Problems of cityhood Thursday Mar. 21, 2002, Philippines

"UNITY" was a theme all speakers harped on during the "Coronation and Grand Ball" of the Alaminos City fiesta. Most everyone stressed the need for all sectors to work together to bring the fruits of progress to the new city, which has just turned a year old. And yet, as Agrarian Reform Secretary Nani Braganza, being honored that night as one of 12 Outstanding Alaminians, pointed out, the occasion itself was a symbol of the divisions among the people.

"We should make sure that the benefits of cityhood extend to all our citizens, but especially those outside the auditorium, those looking in and watching us," he declared, to the appreciative applause of all those pressing their noses against the wire fence.

As my nephew Rommel joked, the dance that night was for those living in the "bayan" or town proper, while the one scheduled the following day, dubbed the "Farmers and Fisherfolks' Night" was for the barrio folk. Actually, the "Grand Ball" was really for townsfolk who could afford to pay for a table, and for their guests, while the next night's affair was open to the public.

It seemed to me, watching the gyrations of the couples on the dance floor, that the ball was really meant for everyone who could hire a DI or dance instructor for the night. Of course, there were married couples and pairs dancing for sheer pleasure. There was also a white-haired lola who led each of her young grandsons to the dance floor for what looked like, judging from the boys' faces, sheer torture for them.

But the great majority were obviously DIs and their clients, as could be gleaned from the liquid movements of the pros, both men and women, as they glided and gamboled to every sort of music from boogie to tango to rumba. "Without the DIs," someone commented, "it would be a boring dance indeed." And judging from their constant presence on the dance floor, the DIs' clients really got their money's worth.

GUEST of honor for the night was Interior Secretary Joey Lina, rousing the drowsy audience by kidding that he has plenty of relatives among the folk of Alaminos, namely all the women named Carolina, Angelina, Rizalina and just Lina.

What really shook up everyone, though, was the secretary's pledge to provide the needed funds to hire more police and fire personnel and to look into ways to access funds for a new jail.

The ideal ratio between police and the populace, said Lina, was one police for every 1,000 population. With a population of 75,000, Alaminos can count on only 35 policemen, Mayor Eduardo Fontelera told him. As for firefighters, Lina observed that the city recently bought a new fire truck but it remains unused because there aren't enough firefighters to operate it.

"Rina, you will be appalled at the situation in your city jail," Lina remarked. When he dropped by City Hall, he said, he found that a single jail cell housed both men and women.

My cousin Lulu Garcia, who once visited the jail as part of the church apostolate, told me later that when she visited, she saw three women among the men. "The men said they let the women sleep on the bunk beds," she said, "and they all assured me that they don't touch the women." Still, let's hope Lina comes up with the funds for the new and segregated jail soon.

ANOTHER pressing concern was the drought afflicting much of the farmlands of Alaminos. Dean Jeremias Montemayor, who represented his son Leonie, the agriculture secretary, and was like him also one of the night's awardees, said proof of the crisis could be found just a few kilometers from the town proper.

"Just drive to the nearest barrio," he said, "and the farmers there will tell you that it hasn't rained since September." Alaminos may bear many of the trappings of urban development, he said, but unless the perks of cityhood reach ever-poorer barangays, social upheaval and criminality remain threats.

Much of the hope for the city's further development lies in tourism, since Alaminos hosts the Hundred Islands, perhaps Pangasinan's best-known tourist destination. Another guest, Philippine Tourism Authority GM Nixon Kua, pledged his office's support for efforts to develop this tourist attraction, which has lost a great deal of its natural appeal because of unregulated development and the encroachment of illegal fishers. In fact, giant clams which had been propagated a few years back in an effort to restore the coral reefs, were just recently destroyed by blast fishers. Still, said Kua, the PTA will do all it can to make the Hundred Islands a proper ecotourism destination once more.

BEFORE DEPARTING for Manila, the hubby and I joined a motorcade to Makatiw, a barangay just outside the city limits, to take part in the blessing of the St. Joseph College Seminary, which will train and educate future priests of the Diocese of Alaminos.

Officiating at the ceremonies was the Papal Nuncio, His Excellency Antonio Franco, with Bishop Jesus Cabrera and a delegation of priests from all over the diocese

When he was installed as bishop of Alaminos, Bishop Cabrera had only 17 priests to help him look after the spiritual and mundane needs of the faithful all over Western Pangasinan. Compared to the two other dioceses in the province, the Diocese of Alaminos has the widest area with a fast growing population. The formation of new priests, to which the new seminary will be dedicated, was thus deemed an urgent priority.

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