PEOPLE talk about...
[1] KIM JONG-UN BEING ALIVE. The North Korean "supreme leader" is "alive and well," according to Moon Chung-in, top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The government intelligence is "firm," said Chong-in, dousing water on rumors at weekend that Nokor dictator Kim Jong-un was dead. Kim has been staying in Wonsan area since April 13, said the Sokor official.
[2] IN TALISAY, IT'S SAP OR C-TAP. It's SAP for Social Amelioration Program and C-TAP for City of Talisay Amelioration Program. Meaning, cash or food subsidy for the poor during the coronavirus crisis.
If a Talisay resident is not qualified for SAP, he may qualify for C-TAP, said Talisay Mayor Samsam Gullas. If one doesn't fit in for either subsidy? A City Hall watcher quipped, "USAP-a lang."
Mayor and 'recip...'
HEARD AND SCENE. At a meeting of mayors, one mayor couldn't finish uttering the word "reciprocity" or "reciprocal," reaching only up to "recip..."
He tried twice; the presiding officer finished the word for him without laughing or smiling. The mayor was referring to the agreement among three local governments -- Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City -- to honor one another's ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) pass that each LGU has issued to its residents.
At a press-con, held separately, a mayor couldn't remember the full name of Republic Act #11469, which grants special powers to the president during the Covid-19 crisis. He tried twice, remembering only "Bayanihan," but the full name eluded him and no one supplied the information. The full name is "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act."
'Ang kagaral'
ON AIR. Shortly after an interview with a Manila-based media outfit, a local official unhooked the mic and started conversing with the staff, not knowing that the audio and video were still on. They conversed, thinking they were off the air. Among the words said by the public official were "ang kagaral," a colorful Cebuano-Bisaya expression.
Mayor seeks unity
HE ALMOST CRIED. Witnesses each had a different description of Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella when he spoke at the blessing of the 200-bed quarantine facility at Block 27 of the North Reclamation Area last Saturday, April 25: "emotional," "in near tears," "choked up." The mayor called for unity, avoiding quarrels and personal differences among public officials during the period of emergency.
His voice broke and his hands shook a little, one witness said. The mayor was visibly upset by what he felt. He talked about not spending the P100 million, having used only half of it, for the quarantine facility. Earlier, Vice Mayor Mike Rama had publicly asked where the P100 million facility the City Council appropriate for, along with other criticisms about the way the mayor was handling the Covid-19 crisis.
The facility will have a negative-pressure ventilation system, which blocks airborne viruses and prevents contaminated air from the leaving the area. It will have hospital equipment for isolating and treating patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms of Covid-19.
Mike Rama's anti-virus personal protection at the social function matched the safety standard of the facility. He didn't just wear a face mask. He also had a face shield.
Thrashing the VM
A national official who followed the mayor's speech castigated Rama without naming him. Maybe the national official pitied the mayor "who looked like he was about to cry," one witness said in Cebuano-Bisaya.
The speaker didn't name Mike but "it was clear he was the one referred to." After he was thrashed , the vice mayor walked away without saying anything: "Human siya lampasoha, nilakaw nga way tingog-tingog." How would Google translate that, "After he was scrubbed, he walked without voice-voice"?
The incident tended to confirm that not all was well among the top leaders whose pooling of forces in 1969 expelled former mayor Tomas Osmeña from City Hall.
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