Cebu | Opinion - Sun.Star Online

Editorial: Reconciliation

Wed, 05/22/2013 - 23:46

ACTING Gov. Agnes Magpale, who won the post of vice governor in the May 13 polls, is not the first winner in a political joust to wave the “reconciliation” word like a flag. But calling for reconciliation after a bitter political war is one thing, actually seeking it is another.

Roperos: ‘Chilling’ act

Wed, 05/22/2013 - 23:44

I DO NOT know how I should react to this bit of incident. But I believe that this has a grave implication on the exercise of the media profession in the globe. I am referring to the complaint by the Associated Press (AP) against the US government’s Department of Justice.

Malilong: Tommy O’s electoral protest

Wed, 05/22/2013 - 23:43

LOREN LEGARDA, Chiz Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano and Sonny Angara were big winners in the May 13 senatorial elections in spite of it. On the other hand, Mitos Magsaysay and JC delos Reyes missed the target by a wide margin (5 million votes?) also in spite of it.

In Cebu, political giants Reps. Pablo Garcia and Eddie Gullas tasted bitter defeat for the first time after so many elections, likewise in spite of it.

Yes, there is a Catholic vote.

***

Seares: Coca Cola metaphor of PNoy and Nancy

Wed, 05/22/2013 - 23:40

IN September 2011, President Noynoy Aquino, when asked about his love life, said, "It's like Coca Cola. Before it was Regular, then it became Light, now it's Zero."

Last week, Nancy Binay, still basking in the light and warmth of election victory, finishing fifth in the Senate race, was asked about how she'll "make a name separate" from her dad, Vice President Jejomar Binay.

She can't, Nancy told rappler.com, "Kumbaga soft-drinks. I'm still a soda, different ano lang. Kung father ko Coke Light, ako seguro Coke Zero."

Espinoza: BOPK councilors should cooperate

Wed, 05/22/2013 - 23:38

FILING an election protest is a right of a poll loser who thinks that the results of the election were highly irregular or were rigged.

Rep. Tomas Osmeña, allegedly upon the prodding of his supporters, will protest the victory of Mayor Mike Rama and vice mayor-elect Edgar Labella in the just concluded May 13 polls.

Mayor Rama won over the come backing Congressman Tomas by a comfortable lead while Councilor Labella beat re-electionist Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young by a slim margin.

Editorial: A paper trail for 2016

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:58

BEFORE the 2016 polls, the veteran election lawyer Sixto Brillantes will end his term as chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). This early, he has disturbing advice for his successor: if you can, pick a new set of machines to replace the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) units.

Roperos: Enrolment time

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:57

WITH the month of June looming large and demanding in the calendar of the Department of Education (DepEd), most parents who have family members of school age must be spending restless nights estimating how much it would cost them to enroll their kids.

Wenceslao: Dealing with obstructionists

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:56

THE recent Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) gathering at the South Road Properties (SRP) gave us a glimpse of what party chief Tomas Osmeña and his people will do at least in the early stages of Michael Rama’s second term as mayor. So what should Team Rama do in response?

Barrita: My Mactan

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:56

NEWLY-ELECTED Rep. Aileen Radaza of the lone district of Lapu-Lapu City is filing a bill that will create the province of Mactan, a move she said, which will hasten the island’s economic growth.

I always thought the Radazas, the congresswoman-elect’s father Rep. Arturo Radaza and mother Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, have done something to make Mactan prosper.

Perhaps the Radazas and the people of Mactan simply want to have a province they can call their own.

Anyone in the new province can call it my Mactan.

***

Nalzaro: Political dynamics

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:55

DEFEATED mayoralty candidate Tomas Osmeña just cannot accept his defeat in the hands of his former political protégé, Michael Rama. So too his running mate, Vice Mayor Agustus Joy Young, cannot accept his defeat to Edgardo Labella. Labella won by a margin of almost 200 votes.

Obenieta: Stirring up the source

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:54

GROW by going along with the grassroots. No better sense than sticking one’s ear down to the ground.

