Let's go on with the
Flores de Mayo

Tomorrow we will see the first day of May, the so-called month of flowers and fiestas. But flowers and fiestas are not the focus of our people this time because we are also getting closer to the elections which has absorbed so much attention lately. I hope, though, that our parishes will go on with the beautiful tradition of the Flores de Mayo that continues to hold unforgettable summer memories for many of us. Tomorrow, too,

Labor Day will be celebrated worldwide and we will pause to appreciate the role labor plays in the growth and progress of our own country. On this day, workers will hold ceremonies, not only to join the rest of the world in marking the day, but also to press for benefits due to them. As we mark the day, let us give special attention to our brothers and sisters who, not only labor, but also make untold sacrifices and suffer separation from their loved ones by working in other lands in order to support their families back home. Let us honor them as heroes on Labor Day.

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It is not surprising that senatorial candidates cannot seem to come to Bacolod and Negros Occidental too often. They know that this area is one of the vote-richest in the whole country. So if you see the ones who are not doing so well in the surveys popping up every now and then, it can only be because they realize that winning here could mean a big plus to their votes from elsewhere.

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One of those very obviously doing a hard sell here is the President's chief of staff, Michael Defensor. Note that the whole city is virtually inundated with his posters. I notice that along Lacson street, the posters of other candidates are always scraped off, but not Defensor's. Why? Defensor and his people here should know that many have been turned off by that because they say, it looks like a show of "waslik poder (show of power)".

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More and more places in the country are being placed under Commission on Election control, with others also being monitored for incidents involving violence. In Nueva Ecija, the warring political families have just provided the Comelec justification for doing so, and San Carlos City in Pangasinan is also standing in line for a similar sanction. But the most tragic incident was one, reportedly caused by a freak accident, one that strains the imagination to accept.

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In Kidapawan City, congressional candidate Solema "Sol" Jubilan was getting out of her vehicle when the firearm of her security man, said to be her relative, went off, the bullet hitting her on the back and going off her chest. The poor lady was reported to be leading in the race, and her stunned family and supporters could hardly accept what happened. The remorseful guard, who is now in police custody, is beside himself, but will probably have to answer for the death of the person he was supposed to be protecting.

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More deaths, but not related to the election this time, I hope. A Huey helicopter reportedly from Vietnam, crashed into a populated area in Lapulapu City, Cebu, killing two members of its crew, and seven people on the ground. Early reports said the chopper's propellers had tangled with a kite, but later accounts quoted witnesses as saying they saw it tangling with electric power lines as it lost altitude. When can we stop using hand-me-down choppers and airplanes?

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I decided to change the last segments of this column in order to accommodate the results of the Miss Earth Philippine Contest that was held late last night, as I know the Manila dailies would no longer be able to cover it. Well, it was a colorful program, if a little too drawn-out and with too many commercials that lasted about as long, maybe longer, than the show. All the candidates were tall, leggy, and pretty, and I never saw so many navels and abdomens exposed at the same time. I bet none of them had eaten their dinners so as not to expand their measurements.

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But I don't think anyone of them was witty enough during the question-and-answer portions. In fact, in the last one, nobody appeared to understand the question of "How will you explain global warming to a little earth angel", because none of them responded correctly. Anyway, the winners were: Miss Eco-Tourism - Anna Katrina Bautista, Miss Fire - Sarah Katrina Miñoza, Miss Water - Joyce Nocomura, Miss Air - Krystelle Ann Dizon, and Miss Earth - Jean Angeles Harn.*

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