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Pacquiao too good for their business YOU'RE right Mr. Gulle! They are all scared of Manny Pacquiao! However, your comment should reach (Barrera, Morales and Marquez) through whatever means, such as boxing websites abroad for them to get irritated and challenged. It is said that Mexican boxers are known for pride and honor. So they would really care once when they learn they've been called cowards. Mon Ereve The God in us! ENLIGHTENED perspectives can come in a flash. Too short to notice, it can be gone in a flash–unless one is wired for it. In which case, it can be an experience so remarkable to last a lifetime. I had one of those as I sat in front of a row of four or five tables, arranged end-to-end, brimming with food that never seem to run out. With a smile imperceptible to others, I understood the multiplication of the five loaves of bread and the two small fish. In the beginning, God created us in His own image—to be good and to do good; to love Him as well as the others. And we still are. Unfortunately, our long walk from there to here got rerouted, sidetracked, dead-ended and/or bottomed-out by deep chasms of differing choices and levels of intellect or application of it. Regardless of the length of our journey, severity of our trials, the punishments to our bodies and our souls, our inherent trait to be good and to do good, to love and be loved remains intact. Taking them out and putting to good use is easy for a few, difficult for most, while the rest are just too plumb lazy or so far out in the scale of indifference or evil to even try or care. Those belonging to the second group can take a lesson from the ants–no load is big, heavy or difficult enough if shared and done for a need. In the case of people, the need to bring out the good in us, out of love. The opportunity presented itself when, as part of the auxiliary group, my wife and I took part in the Marriage Encounter No. 48 of the Bukas-loob ng Diyos held on Sept. 17-19 at the Family Retreat House in Lahug, Cebu City. Our roles were not much–just to make sure that the 17 participating couples and three religious persons were set in the path of discovering the God within each of them. For a brief moment in our lives, as well as the other members of our group, we found pleasure in seating the participants so they may find love between each other—again; served them food that they may find pleasure in serving each other as well. We perspired and we huffed and puffed but, above all, we had smiles on our lips, happiness painted all over our faces of having served others, even for a very short time, for the love of it. Lulls can be the beginning of idleness or a point from which to raise oneself to a higher level of consciousness or both. I don’t know which was I engaged in as I sat before that row of tables brimming with food, detached from anything, everything, anybody and everybody but for my heart and soul taking in a panorama of activities borne out of love. Nevertheless, my mind wandered off, as it always does, into the land of the mysterious and posed something for all of us to ponder: If, through the efforts of a few, food can become available to many, wouldn’t it be nice if the same effort goes beyond the bodily needs and span our moral and spiritual needs as well? The times dictate that it should. Joseph M. Dabon Perjury THE Oakwood mutineers must be charged with perjury if the accusations of graft and corruption against Defense Chief Angelo Reyes, Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus and the AFP could not be proven in court. Now it seems these young officers have chosen to apologize, hoping for leniency on the part of President Arroyo. This dramatizes the utter lack of credibility of these officers. Their apology should not be given any value. If Arroyo should accept their apology, these officers should still be dismissed for Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman. Anthony Caritan No to IRA cuts OUR ballooning foreign debt has forced the national leadership to cause cuts on congressmen and senators’ PDAF, notoriously known as pork barrel. PDAF, CDF, pork barrel or whatever name we call it is not inherently bad. Depending on who and how this fund is implemented, the same could work either way. However, strictly speaking, the determination of priorities and budget allocation partakes of an executive function but given the principle of check and balance under our system of government, compromises between the legislative and executive branches of government have become a must, otherwise the president in this country could hardly politically survive. This situation in the national level follows even in the barangay level. One-third of our national budget for 2005 is allocated to servicing debt. These debt payments include amortization and interests. If we can hardly pay for the principal, how much more the compounding interest imposed by our foreign creditors and financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF not