The good: A tipster-friend sent us this letter from Ifugao Governor-Elect Teddy Baguilat asking his fellow Ifugaos to join him in shaping the province’s future direction. (Note: He no longer says “Yo!”)

hello friends,
do you know of strong civil society organizations in ifugao or even ifugao groups outside the province who can be tapped and are willing to participate in local governance?

i hope to engage them in any of the following local governance activities:

a. visioning and planning of dev’tal projects
b. monitoring and evaluation of projects
c. anti-corruption movement
d. educational and social services

also, we hope to have a forum for Civil Society (NGOs, private sector, etc) to provide ideas for development. doc felix talked to me about this before so i think there’s a groundswell of support that this happitan can tap into for this plan.

it has always been my conviction that progress in only made possible if there is a strong civil society in our province. any suggestions? thanks.

teddy

The bad: The Northern Philippine Times has a disturbing report on the revocation of “scholarships” for some students of the Mt. Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC). These students come from towns and barangays where re-elected Congressman Victor Dominguez lost.

If you remember our blog post here, we noted that MPSPC students were not paying tuition fees reportedly because Congressman Dominguez allotted some of his pork barrel to the school. Now that he no longer needs votes, the Congressman is striking back against his perceived non-supporters. From the Northern Philippine Times blog:

In the solon’s May 20 memorandum directed to MPSPC president Nieves Dacyon, Dominguez told Dacyon that students from identified three towns of Sagada, Sabangan and Besao and selected barangays of Bauko, Bontoc and Tadian are excluded from the school’s free education program.

Dacyon immediately instructed her staff the day after, to implement the memorandum from Dominguez, reiterating the solon’s instruction that “those who are entitled to full scholarship shall be able to present a certification from the office of the congressman”. (Visit Northern Times for more details.)

This is the worst case of patronage politics imaginable. I never imagined that Congressman Dominguez can be this shallow and this vindictive. His recent action serves as the best example why pork barrels should be abolished.

Much as I love my province, I’m really tempted to move to Ifugao. Ano ba yan Victor?

RELATED POST: Are Your Politicians Too Powerful For Your Own Good?; Teddy Baguilat Says Thank You; On Jupiter and Saturn.