By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
The intramurals at Beneco reminds me of a gang war between two mafia families in New York more than two decades ago. A member of one of the families was shot dead and his sister swore by her brother’s casket during the wake that dead bodies would litter the streets around the city.
Subsequently, an article in Time Magazine stated that the gang war was saving the government a lot of money that would have been spent casing or investigating members of the two families to gather enough evidence to prosecute and send them to jail.
Similarly, exposes about anomalies at Beneco are now being exposed, from the mishandling of big money (our money as members) to the hiring of unqualified personnel and officers. Apparently, some hirings were done based not on the merits, but on having an MBAB (May Backer Ako sa Beneco).
So the conflict for control of Beneco is also saving the people a lot of money that would have been spent trying to uncover anomalies there. Apparently, some quarters are doing that now and the good thing about it is it is for free.
There were brownouts a few weeks ago in some spots around the city and at La Trinidad, Benguet.
Thereafter, somebody told me that it was a sabotage to make the people angry and then they will point to some parties as having caused it. This will then make some parties look bad to the public which, expectedly, would then raise a hue and cry. Allegedly, such sabotage was with the blessings of a local politician.
If there are reliable proofs on this, then such politician is not worth our votes come May, 2022.
I am still waiting for some evidence to filter out on the truth or falsity of the allegation. It sounds interesting.
Since I started this piece about mafia families, the allegation of sabotage brings me to the book “Godfather” by Mario Puzo.
If memory serves after almost 50 years from reading that book, Don Corleone, the Godfather, was trying to bring home to the USA his youngest son (Michael Corleone—acted by Al Pacino) who had been hiding in Italy for a number of years after shooting to death a member of an opponent family who ordered the killing of his brother. On the same occasion, he also shot to death the police officer who had been the protector of that opponent family.
In preparation of such homecoming, Don Corleone called a meeting with the heads of the most powerful mafia families. In that meeting he delivered a speech whose main point was that he would be generous in sharing with the other families his influence on politicians, editors of newspapers and on judges all over the country.
In return, he reminded the others that he was a very SUPERSTITIOUS man. If his son, on his way home from Italy would meet an accident on the train or any vehicle, or in other similar circumstances, he would blame it on the other mafia families. As the story goes, the son got home safely and succeeded as the next don, paving the way for the movies Godfather II and Godfather III.
Moral of the story regarding Beneco? Let us be superstitious, (rather, suspicious) when it comes to brownouts. Were past ones caused by mafia-like-minded people?
Let us await more facts about the recent brownouts. Such usually come out over time no matter how guarded secrets they are. If not, then karma would take its toll.
If indeed some people who had the means and power caused the brownouts through sabotage, then Beneco is doomed. It would be time to put up the sign WANTED: A NEW MANAGEMENT WHO CARES FOR THE WELFARE OF THE ELECTRICITY USERS.
Brownouts can be made to appear accidental like a truck hitting an electric post, or some transformers or other Beneco materials exploding in flames. And as anybody with a military background would know, these must be done with military precision.**
