By DANNY O. SAGUN

PLENARY sessions and committee hearings at the sangguniang panlungsod will come alive again with the return of veteran legislator and lawyer Alfie Bince in the chamber.

No matter the negative naughty impression of him by some sectors for his legislative antics, this corner believes he is an asset of the provincial board if only to show that the board is doing its job.

We have seen him perform his job during all those years when we
were actively covering that beat religiously (well, we believe we beat most SP members in point of attendance) and to our mind, Alfie was one of the few who could turn an otherwise boring activity into a vibrant lively one. If only he made it to Congress in his several attempts, he would have grandly crossed swords with the big names there. We think, skills-wise, he can hold his own against the big guns in that chamber.

The legislative body for the past several years rarely landed in the front page of the local papers. Beat reporters there have complained they practically got nothing to report to their radio stations or to the local newspapers as sessions usually lasted for a few minutes save on the routinary items in the agenda – singing of the national anthem, prayer, reading of minutes, and referrals of first reading items or proposals. How would a reporter in his right mind stay there if he could get news materials from other sources?

We have asked outgoing Vice-Gov. Oscar B. Lambino about this predicament of reporters. He claimed that real action takes place at the level of committee or public hearings. It is during such hearings that thorough deliberations on a proposed legislative measure take place, he said, adding that kinks if any are ironed out in that stage so that the item sees little discussion or even none at all when brought to the floor for second reading.

That may be true. Yet, even those committee hearings called by the present sanggunian were as dull and boring as the plenary sessions.

Except for that controversial issue on collection of fees for test questions from pupils and students of schools under the coverage of the Pangasinan II schools division that prompted the provincial board to conduct a hearing, we could not remember an instance when the legislative body touched on measures or issues that generated wide public interest. Most of the items actually tackled by the body involved municipal budgets and resolutions that stirred the interest of only few people.

There are actually few legislators industrious enough or who have the initiative to come up with their proposed measures. We can cite here the late Board Member Bobby Ferrer, who held the distinction of being the only sangguniang panlalawigan member
who actually worked daily in his office at the Finance building.

Most board members show up in their offices during their session day on Fridays an d evaporate the rest of the week. Some do not even care to visit their offices; they just show up at the session hall and leave after the session, or even before adjournment.

Ferrer was different as he had one or two proposed measures on hand almost every session day. In fact, two or three days before the session day, he already had proposed resolutions or ordinances ready for transmittal to the SP secretariat and ready for pick up by any interested reporter. That is why Bobby’s name regularly landed in the papers or gets mentioned in radio broadcasts.

Some if not many of our board members, present and past, only content themselves with what are served them by their colleagues in the chamber, or proposed measures from the executive, or resolutions and ordinances from the towns and cities which by law are mandated to have their legislative measures submitted to the sangguniang panlalawigan for proper action. Nothing more.

We hope the next set of provincial officials led by Governor-elect Amado Espino will not fail the electorate of their expectations.

The outgoing administration is described by dismayed sectors as being idle and unproductive and just sat out the past nine years with little to show in accomplishments. That’s debatable of course. The incoming administration therefore has to prove that it is different.

The incoming vice-governor, Marlyn P. Agabas is on her last term as board member and therefore knowledgeable on the ins and outs of that chamber, will have to introduce innovations to heighten anew the interest of the public particularly the media in its weekly business.

With Bince around however jaded reporters like this writer will again troop to the sanggunian and see and feel the difference. The laggards and sleepyheads will be on their toes, we hope. Nengnengen ti pa sirin.