Monday, December 24, 2007 Nalzaro: Merry Christmas to all By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
IT’S common practice to greet and celebrate Christmas at midnight on the 24th with a noise barrage and a big bang of exploding firecrackers. Despite the economic crisis the country is experiencing, most people still spare a few pesos to buy something for this special day and make their Christmas happy.
Of course, preparing food to be shared with the family and loved ones during noche buena has always been a tradition. But not all families can enjoy and feel the spirit of Christmas because there are also a lot out there who cannot afford to buy food and the material things they want and need. But celebrating Christmas is not just about the food we eat and the material things we want.
And it’s not only about sharing. What can we share if we have nothing to share? As the saying goes, “charity begins at home.” But the most important aspect of celebrating Christmas is the giving of love. For me, give love not only on Christmas day but every day. Merry Christmas to one and all!
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Since we welcome Christmas tonight with a big bang, I am appealing to all firearm holders—policemen, military personnel, security guards and civilians with guns—not to fire their guns. The bullet that you will fire might result in the loss of a life. We have heard of several deaths caused by a stray bullet.
Do still remember the case of six-year-old Caroline (whose family name skipped my mind) a few years ago? The girl was sitting on the sidewalk near their residence in front of now Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Nivel Hills, Lahug, waiting for her father, who was a taxi driver, for noche buena.
While watching her neighbors light firecrackers, the girl suddenly slumped to the pavement with blood oozing from her head. She was hit by a stray bullet. Neighbors rushed her to the hospital where she was in a coma for several days. But doctors failed to save her life.
Investigators could only theorize that the bullet that hit the girl might have been fired by either security guards assigned at the then Cebu Plaza Hotel or by policemen residing at PC Hills or soldiers assigned at the Central Command. Police failed to identify the trigger-happy person. So to avoid something similar from happening, I am appealing to anyone who owns firearms not to fire it tonight.
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After lambasting him in this column and in my radio program over radio dySS for appropriating a huge amount for the Christmas party of Lapu-Lapu City Hall employees, this time, I would like to commend Mayor Arturo Radaza for scrapping the budget. Earlier, Radaza asked the City Council to appropriate P713,000 for the employees’ Christmas party held last Friday. The fund would have been taken from the National Government’s aid to the local government unit.
If the report is true, then I would like to thank Mayor Radaza for heeding the taxpayers’ sentiments. I am not against the holding of Christmas parties because we are entitled to enjoy the occasion. But using huge public funds is something questionable. Maayo kay naminaw si Mayor Radaza sa sentimento sa publiko ug wala na magpabaga sa iyang nawong sama sa iyang mga kuwestiyonableng gipanghimo sa iyang administrasyon. Merry Christmas na lang.
