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Vol. XXI No. 1

March 14, 2001

Virac, Catanduanes

Inside Page

By Fernan A. Gianan

Free falling

Less than a week from now, on March 20, the Russian Mir space station will crash back to Earth after nearly 15 years in travelling in orbit.

The derelict space station's suicidal plunge will send it streaking in flames and breaking into more than 1,000 fragments that will splash down in the seas between Chile and Australia.

However, some fear that the 130-ton object will not  totally break apart, with at least a third surviving its reentry into the atmosphere. Fragments as large as a small car could fall into populated areas at one kilometer per second or 3,600 kilometers per hour.

People are also not putting much faith in scientists who plotted Mir's reentry map despite calculations that debris would fall into a controlles crash site 3,276 miles long and 124 miles wide. They cite Skylab's case, which rained debris on Western Australia in 1979 as well as  another satellite which crashed in northern Alaska in the 80s.

As an Internet account of the development said, debris could fall anywhere between 51 degrees North and 51 degrees South latitude. This wide target range for Mir includes the Philippines. We'll just have to pray the debris falls on candidates who do not deserve to be elected to public office.

 

 

Gov. Hector S. Sanchez must be in some heavy funk this year.

Not only had he committed that blunder regarding Winnie Monsod, he also apparently issued a memorandum detailing budget officer Boy del Rosario to the governor's office for not following his instructions.

As to what instructions the gov issued, we do not know. What the governor has learned lately is that the detail memorandum is now the evidence of a disqualification case filed against him by Jun Verceles, who has acquired a killer instinct in matters of local politics. Legal circles say the case may not prosper, as the violation is not among those spelled out in the Omnibus Election Code as cause for disqualification. But the governor's act is, indeed, an election offense punishable by as much as six years in prison, perpetual disqualification from public office and deprivation of the right to suffrage.

Sometimes, we cannot help but wonder whether the good governor really has sincere and capable advisers under his wing. Or is his skull really that thick as to make him ignore the implications of what he pronounces or does as a public official? Let us wish our governor and ourselves some luck. We will need it in the coming days.

 

 

The propensity of our local officials to issue memoranda detailing subordinates to other offices is indicative of their disdain for civil service rules and regulations.

Not only does the detail of the subordinate, usually a department head who is closely identified with the chief executive's political nemesis or who has ran afoul of his policies, disrupt the normal operation of an office but it also puts to waste the considerable amount of money spent for the detailed official's salaries and perks. Far from coercing the official into succumbing to his superior's wishes, the former' virtual exile into uselessness cements his desire to avenge the slight. Hell has no fury than  an official stripped of his powers.

Now, if the detailed official really committed administrative errors or financial malfeasance, all the superior has to do is form an investigative body, charge his erring subordinate of violation of Civil Service law, and let the proces run its course. Not only are detail orders on `disobedient' and politically incorrect officials petty, it shows the weakness of one's grasp of power!

 

 

In behalf of the management of the Catanduanes Tribune, we wish to offer our sincere condolences to the family of the late Concon delegate and RTC Judge Rafael Santelices, who died last week of a sudden heart attack. May his widow, Nang Pina, and the bereaved family  gain strength from the loss of their loved one.

 

 

As we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Catanduanes Tribune this March 14 issue, the paper has a new columnist, CSC information officer Gerry S. Rubio, whose piece "Sketches" will appear weekly until he gets tired of writing. Welcome to the club!