Thursday, August 14, 2008 Wenceslao: Mayor in picket line By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
DID Mayor Tomas Osmeña harass the workers picketing the premises of Gaisano South yesterday or did he merely prevent violence from breaking out between the picketers and the firm’s guards? In incidents where conflicting versions are presented, it is always good to withhold comment in the meantime.
But there’s no question the mayor had a gun when he went to the picket line reportedly with his bodyguards and a Swat team. Now that is tricky to interpret. But it pays to remind the mayor or the police that there are rules governing pickets.
Also, the line dividing harassment and keeping the peace is thin for authorities interfering in legitimate protest actions.
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Chevaune Julve finally got the scholarship the Cebu City Government promised. Big deal. Before that, the young girl who was lionized for days for saving her brother and cousin from the burning house of her aunt last year was a forgotten heroine weeks after. Those who promised the scholarship, like Mayor Tomas Osmeña, forgot about it until the reporters dug it recently.
Better late than never. Or all’s well that ends well. But there are lessons to be had there, like not forgetting to scribble promises in post-its, especially if it is about something as important as the future of a young heroine. And the next time around, be sincere. When you forget promises made while cameras of fotogs are clicking, you are either absent-minded or toying with people’s sensibility.
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With the repetition of incidents involving workers dying inside septic tanks, it is time for concerned government agencies to take a closer look at the matter. For me, it seems like there is a need to professionalize septic tank service and impose stringent rules on firms involved in this. The current method of draining septic tanks is, sadly, primitive.
Trucks of firms that provide septic tank service are often rickety. There’s not much protective gear for the workers to speak of, especially for those who do the dirty job of going inside the septic tank. I mean, there should be a better way to do things. Worse, nobody is monitoring where these firms throw the dirt drained.
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An interesting debate is brewing involving Pinoy boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao. Should he fight the bigger and taller but definitely older (and retirable) Oscar de la Hoya? I am among the minority who wants to see this fight. A win by Pacquiao would elevate him to a status higher than what the great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde achieved.
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)
