By DANNY O. SAGUN

DAGUPAN, the city of bangus, may just as well be named ‘Fernandez City’ — if only for the fact that several city officials carry that family name.

We are counting at least six who make up the elite circle - the chief executive (Alipio) and his vice-mayor (Belen), two members of the council (cousins Michael and Alfie, the mayor’s eldest), Liga ng mga Barangay president-prospect Lino Fernandez of barangay Tapuac, and Alfie’s medal-winning swimmer-son Carlos, who was elected unopposed as $angguniang Kabataan federation president.

Since the Liga and SK presidents are automatic members of the city council, the sanggunian therefore will have five Fernandezes including the vice-mayor. (Belen is not related to the mayor)

Add to the circle former Vice-Mayor Alvin Fernandez, Alfie’s younger brother, who is presently city administrator.

Fernandez City, anyone?
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We were totally clueless about the agrarian nature of the controversial land in barangay Awai in San Jacinto until city legal officer George Mejia revealed it to media.

What we only knew was that the people in that barangay along with their neighbors went strongly against Dagupan’s plan to convert some 30 hectares there into a landfill type dumpsite. We thought that strong opposition to the project derailed the plan.

But the problem was deeper than many had thought.

The project could not take off because the lot in question was covered by the comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP).

The DAR adjudication board has ruled that the land is covered by the land reform program. The city protested naturally, and the case is pending before the DAR regional office.

The city may lose millions. If government buys that property at P50,000 per hectare (the prevailing land value for agri lands under CARP is said to be P50,000 to P100,000), the city will only get roughly P1.5 million, way below the acquisition price of P16 million?

We were told that the former administration was able to strike a deal with the farmers involved in the case - some nine hectares would go to them without any conditions. Unfortunately, the compromise got stalled when many others wanted a share of the pie.

The project would have pushed thru had there been no such major hindrance as the agrarian nature of the land. Those who had opposed putting a garbage dump in their neighborhood could have been easily licked given the power of money and juicy offers, you know. We heard reports that some who had originally raised a howl were singing a different tune later.

For us, placing a dumpsite in Awai is no longer necessary. If it’s true that proper implementation of the segregation law would require disposal only for about 10 percent of the total city garbage daily, then the city can only locate that dumpsite in its area of jurisdiction, not somewhere else.