longcuts

Graduation day is fast approaching.
And the usual problem attendant to graduation is again resurrected.
Graduation fees for one.
Public schools are prohibited from collecting any fees except those expressly specified by DepEd like Boy Scout, Girl Scout and the like.
Graduation fee, not being included in the list, is taboo.

But some public school officials have invented an easy way to circumvent the law.
Depending on the savvy of the principal, there is an easy way to shortcut the legal prohibition.
“Illegal” collection can still be made thru the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA).
Anything is possible with the PTA.
After all, who can question the combined wishes of the parents to contribute or do something for the school?


The problem usually arises when they are some parents who disagree with the wishes of the majority.
Failing in their serious protest before the PTA, they come marching to the DepEd and seek opinion on whether collection of fees is allowed.
The DepEd naturally washes its hands. Invoking the law and the pronouncement of the President, the DepEd says collection is not allowed.
But not so when collection is made by the PTA and the amount is reasonable.


But there are some dynamics at play here.
Usually, the top officials of the PTA are parents of graduating students.
Some of them are parents of honor students.
A little insinuation here and there by the teachers or principal, and the parents concerned who are also top officials of PTA immediately get the message.
To ensure top honors or passing marks for their graduating students, it won’t hurt to ask for some projects from the PTA.
And the “enlightened” parents would right away reciprocate by actively promoting the idea before the PTA meeting.
Depending on how the idea is presented, usually, nobody is willing to waste time arguing something that is “for the good of their children.”
There being no objection, especially from the so-called “silent majority,” the measure is carried and approved overwhelmingly.
Presto, the minutes of the meeting will now state for the record that there shall be a compulsory contribution for the graduation rites.
When somebody questions, usually those who were absent during the PTA meeting, the PTA president does the job of defending the decision to collect.
The teacher or principal just sits at the sidelines without losing sweat.
Neat, right?


Meanwhile, whoever thought of that March 13, 2009 letter of the governor which was read during the weekly Governor’s Report last Friday was not doing him a favor.
The day the letter was dated, and read, the governor was out of the country.
Previous to that, he was also in Manila most of the time. This is the reason why for several Fridays now, the governor was nowhere, only his voice or his trusted subalterns like Boy Pernia, June Blanco, Tommy Abapo or Handel Lagunay could be heard.


So what’s wrong with the letter?
Too late the hero. It came at a time when the smelly seepage problem has already been solved.
And solved, not by those who caused it, but by the official who was lambasted by the so-called “environmentalists” for taking no action against the illegal connections to the CPG drainage system.
The letter came at a time when city mayor Dan Neri Lim has already ordered the reopening of the “storm sewer” that connects B. Inting Street to the drainage outfall behind Tantrade Enterprises along Gallares Street.
In a sense, the real significance of the letter was not the contents of the letter but the author of that letter.
This takes particular significance in the current tiff between city mayor Dan Neri Lim and the Chronicle/DYRD.
I hate to say this but the governor is now “officially listed” on the side of the mayor’s opponents.


What was the cause of the smelly seepage?
PENRO Nestor Canda says it was the result of the closure of the so-called “illegal connections.”
For several months, the city mayor has been the favorite punching bag of every “environmental crusader” in the city for his so-called inaction to the illegal connections to the CPG drainage system.
He was “punched” repeatedly with the perennial flooding at CPG North.
Even when he “solved” the problem by opening the drainage system at San Jose Street, he was again punched repeatedly for the resulting “heavy” pollution at the Tagbilaran Bay area.
There was even a “mad scramble” with the so-called high toxicity findings of the drainage water downloaded to the Tagbilaran Bay area. There were even “reports” of heavy pollution along the Cainggit Beach area, no more swimmers, no more costumers.
This was capped by the request of the governor to DENR secretary Lito Atienza to order the closure of the drainage outfall.
But all these turned out to be a heavily orchestrated drama.


Nobody from the ranks of the so-called “environmentalists” complained when the smelly seepage started offending the sight and smell of the businessmen and commuters along CPG Avenue in front of Mercury Drug. They were obscenely silent.
Which contrasts sharply from their raucous condemnation of the city mayor on the illegal connection issue.
Why?
Because they must have realized the error in pushing for closure of the “illegal connections” without giving the “illegal connectors” viable alternatives.
The smell was the direct result in the closure of the so-called illegal connections.
So even when the stink was overwhelming, they kept silent. And let others do the talking and condemning.
The enlistment of the gov later on one was a bonus.


If the letter of the gov came out about 2 or 3 weeks ago, Longcuts is willing to give credit for showmanship.
But when read last Friday just when the problem was already “solved,” the letter accomplished nothing substantial.
I don’t want to venture the appropriate word for the enlistment of the governor but what easily comes to mind is the word “used.”
Yes, the gov was “used.”
I hope that was not the intention of the governor. I hope he knows the implication of writing something that can be considered as moot and academic. More when we return, stay tuned for more!