Shadow play

Those who have been to Indonesia, or some parts of Malaysia, or those who lived in this country before there was television and when movies and radio were the privilege of the wealthy, must have been to a show play.

The viewers watch paper cut into shapes of animals or people or things as trees and houses, and these are manipulated between the lamp light and a white screen. A story is told as the shadows are moved to give a sense of reality.

The city government is shadow-playing, or, to be more modern and updated with the Pacquiao terminology, it is engaged in shadow-boxing in the case of Francis Cabuga's resort in Punta Taytay, as it did in the Cabuga-owned Metro Safari in Alangilan.

News report last Thursday said that Isidro Sun, chief of Bacolod's Office of the Building Official issued six notices of violations, among them to the controversial Villa Iska Beach Resort of Francis Cabuga in Punta Taytay. It took him months to issue that notice.

Sun was practically pressured to move by public criticism but, as if to spite the former chairman of Barangay Punta Taytay who initiated the complaint in his official capacity at the time, Sun included the bamboo and nipa eatery of Rufino Alcala in the notice.

And, as if to show he really meant business, he included the others, including the nipa and bamboo Villarosa Resort of the incumbent Barangay Chairman. He added some toppings with notices to the others, including that of a priest whose name was not published.

Alcala claims his resort has a building permit. Didn't Sun check his record or did he issue a notice to Alcala to “teach him a lesson?”

If indeed they violated the law, then they should comply, whether they had been there for ages or not. There is a whale of a difference between the Cabuga resort and the others, aside from the length of time the latter had been there but unnoticed, so it seems.

The other resorts are not new. Some of them have been there for years, growing from nipa sheds behind the owner's house to several huts with better facilities in response to public demand for sanitation.

They are, in comparison, sari-sari stores to Cabuga's mall.

That difference, however, does not mean they are to be exempted if city ordinances require them to have building permits for their nipa sheds.

The issue goes beyond the construction, but the manner of enforcing the law. Why, for instance, did Sun merely issue a notice of violation without ordering them to stop construction and secure building permits?

The Sangguniang Panlungsod hearing early this month clearly showed that Cabuga has no building permit, except for the restaurant. But he constructed a two-storey building and two swimming pools. This information was revealed during the SP hearing, but Sun issued a “notice of violation,” as if Cabuga did not know there was a violation.

Sun is resorting to shadow play – telling us he is doing something to implement the law when there really is nothing to what he did. His notice is a mere shadow.

Consider the consequence. Although it is clear that Cabuga violated the law, the City Legal Office, also employing the same shadow-play, claims it cannot close or stop the construction or operation of the Cabuga resort because Sun did not issue the stoppage order.

In effect, Sun's order is a waste of paper. If there is something good out of this move, it is that Sun is exposed as ineffective in enforcing the mandate of his office, and the city government is shown to be playing footsie with those with money that can buy its footsie. They must be good at football – kicking the ball to blame each other so the law is not enforced. They carried bureaucracy to the highest degree to soft handle a favorite.

As I mentioned earlier, at the top of this totem pole of bureaucratic hedging, is the mayor of the city. His is the complete blame and responsibility, his sanctimonious declarations about enforcing the law notwithstanding. I am inclined to think that all those threats against people without permits is just grandstanding and intended for those who are not favorite businessmen.

The Bacolod officials could not be alone in playing the game. The Central Negros Electric Cooperative, for instance, was informed of the absence of a building permit in the Cabuga resort, but why is there electrical connection?

More violations were revealed during the SP inquiry. Let's take a look at them tomorrow.*

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