THE time when President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned Cebu in his address to the nation Monday was to announce the Cebu rail project.
The other time he mentioned a part of the Visayas was on the Panay rail project. He had a side comment, though, to point out that the project is located in the home province of Sen. Franklin Drilon, who had criticized Duterte during the campaign that led to the May elections. Drilon, who is from Panay island, belonged to the administration party while Duterte ran under a rival coalition.
In his address, Duterte spoke of solving transportation problems by buying more trains and pursuing inter-island connection. “We will accelerate infrastructure spending by improving national roads and bridges and implementing the Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network and other road network master plans. We shall pursue inter-island linkage projects,” he said.
Duterte mentioned his many other plans ranging from the lowering of personal and corporate income taxes to continuing the fight against criminality, all for the benefit of Filipinos. But it is worth noting how much or how little of Cebu or the Visayas figures in his plans.
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It was the first time the President of the republic, Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives all came from Mindanao.
The election at the Senate and the House Monday resulted in Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez being named as Senate President and House Speaker, respectively. They join the President, a former Davao city mayor, as leaders of the country.
A look at the new Congress leadership showed no Cebuano in the line-up. Where are the Osmeñas, Garcias and del Mars in the leadership? Sen. Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III lost in the elections last May. Current Cebu representatives are Raul del Mar (Cebu City, 1st) and Bebot Abellanosa (2nd); and in the province, Samsam Gullas (Cebu, 1st District), Wilfredo Caminero (2nd), Gwen Garcia (3rd), Benhur Salimbangon (4th), Red Durano (5th), Jonas Cortes (6th), Peter John Calderon (7th), and Aileen Radaza (Lapu-Lapu City). Pablo Garcia, father of the incumbent Gwen Garcia, was House deputy speaker for Visayas in May 2008 to June 30, 2013. Del Mar was also named House deputy speaker in several of his terms.
After Mindanao, here’s to looking forward to seeing more of the Visayas in the Congress leadership.
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My late father, Amado F. Cabaero, had questioned the way the Philippine flag was displayed every Sona. In Duterte’s address, the flag was displayed vertically with the red part to the viewer’s right.
My Dad had made it part of his advocacy to have this practice corrected. He had written several letters to media and government offices pointing out that the correct way should be to have the blue part to the viewer’s right if the flag were displayed vertically.
In a horizontal position, the blue side is at the top during times of peace. When placed vertically, the flag is moved clockwise with the blue side to the right of the viewer. The sight of the flag erroneously displayed during the Sona was like having a “heckler” behind the President, my Dad used to say.
I hope the proper government office would correct this and state in an order how the flag should be displayed vertically.
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)