Domondon: Working on the budget for the city

THE City Council held its first regular session last Monday for CY 2011 with Vice Mayor Daniel T. Farinas presiding over the august body. In their deliberations the members of the council focused their attention on matters that directly affect the administration of the local government were given precedence over other matters needing the attention of the august body.

Speak Out: Memorable first morning of January

THE year has been a little over a week old and the city has gone back to its old habits.

Editorial: Which way to go for Philsurin?

THE board of trustees of the Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation (Philsurin), the privately-funded research and development arm of the sugar industry, meets today in Bacolod City. Philsurin’s executive arm is headed by Director General Leony Arceo.

Sánchez: Bees

LET’S talk about the bees. No, dummy, not that kind of the birds and the bees. Well, it is, in a different but same context.

The English idiomatic expression of the “birds and the bees” is an allegorical bedtime story that parents tell their children to explain pregnancy without sounding salacious. As we know, bees carry and deposit pollen into flowers used to explain male fertilization.

Editorial: Bacolod’s flood control program: Too little, too late?

INCESSANT rains brought by the northeast monsoon and the high tide, which occurred at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday caused the heavy flooding not only in Bacolod City but almost all throughout the province.

In Bacolod, several barangays were flooded. Hundreds of families were affected by the flood but, on the brighter side, there were no reports of evacuations yet. However, a 12-year old girl drowned in the flood. Hopefully, no other casualty will be reported Wednesday.

Editorial: A driver’s plaint

DRIVERS of public utility vehicles grumble on exorbitant fines and issuance of subpoenas. They said that they look like fugitives being subject of subpoenas.

Bagabuyo: Former senior state prosecutor, DOJ

“NO ARMY can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

Amigo: Reform(ed) budget or deformed budget?

REFORM(ED) budget is how they call the P1.645 trillion national budget passed by Congress and approved by President Aquino last year.

Editorial: Disciplining drivers

WHEN first made to venture out of the woods that Davao City was, we got snickered at for saying, "Lugar lang" to the jeepney driver, instead of the more accepted "para" or "para sa tabi".

Ledesma: Betrayal in Holiday truce

A CHRISTMAS truce was jointly declared by the New People’s Army and the government last December. Two days before the start of the ceasefire, however, as the good news was filtering to the nooks and corner of the country, a band of NPA rebels somewhere in Samar ambushed and killed 10 soldiers and a nine-year-old child. The military may have become complacent ahead of time and this cost them heavy casualty. This of course is not a violation of the holiday truce, which was still to take effect on the second day after the incident.

Marfori: Moms, Lil Hidden Things

MOTHERHOOD is a most painful privilege. “Thy Will Be Done,” were the words of Mary of Nazareth when she accepted the unique honour of being the mom to God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. Imagine the dilemma of whether to adore and kneel before your own newborn or cuddle and embrace your baby in the warmth of your bosom? Imagine the angst of witnessing your son’s birth, or letting go to His rebirth in baptism for His public life; and finally, His dying on the cross, for Christianity to burst forth?

Editorial: Positive economic indicators

APROPOS the feast for the Christ Child in Cebu come indications that the economy is turning for the better.

Breaks in the cloudy skies are slowly emerging, allowing hopeful rays that indicate positive glows in the region’s economic horizon.

Nalzaro: Jun Pe’s gambit

SOME participants in the Cebu City Marathon last Sunday were alarmed when the firearm of one of the bodyguards of Mayor Mike Rama fell. Rama joined the run.

This happened along Salinas Drive in Lahug near Golden Cowrie restaurant. Luckily, the gun did not go off and nobody was hurt. Maayo ipabalik og training ning imong bodyguard, Mr. Mayor.

Wenceslao: Vidal out, Palma in

ARCHBISHOP Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal will turn over the reins of the Cebu Archdiocese tomorrow to Archbishop Jose S. Palma. That’s what you call the Cebu archdiocese turning another corner. Or changing, if you will.

Vidal was the face and voice of the local Catholic Church for almost three decades and guided the archdiocese through the country’s sometimes turbulent times---from the waning years of the Marcos dictatorship to the first and the second Edsas, or from Ferdinand Marcos to the country’s next five presidents.

Malilong: When is final final?

