Editorial: Worries about police claim

INVESTIGATION into the killing of PO3 Gerlito Estremos took an interesting turn with the arrest of a certain Ian Canseco, said to have been identified by a witness as the one who mauled the policeman and shot him Monday night in Barangay Kamagayan.

Roperos: Seeking a refund

TRUTH to tell, I laughed when I opened my copy of this daily yesterday and read the headline about Annabelle Rama asking her cousin, Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, to refund her the last-minute political expense of P3 million that she gave him. If my senior citizen memory still serves me well, this is the first time that a candidate openly asked for a refund of election-day expense.

Obenieta: Being effortless at running on empty

NO SWEAT to see evidence of waste. Everywhere, what’s wanting or lost can easily be found. Money, for instance, is so easy to blow away though it’s often no breeze to make it.

Forget about the frequency of hearing the ho-hum about economic catastrophe, and consider how one online article counts the “13 Ways Americans Throw Away Money.” Thus the spree for squandering can be done to the tune of “over half a trillion dollars each year” through “fines, bad investments like lottery tickets, and unhealthy consumption items like cigarettes and alcohol.”

Seares: Annabelle, Mike, Joy: post-poll ‘sitcom’

ANNABEL RAMA, buried with a 98,383-vote majority of her rival Raul del Mar in the Cebu City north congressional race, has just shown she's clueless about politics.

Espinoza: A quick reply

We celebrated yesterday 115 years of Philippine independence. Viva Pilipinas!

What comes to mind when we commemorate Independence Day is this question: Are we truly independent? Of course we are, in thought, in words and in deeds. But economically, much is still to be desired.

Bayan: Best Performing Barangays and RA 10367

THE Search for Best Performing Barangays is now open to all interested barangays. This year’s search shall focus on the performance of the barangay for the calendar year 2012. The search has been officially announce during the June 7, 2013 PBs Meeting at the city Hall Multi-purpose Hall. The barangays will be judged collectively as a council and as a body in their performance with respect to governance and administration, infrastructure, peace and order, environment, health and sanitation, and social services.

Cajucom: Mothersmother Diaries E05: All in good time

TURNING the pages of my mothersmother diaries, I distinctly remember our heartache last year, a very painful experience we went through when our little diva Nadine was accelerated to Grade 1. Ok, let me take a step back as you might be wondering what “heartbreak” that was, and why it should be painful when promotion to a higher grade level should be cause for happiness (imagine one year’s worth of tuition saved) and pride, of course. We had that same feeling at first, because we thought the K-12 Program would be that beneficial to our youngest and to the family, as well.

Ledesma: Floods and traffic

YEARS back, I drove the length from Bakersfield in California to Las Vegas, Nevada. Aside from it being a gamblers Mecca then, it is also a prime tourist destination. My wife’s uncle who lives in Modesto, CA brought us there. It was a long drive so somewhere in Bakersfield he asked me to take the wheel cautioning me not to drive too fast or too slow. Either way, the highway patrol might cite me.

Velez: Tsinoy in the time of revolution

WITH the passing of National Artist for film Eddie Romero last week, we are reminded of his great and important film “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon” which speaks to us again in time of our Independence Day.

Turn of events

IT seems there is no turning back in the inauguration of the new Laguindingan Airport as the President Benigno S. Aquino III himself has graced the marking of the facility.

Let’s hope that issues raised in the previous months such the adequate equipment needed in the safety of the operations have been resolved. Moreover, we pray that there will be no similar incidents that happened about the Cebu Pacific 5J 971 flight in the runway of F. Bangoy International Airport in Davao City.

De Fiesta: Imponderables

WHAT we’d have to do to get by every single day is a miracle in itself. We should all be grateful that we wake up every day to a great morning and go through our routines smoothly until the end of the day, until we retire to the comforts of our own beds at night.

It’s normal that we all experience setbacks once in a while, when we feel that things don’t go the way we want them. 

Mercado: Congressman Guiao’s Double Life

COME July, Vice Governor Yeng Guaio will be wearing two hats: that of a lawmaker and a basketball coach.

How he will balance his double-career will be demonstrated in September yet, when the 58-year-old Magalang native will be defending the Governor’s Cup now held by his team Rain or Shine.

Sanchez:People skills

ONCE equated with human rights abuses at the time of the Marcos dictatorship and even under Cory Aquino, the Philippine Army is pulling all stops to win the love and respect of civilians. It has been scoring points in winning the peace through conflict resolution.

Now the 303rd Infantry Brigade is calling for reconciliation, unity and good governance in Negros Occidental, with newly-elected and reelected officials set to perform their mandate next month.

Pacete: When Silaynons celebrate fiesta

SILAY'S 56th Charter Anniversary that highlights Kansilay festival (June 6-12) is not just an annual celebration to commemorate the cityhood of June 12, 1957. Silay fiesta is a carryover of what was good in the past and what has been now. “Life is sweet in Silay and the past is forever.”

That fits the 2013 fiesta theme, ‘Pagkamadinalag-on: Bugal sang Silaynon’.

