P26M for schools, road construction

The Bohol Chronicle must have done something right. This was the primary thought that crossed our minds as we celebrated 55 years of the paper's existence yesterday.

The Chronicle had seen Popes and bishops, presidents, generals, governors and mayors come and go. We lived to tell the tales of many men and events - and our press just keeps on rolling week after week.

It's a worn-out story but worth retelling that a priest, genuinely concerned about the pressure on health of our founder and the fragile novelty of community newspapering in a tiny province like Bohol in 1954 -foretold, not hoped - that either the venerable founder Jun Dejaresco or the Chronicle will die - in any order.

By the grace of God and what they call the trust of the public - the paper had survived and missed just one issue at the declaration of Martial Law in 1972 - in all of 55 years. But this modest success never came easy.

At the beginning, the Editor-Publisher was the writer, proof reader, personnel manager, advertising man and collector of the whole paper which was a "voluminous" four-pages.

His love for the journalistic calling prompted Jun Dejaresco to sometimes spend a fortune dictating his editorial from Tokyo Japan - shouting himself hoarse for one hour (poor signal) and the whole day to call (long-distance) Tokyo to Bohol in the past.

From 4 pages, our normal Sunday paper today is now in excess of 50 pages - with a wide coverage of news, opinions, lifestyle, sports, community bulletins and the whole gamut of human interests all in one package. Quite immodestly we affirm, the Boholanos' lives are not the same without the Chronicle, as they say - including some of our detractors.

But we do thank some of our virulent, incorrigible critics (especially The Hallucinating Broadcaster, his Immensity, the City Mayor) whose wayward ways and governance which we portray in the choicest of words and cartoons cause our paper these days, we were told, to be awaited with immense glee and anticipation by our readers in the province and those in the Internet.

Lest that goes to swell further the already inflated ego of the City Mayor - he is not the Real Deal. This paper in the past had tangled with governors, congressmen and criminal goons with bad intentions. We had been threatened with death and extinction ever so often, we have lost count.

But we were never daunted - we never are - and any attempt to endanger our freedom of speech only serves to sharpen our claws and fangs like your favorite Wolverine. Because we have to pay the price for freedom which is very high indeed.

And the one path we will never choose is the path of surrender or submission - especially to tyrants.

Let it be known to all and be impressed on their children that the Chronicle will pay any price, bear any burden so that the freedom of the press will long endure. For as Adlai Stevenson said "The free press is the mother of all liberties." And our liberty as a nation sometimes depend on how free our press can be.

But the Chronicle is made up of men and women, human beings who can be subject to error. Errors in judgment, sometimes we rectify; errors in opinion sometimes we reverse over time. Errors in grammar and syntax, please don't blame them entirely on our English teachers and Webster - mea culpa is all we can say.

On the whole, we can judge ourselves as fair - to Opposition and Administration, alike.

We had praised the anti-poverty, mega roads, RORO, tourism strides of the Administration. With equal vigor we had punched the symbols of apparent graft in the Bayongan Dam and other irrigation facilities from pillar to post. We gave vent to the concerned Boholanos against the science and the environmental-correctness of the Panglao International Airport. We gave space to the questioned P168-million bidding equipment for the province.

We gave pre-eminence to the documented attempt of former Governor Relampagos to prove he was cheated of a Congressional seat in the Third District. And of course, everyone knows we have traded blows with the most controversial City Mayor that ever walked CPG Avenue. We have also praised men - rich or poor - who succeeded in life or showed noteworthy virtues in the community.

For newspapers must be the mirrors of their communities. It is just their awful bad luck - that some people are (figuratively) uglier than others.

As we wish ourselves another 50 years ahead - to the dread of our beloved critics - we can only recall the passage said by Henry Ward Beecher: "Expedients are for the hour; principles for the ages."

So, to our dedicated and courageous staff, our faithful readers, generous advertisers and even our foes in the market of public opinion - a big "thank you" for another great wonderful year.

WHO IS ABOVE THE LAW?

The benefactors and beneficiaries of the P3-Million-A-Day Swertres illegal game in Bohol probably thought they were above the law.

This is because just a week earlier - the warning signals were fired. Region-7 Police Director Federico Terte gave the marching orders against the illegal trade and cited the "One Strike" policy over the heads of lawmen. Governor Erico Aumentado and the League of Municipalities declared war on the same.

But such has the lawlessness become in the city. They are now brazen enough to ignore the warning shots - precisely because they thought they can perpetuate the illegal activity with impunity. Because they thought they were above the law.

The Chronicle had postulated in its editorial what is already a National Fact of Life.

That Swertres can never survive in a place without the protection of some high officials and some policemen. That's true from Aparri to Jolo - stated without fear of contradiction.

So for the long arm of the law to reach the suspects, it had to be creatively done beyond the ambit of the city. It had to take a Regional Judge to issue the search warrant and the raid to be done by elements of the Regional Police (Intelligence Division) led by SSupt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe and elements of the Bohol BPPO led by S/Supt Edgardo Ingking to nail the alleged "biggest financier" of swertres in the city and province, a public official at that (barangay captain Manolo Blanco) in Mansasa district of this city.

None of the city judges and police elements led by city police chief Julius Gornez had the faintest idea the lightning raid would occur Friday. And it was best that it was so.

Word flies in the city like a swine flu influenza, faster than one can say "swertres".

Caught inflagrante delicto with half a million cash and paraphernalia alongside a coordinator, the authorities should now throw the library at this financier and give him 16 years in jail, P5 million in penalty and perpetual disbarment from holding public office. Lawmaker as lawbreaker - if found guilty - is such a frigging shame.

The record of the city police head Julius "Silence of the Lamb" Gornez should be immediately put on notice to the office of PNP Chief Verzosa. S/Supt Ingking may have come to his own in this one and should re-establish his credibility that indeed he is not a "cop on the take". But they have to keep on pushing because there are other financiers out there or crooks angling to grab the share of the fallen Manolo Blanco as "Top Gun".

Everyone knows that the City PNP is under the direct supervision of the City Mayor. It should therefore come from the mouth of City PNP chief Gornez if his seeming reluctance (which led to the regional PNP involvement) was because he was constrained by the City Mayor to go hammer and tongs against a trade that is known to almost everyone who can say his own name in the city.

Last week, when the Governor endorsed the anti-swertres drive and challenged the City Mayor to have the city drive as a model, all the public got was a resounding silence from City Hall. Instead we hear the City Chief Executive say "swertres will not go away as long as lotto exists."

Now that the Big-Time Financier of the illegal game will be formally charged by Regional Police elements - who used a ton of intelligence before making their move - all the City Mayor can say is " I cannot abandon a friend (Manolo Blanco) and I will provide him the best lawyer."

Blanco is a protege and friend of the City Mayor - one of the 11 barangay captains in his political fold.

These are the facts of the case. You can draw your own conclusions.

For Comments: email to bingo_dejaresco@boholchronicle.com Or editor@boholchronicle.com