SOMETHING that Conrado de Quiros wrote in his column in the Inquirer yesterday struck me. “(L)aw in this country has been breathtakingly rubbery,” he said, “something that can be twisted this way and that.”

Barrita: Global Sinulog

SINULOG top honcho Ricky Ballesteros said his goal of making the country’s biggest cultural event and tourist drawer global is slowly happening.

National Geographic and other global news organizations are coming in, he said.

Carvajal: Right question

TO GET the correct answer, one must ask the right question from the right people. Or dinance 93-1 folks are right in complaining that they are not being asked what they think of their problem. The City and the Province should, therefore, settle their differences by asking 93-1 folks (right people) what they think is their problem (right question).

Lleva: BCHS ‘66 holds fund raising project

IN THE spirit of the Christmas season, BCHS batch ’66 sponsored a ballroom dancing – dinner and variety show at the Hotel Supreme last December 10, 2010 with the theme “Let’s Hold on Together”.

McEachern: Tagalog is not the national language

IN DECEMBER 1937 President Quezon issued Executive Order 134, stating, among other things:

Speak Out: Made-over teachers

TEACHERS waited this vacation so they can also do some home cleaning and organizing, pampering ones self all around, limbering sessions, rest and relaxations, parties, entertainment, powerful intuitive healing and personality development.

Domoguen: Sustaining and promoting Benguet’s frost pockets for vegetable production, tourism and nature heritage sites

IN JANUARY 2007, I wrote about two places in Atok, Benguet that are prone to frost formation. These are in barangays Paoay and Tulodan. The frost areas in these places are enclosed by ridges and are not breezy. Later, in the same year, I continued the series in a national magazine promoting Atok as an agro-tourism destination. I highlight the same theme this year in this column, this time focusing once more on the town’s frost pockets with an added suggestion. These should be preserved as a natural heritage site.

Tibaldo: Frequently Asked Questions About No Return, No Exchange & Price Tag Law (Part 1)

IN A democratic and free society, we do have the right to choose and this is a privilege that was decreed by our policy makers in order for us to have the freedom to weigh our options and decide on our own what we want to acquire, avail and involve.

Mercado: Saving Among Ed

PAMPANGOS are urging – and even anticipating - President Aquino’s initiative to hire former Governor Ed Panlilio who desires to serve the new administration.

Sison: De-criminalizing prostitution

ANGELES CITY health authorities reported 10 new suspected cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Dr. Teresita Esguerra, chief of the social hygiene center of the city health office, also noted an eight percent increase in cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among thousands of women registered as workers in local bars and other tourist-oriented establishments (Ding Cervantes, Philippine Star, January 05, 2011).

Aquino: Ang ‘Hari ng Padala’ ay PhilHealth-accredited na!

I HAVE some good news for my dear Cabalen! As we start hitting the ground running this New Year, LBC Express, Inc., a very formidable and proudly Filipino courier company, has recently joined the ranks of our accredited collecting partners.

Tulabut: Of bets and angels

SO, THE holidays are over.

Editorial: Is re-enactment of 2010 budget legal?

Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno was given no choice but to issue a "memorandum" re-enacting the province P1.1 billion budget in 2010. This, pending resolution of the controversy on the two "approved" budget endorsed to his office for approval.

Van Vugt: Nothing new under the sun (Last of two parts)

The stupid servant who didn't do anything with his one talent has the excuse that he was afraid for his master being too strict. This is exposed in the parable as a poor excuse: in that case he should have worked even much harder with what was entrusted to him. In the parable of the talents, and in the reality of the congregation of Matthew, what matters is that there are people in the community who could have done a lot more but in fact didn't do anything; and they try to get away with it with a poor excuse.

Amigo: 2011 shakeup

BOY, I am not surprised with President Aquino's announcement that he will replace three of his Cabinet members next year.

Editorial: Changing archbishops

DAYS after papal nuncio to the Philippines Edward Joseph Adams announced on Oct. 14, 2010 that Pope Benedict XVI had named a successor to Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, bishops of Leyte, Samar and Biliran issued a statement against large-scale mining in their country.

“Bring back the beautiful land we once had; stop mining in our region,” said the bishops in a statement dated Oct. 22, 2010. Among its signatories was Jose S. Palma, DD, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Palo in Leyte.