The powerful spleen: An underrated organ

NOT much literature for the general public is written about the spleen: most writers focus on other vital organs like the heart, kidneys and the lungs.

The spleen is among the warriors of our body. It indirectly helps fight off foreign materials infiltrating our body that can potentially cause a wide spectrum of diseases.

Luczon: That one small inconvenience

I ALWAYS have a dilemma while walking along the streets of Cagayan de Oro: that is when I buy something like food-to-go or anything that has a wrapping on it, most of the time, I end up bringing it home before I could dispose it properly. Why? Because there are no designated public trash bins available in most corners of the city streets.

Vugt: The living Spirit

THE most basic unit in society is the community. There is the community of the family, of the place where you live, of any organization you are a member of.

Wenceslao: Stop the ranting

LAST Tuesday, a throng of left-leaning organizations set up a barricade at the national highway in Montevista, Compostela Province. For the entire day, they hindered traffic in the main and vital artery that linked the northern and southern regions of Mindanao. As a result, about 25 kilometers of vehicles from both sides were stalled, stopping thousands of commuters and the transport of goods to include truckloads of relief goods to victims of Typhoon Pablo.  

Editorial: Does he even deserve it?

CAGAYAN de Oro’s political scene has lately been tainted with a solid speck of “drama.”

Editorial: A change in political landscape

THE arrest last week of Misamis Oriental Provincial Board Member Geodiguil Ursal has somehow tainted the political landscape of not only the province but also the city of Cagayan de Oro and perhaps, the whole Region 10.

Luczon: Oscars and the City Hall

LAST week the Academy of Motion Picture, Hollywood’s prime institution in the world of cinema and film technology, has just announced the nominated films and personalities for the 85th Academy Awards, which is also known as “Oscars.”

And also last week, a number of supporters and political leaders gathered in front of the City Hall of Cagayan de Oro to “show” support and objection against the “alleged” suspension order to be served to Mayor Vicente Emano.

Editorial: Putting the case to rest

THE recent kidnapping incident in Cagayan de Oro has brought a positive view to the city’s police force. And why not? Authorities were able to identify and arrest at least three of the suspects in so short a time.

The alleged kidnapping incident occurred December 28. Four days after, three alleged suspects were arrested. And the remaining suspect voluntarily surrendered on January 3.

Epiphany: A plea for interreligious dialogue

TODAY, January 6, we celebrate the Feast of Three Kings, the three wise men who came from the East to greet the new-born Savior of the world in Bethlehem.

With the Incarnation of his Son, God showed himself not only to the Jewish people but to all other nations of the world, especially the nations of the East, no matter their race or culture.

Emata: All about media

IF YOU want to find people who work so hard, rain or shine, and receive so little income as salaries or wages, welcome to the world of the media people.

Here you see the real hardworking individuals who work every day, even on Sundays and holidays, from early in the morning to sundown. They don’t mind the sweats in their forehead that run down every now and then. They know nothing except to work hard because there is a deadline to beat and gathering news stories should be fast or you got nothing but bits of history.

The paradox of Christmas: Peace over war

AT the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the Angels sang: “Peace to all men of good will.” Christmas is a feast of peace here on earth. The paradox of the first Christmas was violence and war. King Herod was the first one who started the killing.

Lost opportunities

YEAR 2012 had elapsed, still the kidnap-for-ransom syndicates in areas of or adjacent to Moro Islamic Liberation Front territories are actively operating without letup. It is plainly incredulous to even think that that the MILF field commanders are not aware of the existence of the KFR syndicates as in every case of kidnapping that had been carried out, their escape routes always end up in the MILF-held territories.

Cagayan de Oro 2012: Year of Sendong’s Children

IN CAGAYAN DE ORO, it was not the Reproductive Health law that shaped the year 2012 in the city, neither the Ampatuan Massacre anniversary nor St. Pedro Calungsod, Manny Pacquiao or any national news and events that shook the country, but it was still the ghost of tropical storm “Sendong” and its implications that eventually led to some history-altering circumstances.

Wenceslao: A Peaceful and Prosperous New Year

ANOTHER year had elapsed on the tedious search for peace in Mindanao. It is as if conflict has become a way of life for the secessionist fronts and for terrorist elements embedded in them. Life cannot go on this way for the majority who, for decades now, wants to have a life as normal as the rest.

There are undebatable issues, which are stark realities which the Moro Islamic Liberation Front must accept. Among these are that the government will not allow even an inch of territory to be chipped away in favor of any liberation front; that there can only be one peacekeeping force and one constitution; that our natural resources, where are these located, are not for any group but for the entire nation.

Van Vugt: The paradox of Christmas: Immanuel – God is with us

THE birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was right from the beginning an incomprehensible mystery. Jesus became a stumbling block for many people.

Right after his birth, there was King Herod who was out to kill the newborn Savior of the world. Hundreds of innocent children were killed instead.

