BY ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
IT’S WOEFUL! What an adjective to describe the Facebook (FB) post of a certain Jenard Britanico on June 1, 2021, showing the ”flying” coffin and candelabra via an improvised zip line, traversing the Malisbog River in Sitio Pulo Malisbog 1, Barangay Hawaiian, Silay City, Negros Occidental.
Inside the coffin was the cadaver of the newly-embalmed 94-year-old Vinvinida Alava who recently died of old age.
As usual, netizens “feasted” on Britanico’s post by heart(ting), liking and sharing it.
Some likened the FB post to a pre-Halloween “trick or treat” scenario.
But nope! It has a “deeper” quintessence. It’s fun for some but it’s “picture perfect” for the “insensitivity” of local executives in addressing serious problem(s) in a certain poor community. And “lethal” for people with roles and responsibilities who can directly or indirectly be charged with flagrant government neglect.
Too, it was a “naked truth” that constitutes a “big slap” on the current leadership of either Hawaiian village chief Henry Belleza or Silay City mayor Mark Andrew Golez, or NegOcc’s 3rd District Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez.
The “coffin brouhaha” was a product of “nature’s wrath” that ravaged the hanging steel and concrete foot bridge when two successive floods hit the fragile sitio on Jan. 1 and 8 (just) this year.
This 20-year-old hanging bridge and the foot bridge in the sitio were two infrastructure provisions among Sitio Pulo Malisbog 1 and Hacienda Guinsang-ang 1 natives for easy travel to and from the mainland of barangays Hawaiian and E. Lopez.
Currently, Sitio Pulo Malisbog 1 alone is home to more or less 60 families with more than 300 people.
The hanging bridge tasted its “first and last” repair courtesy of the Police’s Regional Mobile Group (RMG) troopers, who were then assigned in the area in 2009, the residents said.
Drily, just on May 25, 2021 or eight days prior to the controversy, Benitez, Golez, along with former senator Joseph Victor (JV) Ejercito, led the blessing and inauguration of the newly-completed P47-million 60 lineal-meter Malisbog bridge in Barangay E. Lopez.
Barangays Hawaiian and E. Lopez are two adjacent rural barangays in Silay City bounded by the Malisbog river in the north and south, respectively.
In his speech during the rites, Benitez underscored the importance of the newly-built multi-million bridge that will connect people to other communities.
Added by the solon, these linkages truly make a difference in people’s lives, and ease transport of people and goods.
Very well said!
Sadly, the congressman probably forgot or, perhaps, was misinformed that there were also two bridges ruined by force majeure very near the Malisbog bridge. Or he was just preoccupied with his congressional duties as head of the Technical Working Group (TWG) tasked to scrutinize and pass the much-awaited Bayanihan 3 bill, among other bills of national significance amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This, as he stressed (in his private message sent to me yesterday), “It’s been a challenging work as TWG chair to balance the interests of the industry, consumers and environment. In the end, the health of the planet has to prevail.”
Or, it might be that Belleza also failed to inform the good mayor and the congressman that his constituents in the said sitio were already turning ala Tarzan for five months now.
City Administrator Jose Edward Davila, in a phone interview, said that right after the devastating floods, they immediately surveyed the area and assessed all the possibilities on how to address the problems there.
And they’d found out that the sitio is a hazard-prone area, hence, not fit for human habitation.
The soil there is bonbon, a Hiligaynon term for top soil, which is susceptible to landslide, thus, the city offered a free relocation site, but only 25 families signified willingness to vacate, said Davila.
The improvised zip line, he stressed, was just a temporary solution to ensure people’s day-to-day mobility in the sitio.
What a challenge, however, especially for the ills, olds, kids and pregnant women.
But the city, said Davila, can also provide boat(s) in “worse” scenario(s).
And if the family of Lola Vinvinida had coordinated with them, such incongruous scenario could have been avoided.
The city government, he emphasized, was also willing to burden the cost of the wake viewing for the remains of Lola Vinvinida anywhere in the city proper for the convenience of the family, among other relatives.
“There’s no problem with Mayor Golez. He’s always willing to help, especially in the case of Lola Vinvinida.”
On the other hand, Mayor Golez (who called me up Thursday noon) confided that, “In fact, we’ve already allotted P7.5 million for the replacement of that damaged hanging steel bridge in Sitio Pulo Malisbog 1.”
The budget will be sourced from the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) program of the Department of Budget Management (DBM), he added.
“Pero, gapangayo gid kami sang pag-intiende sang pumuluyo sa Sitio Pulo Malisbog 1 nga basi next year pa mapatuman ang ini nga proyekto bangud sang mahinay nga procurement process sa DBM,” appealed Davila in Hiligaynon.
Cong. Benitez, per report from the sitio, also ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to speed up repair of the foot bridge in the area.
Belleza, still for unknown reason(s), opted to remain silent until this writing.
Davila, meanwhile, said the city government is providing an amphibious boat to ferry Lola Vinvinida’s coffin with the staff from the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) assisting all throughout the burial rites tomorrow (Sunday).
“We want to avoid any untoward incident.”
He lamented that this “coffin brouhaha” could be used as a political material later.
Silay is known for its battle cry “Padayun ang Pag-Asenso (the betterment continues).
Anywhere he goes Mayor Golez is confident of saying that with Cong. Benitez, Silay is heading to further advancement.
Britanico’s post, however, says otherwise. The intention was to showcase bayanihan in the sitio but there was a “shock and awe” element that stunned lots of Negrenses, causing everyone to empathize with the bereaved family.
Others may say it’s an isolated case.
Yes, it could be, but the message is strong – there’s government’s neglect somehow.
Too, re-opened people’s eyes to “unsavory” reality that behind the beautiful façade of the “most-hailed” city dubbed as the “Paris of Negros”, still there’s an impoverished community with people “craving” for government’s immediate attention.
And it’s appalling to note that such “odd” scenario happened in an unexpected moment.
It bolstered then what prized author Pawan Mishra had said before that, “The underprivileged are always the by-product of society’s material progress.”
And can be related, too, to The Borgen Project President Clint Borgen’s candid thought that poverty is (always) relatively cheap to address but expensive to ignore.
Well, until now, no one yet is willing to claim “mea culpa” (through my own fault)?
But had it not for Lola Vinvinida’s “flying” coffin, people in the sitio may not probably hear lots of good news.
Thus, effort(s) to somehow redeem this “shameful” truth are just but natural, though “the die is cast”, hence, “too late the hero!”/PN