Editorial: Proving the obvious

WHILE most of the government will take a break today, Independence Day, the offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will stay open to receive the candidates’ statements of contributions and expenses for the May 13 elections. These are due tomorrow afternoon, without extension.

Sadly for the Comelec, the effort will probably not pay off.

Roperos: Independence

TODAY in our annual calendar is Independence Day, a national holiday. And so we celebrate this date as the day we became a free and independent country. And, indeed, we have been recognized the world over as a free nation in Southeast Asia, independent ahead of the other countries in the Asian region.

Wenceslao: Natuel’s ‘Lacsonesque’ move

IT IS difficult to debate when we do not have the figures to back up our arguments. So we may have to give Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama the benefit of the doubt regarding the peace and order situation in his turf. Okay, the thinking that criminality has surged may only be a mirage.

Nalzaro: Next PRO 7 chief: Angan or Oppus?

THE turnover of command at the Police Regional Office (PRO 7) was originally set for this Friday. But for unknown reasons, Camp Crame cancelled the activity and moved it to a later date. Sources say this was because of last-minute maneuvering by two newly promoted officers who are lobbying to replace PRO 7 Chief Marcelo Garbo, who will be assigned to the directorial staff in Camp Crame with the rank of two-star general.

Barrita: DOH to dance dengue away

ASSISTANT Health Secretary Eric Tayag has practised some dance routines with Cebu’s famous dancing inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

Dr. Tayag will dance with inmates Jory Tupas, Francis Diego and Carlo Viteo during the Department of Health (DOH) Asean Dengue Day on June 15 at Cebu City’s South Road Properties.

Yap: Resil’s archive

IN RECENT years, I tried collecting the works of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges—from fiction to poetry to his musings about writing. A student of mine once complained to his classmate about my seeming obsession to the writer’s works. Well, I told him, it’s not an obsession. I have read only a handful of Borges because it would entail handcuffing clock hands to appreciate each of his story. Well, okay, it’s an old man’s Angry Bird or Candy Crush.

Carvajal: Ghost freedom

BY NOW we are already familiar with and inured to ghost projects, ghost employees, ghost foundations, etc. This country wastes too much people’s money on ghost disbursements government officials routinely incur with impunity.

Editorial: Military not yet off the hook with regards children’s rights violations.

THE military still falls flat in making sure that children are protected from the armed conflict in the country as it merited mention in the 45-page Report of the Secretary General in the General Assembly of the United Nations Security Council last May 15.

Gonzales: Modern-day Hero for PWD’s independence

AS WE celebrate 2013 Indsependence Day, I would like to introduce Prof. Abelardo Apollo I. David Jr., one of the awardees of the 2012 Ten Outstanding Young Men (Toym) Award in Community Occupational Rehabilitation for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

Editorial: Education and freedom

AN ELEMENTARY school in Fairview barangay was found using the stage of the barangay hall as classrooms for grades 2 and 3 with only a curtain separating the two.

Their grades 4 and 5 students, on the other hand, occupy a 2x3 square meter classroom without windows again with only a curtain separating the two and a door as the lone entrance and exit point.

Cariño: Integrity initiative

BUSINESSMEN in the City and Benguet are expected to lead the charge on integrity initiative in the private sector for north Luzon following the Makati Business Club’s challenge for them to put in place their own ethics in business. The MBC, led by Peter Perfecto, the executive director, explained the integrity initiative before members of the Phil. Chamber of Commerce and Industry local chapter at the Tourism Complex last Saturday.

The MBC said it right – that even in business, there is corruption.

Domondon: Changes in the City Council and Tourism Issues

THE City Council is expected to have several changes in the membership composition of its various standing committees come July 2013 as the new set of city councilors, both comebacking and re-elected, forge a new and fresh direction in the city's policy making body.

Fernandez: The Kasambahay Law

FINALLY, a magna carta to promote and to protect the welfare of household helpers.

Republic Act 10361 or the “Kasambahay Law” has taken effect Tuesday last week with new regulations in the employment of millions of domestic workers in the country.

Legaspi: Summer is over?

THE rains came in last week as a sign that the summer season is finally over. School opened its doors to myriads of students and pupils. Bells ring everywhere. Uniformed children walk to the terminals in an early morning rush. These are the signs that summer is really over.

One may wonder why I was not in these pages for the past weeks. My apologies and here are my reasons for not being around.

Alamon: Twits

IN THE age of the 140 character tweet, to make readers consider a series of ideas that are conveyed beyond the number of words in this sentence is every writer's challenge.

For sure there is potential for discipline and art in the haiku-like format of the tweet. But the bite-size approach to the delivery of content makes all the more clearer Marshall McLuhan's observation about contemporary practices of communication and how this reflects once again certain features of our shared social lives.

Ravanera: Questions

THE dark and diabolical forces that are wreaking havoc to the integrity of the environment through massive illegal mining activities in the Iponan area of Cagayan de Oro are into it again, this time, with impunity and intent to kill.