Roperos: The economy

THERE is this economist who suggested that we should “build on advantages (in our economy) to fuel economic growth.” In a report in the business section of this daily, the professor pointed out to Sun.Star Cebu that “Philippine attributes such as English proficiency, youthful demographic, central location and natural resources would well complement the country’s current credibility.” In short, our country has the foundation for economic growth.

Wenceslao: Schooling

MY TWO sons will be back in school today, or two days after the opening of classes in public schools. I called up the admin last Sunday to confirm the schedule. It was June 5, indeed. I asked why it had to be on that date, the answer: “Kay private school man ni.” Oh well.

Nalzaro: Response to a letter

THE letter here of Mr. Wolfgang Bonnen, a German national who claimed to be one of the foreign observers sent here by their country's international organization in time for the May 13 elections, has triggered reactions from our readers.

In his letter, Bonnen criticized Mayor Mike Rama for having a showbiz and superstar complex when he danced and sang just to get votes. And though he called Tomas Osmeña arrogant, he praised the former mayor for the way he ran the affairs of the city government in his time.

Barrita: No more drink and drive?

PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino has signed into law the “Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013.

The law penalizes anyone caught driving under the influence of alcohol, dangerous drugs and other intoxicating substances.

Carvajal: Sabotage

AT FIRST blush you would think Rep. Eduardo Gullas was a gracious loser. He readily conceded defeat and did not blame the PCOS machines. He also put up a sign thanking the people of Talisay for their support. It sure was looking like he knew why he lost and why this time he had to go.

But soon this proved to be a wrong take. Subsequent events tended to show that Mr. Gullas was right there scheming to get back in power.

Editorial: Redistricting plan

THOSE who think that second district congressman-elect Wilfredo Caminero does not have a legislative agenda should give him a second look. He has. Or at least he has a measure that, although borrowed from the lawmaker he will replace, Rep. Pablo Garcia, he wants to pursue.

Roperos: DepEd problem

SINCE a few days ago, I heard talks about our education problems. I do not normally cotton to these matters, having come from a family whose roots in life had been in the teaching profession. However, a public school teacher told me about how she was made to attend a training seminar of sorts for the new education setup.

She said that she suspects something is not right and straight in the way the Department of Education (DepEd) is undertaking the introduction of the K-12 program.

Cabaero: Sex toy and doll

THE newspaper photo showed the unlikely combination of a doll and a sex toy inside a box, gathered as evidence from a cybersex house in Cordova town, Cebu.

Malilong: Tommy and TG

IF HIS political enemies think that the city’s south district representative is sulking because of his loss in the last mayoralty election, they’re in for a surprise.

I bumped into Tommy Osmeña and his wife Margot Sunday night and, well, he looked and acted the same. There was no bitterness or hint of surrender.

Seares: Standard time may not kill Pinoy time

THEY say a person with one watch knows what time it is but a person with two watches is never sure.

Right?

Echaves: Lofty initiatives

SOMETHING noteworthy was brewing somewhere else nationwide between April and May this year.

Deliberately, the pursuits did not have the fanfare of the campaign season, nor the noise of some post-election protests. That’s because the pursuits were of a lofty nature.

Wenceslao: A good program

THE attempt of Augustus Pe Jr. to become the first politician to ever serve four straight terms in the Cebu Council flopped when he failed to snag one of the eight seats available for the south district in the May 13 elections. A big chunk of the voters in the district apparently frowned on his claim of being from the south when he has been a three-term councilor of the north.

Nalzaro: Our education and penology system

IT’S back to school today for students in public learning institutions all over the country. Are our education officials ready to address the perennial problems that surface every opening of classes like shortage of classrooms? I can foresee that these problems will crop up today. There are lots of problems that should be looked into by our government to achieve what they call “quality education” in our government educational system.

Editorial: Valuing education

THE opening of classes resurrects a growing concern among students and their families: what’s the connection between education and employment?

Filipino families still aspire to educate their children; the higher, the better.

Seares: Jessica Soho and Governor Christie

NEW Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Filipino broadcast journalist Jessica Soho are both amply endowed physically, if you don’t want to use the shorter but politically incorrect “f” word.

Mongaya: ‘Gates of hell’

IT’S not Dan Brown because he writes fiction. Those who protest Brown’s depiction of Manila as a center of prostitution need to see reality as it really is.

From where I am perched in Talisay City in the province of Cebu, I listen to tales from my driver about teenage girls of residents of a poor coastal barangay being recruited for work in Manila. After a year or so, they return with stories of either their supposed success or failure, mostly in Malate prostitution dens.