Roa: Death during the happiest season of the year

LAST week I received this text message from my cousin, Atty. Caridad R. Valdehuesa, that I found so apt and telling that I decided to write about it in this column. Because she is fluent in Spanish, I would at times request her to translate to English some old Spanish documents and recently, I asked her help in translating a portion of Jose P. Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios. That done, she then sent me this text message: “I wonder why the Spaniards executed him (Rizal) during the happiest season of the year. They were adding ignominy to injury!"

Vugt: The paradox of Christmas

THE celebration of the feast of Christmas is a paradox, a seeming contradiction. The contradiction shows itself in the context wherein the feast is celebrated. If we take away that context, it remains a romantic and sentimental feast only, with Christmas carols and Christmas lights all over the place.

Tradition has imposed on us a Christmas full of romanticism and commercialism which drives away from our mind and our heart the harsh reality that surrounded the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, two thousand years ago. What was the context of that first Christmas?

Wenceslao: Know your enemy in time of crises

IT is utterly incomprehensible, if not disgusting, why the New People’s Army has to issue a unilateral ceasefire purportedly to give way to rescue and retrieval operation in the aftermath of Typhoon Pablo only to lift it by January 3, 2013.

If they think that their declaration is of any humanitarian value, then they have indeed a very little disregard for the masses which they claim to fight for. They too have very little sense of how long it will take to restore normalcy and sanity in the ravaged area and the number of years to rehabilitate farms and infrastructures that were destroyed by Pablo.

Luczon: Return of the Bad Bang Boys

NATURE has a Christmas present for the people of Mindanao and it is by shifting the course of tropical storm (some say it was just a depression) “Quinta” upward the Visayas regions instead of its predicted North-Northeastern Mindanao track.

Vesagas: Fortune-telling for the New Year

“What lies in the future is a mystery to us all” -- Karen Carpenter

IN DECEMBER 1991, Madame Auring, a famed Filipino psychic, correctly predicted the 1992 political victory of former President Fidel V. Ramos over Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Vugt: Marcos, a charismatic leader?

DURING the martial law years, there were many people who believed that Marcos was a charismatic leader. That is why they still believe that he should be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, like our lawmaker from Cagayan de Oro.

Editorial: The domino effects of Sin Tax Bill

STARTING January 1, 2013, companies producing alcohol and tobacco products will be paying more taxes to the government after President Benigno Aquino III signed on Thursday Republic Act 10351 or the Sin Tax Reform 2012.

Aquino said the new law aims to favor both the government and the Filipino people since revenues to be generated from the measure will be used to fund health insurance programs for the poor, and build and renovate hospitals in the country.

Emata: Hard life everywhere

IT seems the world is in crisis and everywhere in its four corners, people are experiencing some sort of difficulties in life. Nations from Europe to the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and everywhere are having same problems of lack of employment, food, medicines and everything else.

There is scarcity in all matters that are usually needed everyday. This is because many of the capitalists which have been operating large business firms have gone low in its operations while others have closed business for some reasons.

Wenceslao: Fighting Terrorism

AN operative of the Jemaah Islamiyah met his tragic end in the hands of Davao City police SWAT force. Mohd Fikrie Abd Kahar, a native of Malacca, Malaysia, sneaked into the southern capital in the advent of the Christmas holiday when much of the city is in the celebration mood.

Davao, which is the commercial and communications center in Mindanao, has established quite sophisticated tripping points that monitors and reports movements of suspicious characters. This is a basic intelligence network that involves private citizens in various critical areas in the city where suspects may find ingress and possible areas where they might seek refuge.

Editorial: End of the world

WILL the world really ends today?

Macagba: Technology, Dialogue, Faith

AS AN educator, one of the things that have been engrained in my heart is the idea that the end of education is always the students. This goes on saying that the most important aspect in the educational process would be the students. As such, the gauge of the success of formation would be indicated through the learning and the impact it has made to shape the student.

Vugt: The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

ON DECEMBER 12, the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I am not particularly familiar with Our Lady of Guadalupe, the place where supposedly an apparition of the Blessed Virgin has taken place. The Blessed Virgin Mary got so many different places attached to her name because there may have been an apparition of the Blessed Virgin in those places at one time.

Luczon: Epic Performance

ALTHOUGH the commemoration program created by the City Government of Cagayan de Oro garnered critical response to some opposition friends we have in town, I wanted to give them a break and give all due credits for making the “masa” happy in the first year anniversary of the devastation of Tropical Storm Sendong.

Editorial: ‘Sendong’ - Lessons learned a year after

IT’S been a year since Tropical Storm Sendong ravaged most areas in Cagayan de Oro, killing hundreds of residents and damaging billions worth of properties.

Vugt: Who is the real Santa Claus?

I INTEND to write this column in dedication to Santa Claus, I mean to say, to the real Santa Claus.

The mascot of Santa Claus that we see walking around in shopping centers before Christmas is a caricature of the real Santa Claus. He/she is like a clown. I can say this in all sincerity, because I know the history of the phenomenon Santa Claus.