Earthshaking as his historic ascendancy has been, US President Barack Obama knew all along that he could fall through the cracks if he would wander off and drag on deaf to the source of his power. So he went on poring over the so-called Citizen’s Briefing Book, noting down some insights from ordinary citizens who proposed ways of wising up and tackling the task of nation-building.

Carvajal: Question one

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 23:54

THE number one question after election results is: were elections 2013 better than elections 2010? If you ask Comelec and the winners the answer is a big YES. But if you ask the losers and some watchdogs the answer is a loud NO.

Wenceslao: Staying relevant

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 23:58

OPERATION Day 1” was the buzzword when I covered the Capitol beat in the early ‘90s during the administration of lawyer Vicente “Tingting” de la Serna. Tingting had defeated Annette, wife of former governor Emilio “Lito” Osmeña, in the 1992 Cebu gubernatorial elections. Lito at that time was seeking a national position, leaving his control of the Capitol vulnerable to assaults from the opposition.

Seares: Jun Pe’s derailed test on term limit

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 23:57

CEBU City Councilor Jun Pe of BOPK wanted to probe boundaries of term limit: whether he could secure a fourth consecutive term in the City Council by changing districts.

He wanted to go around the legal barrier by transferring legal residence from the north and filing his certificate of candidacy in the south.

A Comelec division disqualified him for lack of residence but not for violation of term limit. He filed a motion for reconsideration. So did Team Rama which asked the Comelec to oust Pe not just for lack of residence but also for violating term limit.

Lee: Law on children

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 23:56

MY WIFE recently gave birth to a baby girl. In between cooing to the baby and cuddling her, I thought it would be good to discuss some of the laws surrounding a newly born baby.

Under Article 40 of the Civil Code, “birth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it.”

Estremera: Typewriters and touchpads

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 23:54

IT’S not easy to be bullied. Anyone who has been bullied will know that. Many adults who have forgotten their childhood would always prattle that anyone bullied should just go to an elder and tell him or her what happened. As if a child can easily do that.

Or a nation. Look at us and our people in Taiwan. One or two, or maybe many, have been hit by the bat of enraged Taiwanese, and what can our people do? Nothing. What can we in the Philippines do? Nothing. Now bring that down to the scale of one bullied child.

Roperos: Automated count

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 23:02

COMES now the disturbing questions about the automated election machines that earlier gave us an immediate glimpse of the results of the voting.

Lots of doubts are now being expressed about the veracity and accuracy of the election results from precincts that used the automated election system (AES).

This is disturbing because this is the second electoral exercise where the automated system has been used. In both instances, the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines helped. Thus, I believed we have a good thing going for us, election-wise and politics-wise.

Editorial: The push for a Mactan province

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 23:00

CAN a neophyte lawmaker like newly elected Rep. Aileen Radaza do it meaning, push through the legislative mill her proposal to slice off Mactan island from the Cebu mainland and raise its status to a province?

It’s an interesting question. As interesting as why her father, outgoing Lapu-Lapu Rep. Arturo Radaza didn’t craft the bill himself.

Editorial: Reclaiming heritage

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 00:12

VALUING heritage takes more than a day or a month. Slowly but steadily, Cebu is reclaiming its own.

Last May 18 was International Museum Day. In the country, May is considered as National Heritage Month.

According to the International Council of Museums (Icom), which started International Museum Day in 1977, this year’s theme is “Museums (memory + creativity) = social change.”

The theme reiterates the role of museums in preserving the legacy of the past and using creativity in making history, pride of place and identity as the bedrock of societal innovations and development.

Wenceslao: Same old Senate

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 00:12

I THINK it’s time for her critics to loosen up on Vice President Jejomar Binay’s daughter Ma. Lourdes Nancy. She has been proclaimed as among the 12 winners in the senatorial race, landing in 5th place with more than 16 million votes. Meaning that her critics could no longer prevent Binay’s entry into the Senate.

Nalzaro: Fixing what’s not broken

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 00:10

I WAS in Mactan Island the entire day yesterday for the company outing of Radyo GMA (GMA) employees at Agus Hotel in Barangay Agus. It was an annual activity where company officers and employees together with their families relax and enjoy. The event was also very timely because everybody was so tired during our election coverage last week. Imagine, we went on the air for 48 hours for our continuous coverage. It was, indeed, a great bonding yesterday.