Sun.star essay: Looking twice at child-bullying

YOU’VE read about the recent news of a 12-year-old Fil-Am girl in New York who killed herself. The family found out in her journal that she was bullied by her “friends” and was called “a slut and a whore” in school. She was also a victim of cyber-bullying.

Mercado: Navel-gazing stage

CEBUANA “Norma” lives in Los Angeles. She travels often and writes for Asian papers. Doesn’t her letter hold up a mirror for us? JLM.

Am in Cebu a couple of days. Then I’ll visit my sister in Iligan City. Just wanted to tell you that in the cab from Mactan airport, my still-fluent Cebuano jolted the driver. Taga-diin man diay ka Day?

Cabaero: Blast theories

THE lack of updates nearly 24 hours since the powerful explosion ripped through an upscale apartment complex in the Taguig City has fueled speculations of sorts into possible causes.

Lim: A year older

FOR some, turning a year older is a traumatic experience. Oh yes, especially if you’re over 40 and nearing 50. Well, I’m not exactly breaking out in sweat. Or palpitating. I know that sounds incredible at the dawn of menopausal age but hey, some of us are born lucky. Or feisty.

I was born feisty. I was born with boxing gloves. I never had a boring day in my life. I was too busy fighting battles left and right. I was too busy fighting hypocrisy, deception and injustice. I was too busy mastering left from right.

Malilong: COA report on Suroy-Suroy

THE Commission on Audit (COA) report highlighting supposed deficiencies in the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo is hardly surprising. That is the nature of the COA’s mandate: to find fault or “exceptions.”

COA, for example, noted that while the operating costs and related expenses incurred in last year’s Suroy-Suroy reached P11.45 million, the income from the activity amounted only to P3.79 million. The disparity is indeed enormous. Given the bleak financial picture, any ordinary businessman will have to cut costs or raise revenues or close down the business.

Tabada: Keepers of the faith

THE CHALK trick worked like magic. Or should have, if only some wise guys did not repeat the trick every year.

At St. Theresa’s College (STC), some textbooks were rented. Before the school year ended, we returned the books but not before readying these for next year’s users.

Editorial: Overacting on notebooks issue

EXCESS, like politicking, can be a problem. That is one lesson that can be learned from the way the Provincial Government handled, or should we say mishandled, the controversial school supplies issue in relation to the anti-“epal” campaign of the Aquino administration.

Libre: Devil in our midst

THE young man sat on a wheelchair as Pope Francis made an appearance among those who celebrated Mass on Pentecost Sunday (May 19, 2013) at the Vatican.

Wenceslao: Summer and the rainy season

DILI na mora’g Chocolate Hills,” my son Edison Khan said the other day while looking up the hills that overlook our small village in our town this southern town.

During the very hot summer, the leaves of the bushes that adorn the hill’s slopes had turned brown, thus my son’s Chocolate Hill’s description. But though the hot weather was brutal, it did not tarry long like in the past, so the hill’s foliage survived.

Nalzaro: Letter from a foreigner

SOME foreigners were here in Cebu to observe the conduct of the May 13 elections. I received an email from one of these foreign observers and here’s what he wrote prior to election day:

Barrita: Beautiful Cebuano

I HAVE finally found in the Internet through Project Gutenberg a copy of A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan compiled by John U. Wolff of Cornell University, Southeast Asia Program and the Linguistic Society of the Philippines.

Carvajal: Change below

SOMETHING happened on my way to writing my original topic for today’s column. I bumped on YouTube into Vice Ganda’s sick joke suggesting that sex with Jessica Soho has to be through gang rape on account of her size. The clip was disgusting and watching it was just sickening. I felt an immediate constraint to switch to writing about my indignation over it because it simply cannot be stressed enough that rape is an evil that should be eliminated from civilized society and not a laughing matter to be callously dished out as entertainment.

Tell it to Sunstar: Court vacancies

THIS is with regard to a statement in the “Bzzzzzz” section in the Sun.Star Cebu issue dated May 27, 2013 anent the vacancies in the trial courts of Cebu City and Cebu Province.

May we provide information on the action taken by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on the said vacancies?

Editorial: Not-so-hidden hand

WHEN Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama went on a break following a rigorous reelection bid that saw him trounce his former mentor Tomas Osmeña, he allowed Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young to function as acting mayor. Young is an Osmeña lieutenant.