Fair comment
UNFAIR! Cried the flawless and fair Councilor Maricel Morales over our Wednesday editorial Shortchanged.
The opinion piece logged the arrival of the honorable members of the sangguniang panlungsod at the Angeles City Hall last Tuesday for their regular session.
Only the Honorable Willie Rivera came earlier than the set time of 2:00 p.m. while Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting made it en punto. All the rest were late, with the Beautiful Marang the “latest” at 2:58 p.m.
What made the tardiness significantly galling was that those invited to act as resource persons in one particular agendum of the day – the toxic pollution caused by poultry and piggery farms in the city – were asked to come to the session hall at 1:00 p.m.
Shortchanged was yet a kind word to describe what these people felt at having to wait for over an hour, only to be rushed through a discussion of an issue of such critical magnitude, and abruptly slammed the door for further interchange for the day.
Anyways, in a text message to this paper’s editor – published in our Friday issue – the Beautiful Marang ululated with argumentum ad hominem (Go see your fallacies of reasoning for its meaning) thus: “I hope that whoever came up with the editorial tried to be fair enough by trying to find out reasons behind our arrival. This was soooo 1 sided! As Councilor’s, we are not only expected to report session every Tuesday. We have other commitments we have to attend to being elected officials. Meetings here and there. It is also beyond our control if the mass oath-taking of brgy Officials was scheduled on our regular session day, as we were not the ones who planned and decided for the event, we were only told we’re expected to be with our Mayor on that event to welcome our newly-elected brgy officials. What I am saying is, there are other angles to be looked and it is so funny that our writer probably thought that as Elected officials, we are not confined to attending city council sessions.”
Fairness, Madame, is stating what actually happened. You were late. And that was that. Late is late. No such thing as better late. Never best left to its state of nothingness.
Yes, we understand, you have commitments other than attending the Tuesday session. You have to understand too that legislation is your principal job description, attending the session is paramount over all other functions. Yes, even gracing the oath-taking of new barangay chairmen takes no precedence over that. Even with the Mayor personally asking you to do so.
That the session has a fixed time and date: 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, makes all the less difficulty for you to schedule all other peripheral activities accruing to your being councilor off that date. Short of a life-or-death situation, there is no justification for absences or tardiness in sessions. Again, that being the very defining moment of councilorship.
“How come when we have to wake up on odd hours to attend to some of our constituent’s needs or stay up late on meetings and discussions, that is not written about?” So the Beautiful Marang threw in argumentum ad misericordiam there. (Again, go to the fallacies of reasoning for its meaning.)
Tell our reporter Joey Pavia anytime, Madame, and he will be most inspired to write about it. On second thought though, what is there really to report about a councilor attending to his/her constituents’ needs at odd hours or staying late for meetings? That is par for the job. Public service is 24/7. That is what being an elected official is all about.
“That is the problem with other media practitioners, they attend once, and without making research, act like they know everything that happens in the session hall. They could have been more fair had they tried to find out, if not from all, at least from some, why the delay.. or why the rush?” Ay, the Beautiful Marang throwing in some jabs there.
Madame, we assure you, that Tuesday was not the first and only time that Punto attended a session of the sangguniang panlungsod, in this administration or in any of the past administrations.
No, we neither act nor assume that we know everything that happens there. But what we know is that absences and tardiness are so endemic in the sangguniang panlungsod of Angeles City, then as now, that they have become the very hallmark of the council.
That is a fair comment. Records may be altered but our observing presence there would bear us out. And no ululation can negate that.
The opinion piece logged the arrival of the honorable members of the sangguniang panlungsod at the Angeles City Hall last Tuesday for their regular session.
Only the Honorable Willie Rivera came earlier than the set time of 2:00 p.m. while Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting made it en punto. All the rest were late, with the Beautiful Marang the “latest” at 2:58 p.m.
What made the tardiness significantly galling was that those invited to act as resource persons in one particular agendum of the day – the toxic pollution caused by poultry and piggery farms in the city – were asked to come to the session hall at 1:00 p.m.
Shortchanged was yet a kind word to describe what these people felt at having to wait for over an hour, only to be rushed through a discussion of an issue of such critical magnitude, and abruptly slammed the door for further interchange for the day.
Anyways, in a text message to this paper’s editor – published in our Friday issue – the Beautiful Marang ululated with argumentum ad hominem (Go see your fallacies of reasoning for its meaning) thus: “I hope that whoever came up with the editorial tried to be fair enough by trying to find out reasons behind our arrival. This was soooo 1 sided! As Councilor’s, we are not only expected to report session every Tuesday. We have other commitments we have to attend to being elected officials. Meetings here and there. It is also beyond our control if the mass oath-taking of brgy Officials was scheduled on our regular session day, as we were not the ones who planned and decided for the event, we were only told we’re expected to be with our Mayor on that event to welcome our newly-elected brgy officials. What I am saying is, there are other angles to be looked and it is so funny that our writer probably thought that as Elected officials, we are not confined to attending city council sessions.”
Fairness, Madame, is stating what actually happened. You were late. And that was that. Late is late. No such thing as better late. Never best left to its state of nothingness.
Yes, we understand, you have commitments other than attending the Tuesday session. You have to understand too that legislation is your principal job description, attending the session is paramount over all other functions. Yes, even gracing the oath-taking of new barangay chairmen takes no precedence over that. Even with the Mayor personally asking you to do so.
That the session has a fixed time and date: 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, makes all the less difficulty for you to schedule all other peripheral activities accruing to your being councilor off that date. Short of a life-or-death situation, there is no justification for absences or tardiness in sessions. Again, that being the very defining moment of councilorship.
“How come when we have to wake up on odd hours to attend to some of our constituent’s needs or stay up late on meetings and discussions, that is not written about?” So the Beautiful Marang threw in argumentum ad misericordiam there. (Again, go to the fallacies of reasoning for its meaning.)
Tell our reporter Joey Pavia anytime, Madame, and he will be most inspired to write about it. On second thought though, what is there really to report about a councilor attending to his/her constituents’ needs at odd hours or staying late for meetings? That is par for the job. Public service is 24/7. That is what being an elected official is all about.
“That is the problem with other media practitioners, they attend once, and without making research, act like they know everything that happens in the session hall. They could have been more fair had they tried to find out, if not from all, at least from some, why the delay.. or why the rush?” Ay, the Beautiful Marang throwing in some jabs there.
Madame, we assure you, that Tuesday was not the first and only time that Punto attended a session of the sangguniang panlungsod, in this administration or in any of the past administrations.
No, we neither act nor assume that we know everything that happens there. But what we know is that absences and tardiness are so endemic in the sangguniang panlungsod of Angeles City, then as now, that they have become the very hallmark of the council.
That is a fair comment. Records may be altered but our observing presence there would bear us out. And no ululation can negate that.
posted by A.Caesar Z. Lacson at 11:59 AM
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