Roperos: US presence here
REPORTS say that the United States is planning to send a second coast guard cutter to the Philippines as part of efforts to boost the country’s military strength “amid tensions at sea with China.” Last year, the US gave the Philippine navy its Hamilton cutter, which was made the flagship of the...
Roperos: Ground politics
MUCH has been reported in the past few weeks about the political stirrings in the cities and towns of the province regarding the midterm elections set for next year.
The 2013 elections are largely for elective middle level leaders of the country, and involves would-be candidates from the...
Roperos: Season of alliances
IN past few elections, politics and politicians in the Philippines somehow appeared to have taken a new norm of behavior. Unlike in previous years, the nation’s politics followed the traditional American two-party system, the United States being the Filipinos’ mentor in democratic governance....
Roperos: Tsunami alarm
THE earthquake that hit parts of the Visayas yesterday stirred something more than just a hornet’s nest. I am referring to the “after-shock” that followed the quake, which was the fear of tsunami hitting the city. And so people living along the coast, from Toledo City to Asturias in my part of...
Roperos: Cebu heats up
IT MIGHT be a bit too early for the scheduled mid-term elections next year to stir the political pot a-boiling, but the way it looks to me, when it comes to politics, time is of the essence. Nothing could be so soon, it could only be too late. And hence, in order not to be caught napping while...
Roperos: Politics heating up
IT MIGHT be too early for the mid-term elections next year to stir the political pot, but the way it looks to me, when it comes to politics, time is of the essence. Nothing can be so soon. Hence, in order not to be caught napping while potential opponents make hay, one does strategic...
Roperos: DepEd woes
IT APPEARS as if the education sector in our part of the country suffered last week something not complimentary to the ego of education leaders. A report in this daily yesterday revealed that of the more than 900 teachers in Central Visayas allowed to take the qualifying national examination for...
Roperos: Coco levy comedy
WHAT the game was about at the beginning appeared to me as a serious effort to build up capital for investment with a mass base. It was to be money generated from the coco farmers, and then utilized for setting up of various business operations managed by well- respected businessmen, and the...
Roperos: Lamppost tale
I GOT another heckling call from my media friend in Manila early yesterday. He said that in my lamppost piece last Tuesday, I was just skimming the surface like a true blue Cebuano and only wanted to move on by letting the dead bury their dead.” I told him that he was acting, too, like a true...
Roperos: Motorized killers
WHILE I acknowledge with sincerity and gratefulness the recent pronouncement of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that its patience has finally run short, and that it is declaring an open war against the country’s motorcycle-riding killers, I have my doubts on the matter of the campaign...
Roperos: Lamppost case
OVER the weekend, I received two calls from a media friend in Manila. He chided me about Cebuanos being made fall guys by influential folk from the National Capital Region and of us not minding it.
When I replied about being in the dark about what he was talking about, he said that he...
Roperos: Tourist haven
THERE are two interesting ideas being considered by local tourism stakeholders that I believe might work out. I read about these in this daily’s business page yesterday.
The two plans appear sound and highly workable, if the Department of Tourism (DOT) will seriously pursue them.
Roperos: Kids talk peace
THE Department of Education the other day revealed its plan to consult the nation’s young inhabitants what they think about our need for peace in the face of many “armed conflicts affecting many schools in the country.” It appears that high DepEd officials want “to bring the children’s voice to...
Roperos: Democracy on trial
WHATEVER else the international community may say about the impeachment trial against the head of one of the three constitutional branches of government, the fact remains that our national leaders have comported themselves with utmost caution, objectivity, and maturity, in accordance with...
Roperos: Church dilemma
OUR town, judging from the number of priests it has produced, can be considered a very religious one. Balamban, I think, already has some 30 priests, two of them monsignors.
Roperos: Cebu tourism
DOMESTIC tourism always becomes an interesting bone of contention during this time of the year. The Sinulog, as a matter of fact, has become synonymous with the tourism season not only in Cebu City but also in the whole of Visayas as well. Through the years, the Sinulog has grown a bit more...
Roperos: Overreacting
THERE is a bit of rationale in the concern Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy young showed in opposing the enthusiastic participation of schoolchildren in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan in the past years. While there is basis for his objection, still the matter looks petty because only a minuscule...
Roperos: Protecting our schools
WELL, I think it is time our school authorities begin pressuring the government to set a risk prevention or protection system for our schools, or more tacitly, for our children during the times they are in their schools. Teachers, who are supposed to their surrogate parents while they are...
Roperos: Information need
THE notion of freedom of information (FOI) has recently acquired a measure of optimism from the report that it has gained presidential support. But the matter did not acquire urgency, so it is said, because President Noynoy Aquino has not included it in his list of priority bills. Still, there...
Roperos: Budget and politics
WHAT initially appeared to me as a thorny issue in Cebu City’s political life, surprisingly turned out instead as a sheepish confrontation between two opposing administrative interests in the city government.
The issue over the budget is truly a ticklish one that could split the city’s...
Roperos: Questionable arrest
LAST Monday, two people visited me in my home in Balamban. They apparently had a problem they wanted me to help solve. One of the two was the leader of a farmer’s group in Asturias and who sought my advice on what they should do after the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office allowed farmers to take...
Roperos: Poverty and politics
THE recent decision of the government to downgrade the official poverty threshold of the country by P6, from P52 to P46, in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has reportedly worried some observers. Doing so, would increase the number of impoverished individuals in the country,...
Roperos: Gabaldon buildings
THE move at month’s end by various groups to restore what to me is a historical education landmark in our country is a sound cultural plan with strong social overtone. I recall that the term Gabaldon was implanted in my memory early in childhood when, at two years old, I would go on afternoons...
Roperos: Corner-store power
THERE was the report in the business page of this daily the other day that said that the retail industry in our country showed robust development this year. The reason for its strength is “high consumer optimism and a strong local economy.” This is an economic reality that has long been...
Roperos: Home for seniors
GIVING due respect and attention to senior citizens is the recent accepted cultural trend. This is a social feature in many materially advanced countries. Other nations are drawn to assume similar humane attitude for their senior citizens.