to mention our domestic creditors. Hence, time to plead for debt condonation is long overdue. The present administration must plead for debt condonation to have its feet back on the ground. Even generations yet unborn are already saddled with debts incurred by past and present administrations. It would be an unforgivable sin of the national leadership if it pushes through with its planned reduction of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for local government units. The national leadership will be killing the barangays if it resorts to cutting the IRAs of the latter as IRAs constitute the biggest component of the barangay budget. Without IRA, the barangay will never survive because its scope of taxing power is very limited and its share in real property taxes is remitted by the city on a yearly basis although the Local Government Code so provides that the same be remitted to the barangays on a quarterly basis. In this light, barangay officials must close ranks to thwart any move to cut their share of the IRA. Damaso G. Tumulak Everybody dies, then what? IN THE article by Inocentes A. Gulle (Sun.Star General Santos City) for October 7th entitled "Everybody dies, then what?", the author writes that based on the Bible the soul is in a "suspended condition" until the time when Christ returns. My question is what about the part in the Bible where Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "today you will be with me in paradise"? There is also Jesus' parable of the rich man conversing with Abraham who has Lazarus "in his bosom" after they both die. These are but two examples from the Bible that seem to contradict Gulle's conclusions. John Kowalke End prostitution OCTOBER 5 is the International Day of No Prostitution (IDNP). It is a day when no one should buy or sell anyone for sex. The celebration of IDNP started in 2002 in San Francisco. The celebration is part of a much larger struggle for an end to violence and oppression based on gender, race and ethnicity, class, religion, disability, age, size, sexual orientation, nationality, and species. All oppressions must be fought in order to end prostitution. Prostitution must be stopped because of the harm inflicted on those who are involved in it. While prostitution continues, there is no possibility for a world that is not based on abuses of power. Respect Members of the Coalition Against Trafficking of Women (CATW) call on every person to observe and respect from this day onwards women and children’s right to live and be free from prostitution. This year, we ask everyone to take join in the struggle to end economic and gender inequality and put a stop to prostitution. One factor that has been consistently identified to shove women and children to prostitution is the deprivation of their basic needs and services. Government’s economic programs keep many of our people landless, without jobs or with low income, less educated, and have no access to health services. Desperation due to poverty makes women migrate, succumb to more exploitative work conditions and hang on to what little chance they have of survival through prostitution. Had their needs been addressed, they will have real choices and better chances for good living. We urge governments to address the problem of economic inequality to prevent women and children from being victimized by prostitution. Alternative livelihood Government should provide alternative and sustainable livelihood to help prostituted women and children re-join mainstream society. One other factor that compounds the problem of prostitution is the existing refusal of society, especially buyers of prostitution and pimps, to recognize that women and children are human beings who have rights that should be respected and protected. For the longest time, they have been relegated to being second class people; subservient to the dictates of patriarchy, which is why they have been treated as commodities for sale and objects for anybody’s use and disposal. While our law penalizes prostitution, the sex trade in the Philippines is de facto legal. Certain policies actually legitimize oppression of prostituted women and children. Unless this inequality has been dealt with and corrected, the flagrant violence against women and children cannot be stopped. Help You can help put a stop to the oppression by: • Voicing out your opposition
