Austere

IN NO time at all, graduation rites will keep us up and about as our children and relatives observe milestones in their academic pursuits.

It is to the simple credit then of the Department of Education (DepEd) that caveats were issued to preclude extravagant splurging on graduation-related activities, including costumes and venues and ubiquitous yearbooks, costs that take significant toll on the parents' and guardians' budgets and family finances.

Austere but elegant. Simple yet practical. These may well be the guideposts in holding graduation ceremonies for this year's batch. School year 2012-2013 is about to formally close, giving the juniors access to their ascension as next year's finished products.

It has been spelled out in the DepEd Order No. 9, series of2012 and Secretary Armin Luistro deemed it wise and timely to reiterate its contents, thus: Public school heads, teachers and other DepEd personnel should not be allowed to collect any graduation fees or any kind of contributions for the graduation rites.

Luistro added that no extravagant special attire or extraordinary venue for the ceremonies should be required. Good but tall order? Would the recipients of said order follow it or is it just a case of easier said than done?

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I'd like to extend my birthday greetings to Angeles City Mayor Edgardo "EdPam" D. Pamintuan as he celebrates his natal day this week with family and friends. It would be a double celebration if Mayor Ed keeps the mayorship and continues his plans and projects for his constituents whose welfare he has passionately worked for. There is nothing more rewarding and fulfilling for the hardworking hizzoner than another mandate come May elections. He is, after all, the more deserving to keep the post of chief executive of the highly urbanized city but the celebration will be more complete if his team composed of Vice Mayor Vicky Vega Cabigting and the councilors are voted into office!

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In San Fernando, the good Governor Lilia "Nanay Baby" G. Pineda will meet the barangay Peso coordinators tomorrow at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center and discuss livelihood programs and other activities designed to uplift the living standards of people these coordinators come in contact with in their daily routines. I, together with the Peso Mabalacat staff, will accompany the coordinators in meeting the gracious lady governor. Like other hardworking government officials, Governor Pineda deserves another mandate.

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Talk about traffic jams and that being experienced daily along the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway) Mabalacat City get prime attention. Passengers and motorists alike are understandably grumbling over long hours spent in navigating even short distances, from home to office and back. To hell and back? You bet. Try to observe the work already done by the two contractors: all the paved portions are now being used as parking spaces of establishments. Ha ha. The concrete electric posts and the acacia trees are still in the way of the widening project. The whole thing looks just absurd and amateurish. Any more bright ideas?