As I drove going here before noon, I encountered traffic problem near Gaisano Capital.

Seares: Proposed Mactan province: shades of Sugbo-ak?

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 00:09

THE first bill that congresswoman-elect Aileen Radaza will file when the new Congress opens is one that seeks to create a new province to be named Mactan.

Mongaya: PCOS pre-programmed?

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 00:07

WHILE most of mainstream media friends hailed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the PCOS for a job - well done, seemingly isolated critical voices are presenting disturbing data online. The percentage of votes per senator was uniform and consistent nationwide as the counting proceeded.

Echaves: Moving on

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 00:06

ALL 12 senators have been proclaimed. Expectedly, there are protests from losing candidates for various reasons. Some lost by very narrow margins, like five votes or less than a hundred.

Let’s allow them to protest. For one, it’s part of practicing democracy. Two, defeat is difficult to take, especially for the long power holders. Three, protests are face-saving tactics. Four, a protest is man’s way of licking his wounds before he ambles to his lonely and dark corner.

For us who’ve gone to vote, where do we go from here?

Sun.star essay: More cleaning up

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 22:50

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources is urging electoral winners to clean up the after-election mess, and clean up intelligently.

That is, prevent the clogging of the drainage, don’t just throw the messy stack into canals. The mess of ballot-like sheets was all over the hundreds of school rooms used as precincts, besides the tarpaulins in street walls swinging on electric wires in the roadside, and leaflets pasted in electric posts.

Mercado: Letter to his honor

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 22:49

WE VOTED for you Monday as the “lesser evil.” Thus, congratulations still stick in our craw. Sorry. One hosanna less shouldn’t matter when cheers hem you in.

“Victory has a thousand fathers,” John Kennedy noted after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. “But defeat is an orphan.” Rep. Tomas Osmeña reels from the trouncing you gave. He never lost an election since 1988. Now, he’s discovering that the sun rises without fail, even if he is not mayor.

Wenceslao: More poll surprises

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 22:47

Rep. Tomas Osmeña, who lost to reelectionist Mayor Michael Rama in the May 13 polls, said it well: when you keep on running, there’s always the possibility that you lose. Indeed, it wasn’t only the big guns like Osmeña and Reps. Eduardo Gullas and Pablo Garcia who suffered defeat in the recent political exercise. Lesser political lights got dimmed, too.

Daanbantayan Mayor Ma. Luisa Loot was finally defeated by perennial challenger Augusto Corro, ending her long-time control of the town’s politics.

Lim: The fallen

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 22:46

THE mighty have fallen. The stalwarts of traditional politics have been defeated. Even the bishops have been rejected by the electorate. Will they now stop harping on the myth of the Catholic vote?

Are the people finally practicing true patriotism? Frankly, I am shocked. I never thought I’d live to see the day the general population decided to vote according to their conscience. Are we finally thinking?

Yet, here I was, right before the elections, lamenting about the vote buying and the wholehearted cooperation of the electorate in the process.

Oledan: Investment hype

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 22:44

DESPITE the upgrade in the Philippines' credit rating, it seems that whatever is the country's economic growth has failed to improve the lives of the people. The recent National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) report shows that the percentage of Filipinos living below the poverty line remained practically the same between 2006 and 2012.

Extreme poverty was pegged at 10 percent, or almost the same as the rate since 2006. Those considered as suffering from "extreme poverty" are families earning P5,458 monthly and are hard put to meet their basic food needs.

Tabada: The empty shelf

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 22:43

I ALWAYS have the same rite to mark the closing of summer: I go through my boxes of books.

It starts with a pretext: my sons are required to read the classics. I have yet to meet a teenager who will spend time with Homer and Shakespeare without demanding pizza, cappuccino with extra whipped cream or some emergency measure of resuscitation. Asking teen boys to search for my 30-year-old copy of “Hamlet” is sending them on a heroic quest without any expectation of an epic end.