to the legalization of prostitution; Coalition Against Trafficking of Women Winston Garcia’s good move OF ALL the major events happening in our country these days, one that stands out is the protest launched by employees of the Government Service Insurance Syatem (GSIS)-Manila and backed by the cause-oriented groups. The protesters accused GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia of mismanagement and corruption. But here in GSIS-Cebu Branch, little did we know that had Garcia not bothered to lift a finger on the notice of sale of the old GSIS building and lot in Leon Kilat St., the area could have ended up becoming a school or a mall instead of what it is now: a new GSIS building. I think this is another milestone for the GSIS under the administration of Garcia. Amado D. Gochoco Barangay polls SOME of our public officials, notably Speaker Jose de Venecia, are bent on postponing the scheduled barangay elections to a much-later date, probably in 2006 or 2007, due to the fiscal crisis our country, is facing. If the barangay polls will be postponed, barangay officials who are corrupt, inefficient and callous to the needs and problems of their constituents will remain in office. Postponing the barangay election can prolong the agony and misery of our people under the stewardship of good-for-nothing barangay officials across the archipelago. We must remember that the barangay, as provided for under the 1987 Constitution, is the basic unit of our society. Therefore, it plays a vital role in our quest for progress and prosperity. I am just an ordinary citizen who believes in the important role barangays play in nation-building. I am not prompted by any political motive but I am surprised to learn that whenever a barangay election is forthcoming, talks of postponing pour in as what happened in July 2002. On the other hand, postponing the barangay election will allow government to save at least P3.2 billion. We must remember that the May 10, 2004 presidential polls had just been concluded and our government spent millions of pesos for that political exercise. Ciriaco Andalez Tirol ‘Mega’
shabu laboratory? THE Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “laboratory” as “a place equipped for making scientific experiments or tests.” On the term “mega-shabu lab” that media is currently using, is it correct? I`m afraid not. It’s better to call it a “large shabu production facility, plant, or factory.” I even wonder why the word “mega” is being used. We have the megastar and the megadome, but by goodness, not mega-lab. I‘m not even sure if “mega” (Latin prefix meaning 1 million or a very large quantity) is the right term to use for megastar and megadome. This might just be a petty matter. And I‘m not even a grammar expert, but hopefully this could at least warn the media and readers to be more watchful of word usage. Jude Mangubat Cebu’s traffic problem THE traffic problem in Cebu is far from being solved. In fact, it is getting out of hand. Of course, any man-made problem have solutions. So the Citilink Terminal was created to solve this problem. That is why Talisay is also constructing its own — thinking that what is good for the goose, is also good for the gander. But sometimes re-inventing the wheel can do wonders. That is why looking beyond ordinances and franchises one can bring a win-win solution that will mostly benefit the riding public, as well as the drivers. Yes, those terminals can decongest our streets but woe to our riding public, they are made to take multiple rides, and placed in the mercy of the elements. Our sons and daughters are unwittingly energized but would smell bad in schools and offices. Our traffic planners might have overlooked these consequences. Ah yes, they have cars and drive their children to school. So, they don’t care. How about giving jeepney franchises from Mandaue to Talisay and vice-versa? With such a route, most riders will only take one ride. Cebu City will be decongested because there will be less people getting off at one point. Consider Manila where jeeps from Caloocan and Quezon City just passed by on the way to Pasay and Baclaran. What makes Cebu City congested is when jeepneys use jeepney stops as terminals where they wait for their vehicles to fill up with passengers. But law is the law, and ignorance to it excuses no one, experts may say. So why don’t you rewrite the law, dear expert? These laws are not the same ones written on the stone tablet that Moses took down. These laws were crafted by ordinary mortals and you can find them clowning in Congress. Of course, there are dedicated ones busy renaming our streets. Isabelo U. Racho Jr. GSIS pension woes I AM a government bank official who retired last December 1985 with a measly pension of P2,500 monthly. I received my first pension in 1990 and subsequently thereafter my pension was increased by 10 percent yearly until year 2003, when I received P7,735.38 monthly. But when Winston Garcia took over the management of GSIS, the yearly increase in our pension was lowered to 3.5 percent. I am also a beneficiary of a survivorship benefit from my deceased wife in the amount of P750. The same is also covered by the 10 percent yearly increase. It has reached P1,612.75 monthly but Mr. Garcia stopped the increase. I am already in the “pre-departure” status and with my maintenance medicines, how can I buy them when drugstores even refuse to give us the 20 percent discount despite the passage of RA 7432 and RA 9257? Much has been said about Garcia, that his salary is bloated, etc. Sorry, but even as a Cebuano, I join the GSIS members who are asking him to make a graceful exit. Dominico C. Moneva
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