local officials to the vicinity of Barangays Sta. Cruz and Manibaug Paralaya. This is not because the people in the barangays did not need any project, services or dole outs from GMA. This is to hide one heck of a problem from the President."

Why hide the problem instead of exposing it to the President so she could take action, so that she could provide the solution?

"And risk losing the local government’s fattened pig?"

Speak in plain English.

"The people’s misery is the local officials’ opportunity. Do you think the piggery farms would last this long in polluting the air about us if the local officials are not being benefitted one way or the other by them?"

Like lechon at birthdays and fiestas?

"More, much more than lechon. More, much more in times of elections."

But Mayor Roger Santos closed two piggeries – Logo and LTO farms already for what he said were violations of local sanitation procedures and failure of the farms to obtain a "discharge permit" from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha. A good joke there. So they’re closed. So where are their pigs? Right there inside the farms. And who knows what deals go on inside. Whatever, the emission of foul odor and the flies had not been the least lessened by the closure of the farms, hence the continuing violation of sanitary processes and discharges of toxic particles in the air. So what did the mayor accomplish?"

Okay, a clear publicity gimmick intended for some political pogi points was Santos’ closure order on the two farms. So we accept the observation of the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement.

"Something’s bound to happen after this."

What?

"From the political stage, the issue of the piggery farms may shift to the racial stage."

How is that?

"Look for the owners of the piggery farms. There lies your answer."

Okay, we know from the newspaper accounts at least the owners of the piggeries Santos closed: a Fe Tan Kho of Logo, and a Letty Ong of LTO…

Uh-oh, treading on very thin racial ice here.

tu…wa…