Political rivalries in Nueva Ecija seem to have spilled over to the aftermath of the sustained rains and resulting floods caused by the Southwest monsoon, leaving a public confused over conflicting advisories by public officials.
Governor Aurelio Umali and Cabanatuan City Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara gave out conflicting directives regarding the suspension of classes on Thursday.
Umali, through TV48, the local news frequency, announced that classes in all levels in the province are suspended due to the effects of adverse weather conditions.
But Vergara, on his own radio station, DWJJ, mandated that classes resume today, Thursday. On top of the chaos and fear brought by the calamity, Novo Ecijanos, especially students, had to deal with the confusion caused by the escalating power struggle in the area.
In the end, school authorities and students heeded the decree of the governor, he being the higher authority. They stayed away from classes even though the rains had stopped and the sun shone.
The political rivalry of Umali and Vergara which started from Vergara’s move to upgrade Cabanatuan to highly urbanized city (HUC) status has spilled over to petty matters and now threatens to further divide the province.
President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III earlier certified the conversion of Cabanatuan into an HUC after it satisfied the minimum requirements of population (at least 200,000 citizens) and annual income (P50-million). The conversion now only awaits ratification by a plebiscite scheduled in November 2012. Dan Kevin Roque
As featured in InterAksyon.com
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