ON ONE end, you read about one hotel in Cebu City that just finished the first phase of its “big-ticket room renovation program,” spending P1 million on each of the 55 rooms that it refurbished.
According to the hotel’s general manager, 35 percent of the budget per room went to the renovation of the bathroom.
So that meant, the hotel spent P350,000 to change the tiles, maybe the sink, the shower curtain—I mean, if you’re going to renovate, you might as well get rid of the old shower curtain, right?—and, of course, the toilet bowl.
The hotel may even have installed one of those hi-tech Japanese contraptions. You know, the ones that allow users to adjust the temperature and pressure of the bidet’s water. Some even have swiveling nozzles and a pulsating spray “to gently massage delicate areas.”
Hmmm.
And then, on the other end, the Sibonga Municipal Government announced it would implement Ordinance 10-2018-96, or Ordinance on Zero Open Defecation, which required each house to have a bathroom.
You’d think that in this day and age having a toilet in or outside the house would be taken for granted, but apparently not in Sibonga.
You’re also probably wondering what “zero open defecation” refers to. Well, I thought that was self-explanatory.
I have to admit, this once sleepy southern town has been grabbing the headlines lately. Okay, maybe it’s not exactly front-page material, but at least it’s getting some exposure, which, considering that not much has been written about the hometown of Gawad Plaridel 2008 awardee Pachico Seares in the past, is quite a feat really.
I thought of Seares, retired SunStar Cebu editor-in-chief, the man who patiently taught me everything I know about journalism, my former boss who once told me I was a better singer than an editor (and he was right), a mentor who showed me that rum and tea with a dash of lemon were a match made in heaven, because he wrote, earlier this month, about how some local government units complained about media “under-coverage.”
Check out “Public officials miss media when they trumpet success. They’re glad reporters are not around when scandal breaks” on www.cebujournalism.org. In it, Seares also pointed out how technology and the various media platforms could now “provide wider access for government publicists.”
Which might explain why Sibonga has been landing on the news. Although, I’m not sure if Ordinance on Zero Open Defecation was the kind of success Mayor Caroline Bacaltos wanted to trumpet.
But if it is, hey, who am I to judge? Just remember, when in Sibonga, be careful where you do your business.