The tears of Father Bossi

Praise be to God! Father Giancarlo Bossi has been released by his captors and is now safe and sound in Manila, but yearning to return to his parish in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay. Nobody could help being touched by the way he looked upon his release - weak, thin, hollow-cheeked, and famished. It was very moving to see him shed tears upon learning about the 14 Marines who had lost their lives while searching for him. One could also not help rejoicing with his parishioners, his household and office staff as shown on TV, after they learned of his release.

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The Philippines earned a lot of pogi points with the safe return of Father Bossi, and it is, indeed, a great piece of good luck for President Arroyo that this happened just before she delivers her State of the Nation Address on Monday. With this development, one could say that there should have been no need to send all those top government officials around to tell people about the achievements of this administration and how much more it can do.

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The travails of Father Bossi, as he related them, somehow approximates those of the Burnham couple, also missionaries, who were abducted by Abu Sayyaf bandits from a resort in Mindanao. But the Burnhams suffered longer, almost a year, and their story had a partly tragic ending, because Martin, the husband, was killed during the rescue operation, but Gracia survived and is now back in the United States. The release of Father Bossi coincided with the birthday of his mother, and he again looked teary-eyed, when he admitted to the media that, yes, he did call and wish her a happy birthday, but, since she is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, probably could not grasp what he was saying.

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Thursday, the Development Bank of the Philippines presented its "roadshow" at the L'Fisher Hotel in Bacolod that was attended by about 200 representatives from various sectors, but largely from the business, industry and local governments. President Arroyo should look for and appoint to her cabinet agencies more people like Rey David, the president of DBP, whose talk was the piece de resistance of the show. In simple, very understandable terms, David laid out the programs and thrusts of the bank so clearly and incisively that, wonder of wonders, the usually restive audiences in Bacolod seemed to hang on to every word and every figure he was citing. His talk lasted for almost two hours, but it was very well received.

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As someone who knows a bit about banking, and especially about rural banks and development banks, I can appreciate the fact that DBP seems to be the only government bank that has, so far, held its own and, according to David, has even paid the government back for its initial capitalization. There was a time when rumors floated in the banking community that DBP was going to be swallowed up by the PNB. At the time, the striking advertisement of the PNB claimed that being its client was like you are "nakasandal sa pader (leaning on a concrete wall)". But where is PNB now? It's no longer owned by the government, it has landed on private hands.

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Last night, it was the Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. that was at center stage, also at the L'Fisher. It was the induction of its 2007 - 2009 officers now led by GO-Negosyo recent awardees affair, showing the cohesiveness and high regard of the community for the group. Guests from other chambers in the country were led by John K. Tan, president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce Industry Inc.

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The guest speaker was Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap whose father, I think, is also a member of the Chamber. Yap presented a hi-tech presentation of agriculture projects ongoing in the country which the audience consisting of businessmen and traders listened to politely. The only light moment was when he acknowledged his coordination with Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella and murmurs of "Fertilizer, fertilizer…" were heard.*

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