Will the Supreme Court listen?

The latest product from China to be launched in the Philippines is its new car called "Chery". I'd say this showed very poor timing because the company, Chery Automobiles Company, went into a media blitz at the time when products from that country are being slammed for having toxic or inedible substances in them. But they can't use formalin in car manufacturing, can they? The substance may preserve corpses, but not metal or rubber, or can it? Ingenuous inventors will try anything, you see.

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Will the High Court listen? The Philippine Senate, in one of its first acts yesterday, passed a resolution seeking that their colleague, jailed Senator Antonio Trillanes, be allowed to attend their sessions. It was reported that 17 of them voted for the resolution, with only Juan Ponce Enrile, Joker Arroyo, Miriam Santiago and Richard Gordon voting against it. Even if the measure passed with a very clear majority, it is not as simple as that, because, powerful though they may be, senators cannot impose their will on the Courts. Separation of powers, you know.

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I noted that the young ones all voted yes while those who said no were the seniors. Even the senator from Maguindanao (anyway he did admit he would be called that) voted for it. This, despite the fact that Trillanes had referred to him as a cheat. Well, Miguel Zubiri must have collected a lot of Brownie points for being so magnanimous, but it is doubtful that Trillanes will appreciate that. As for Zubiri, he is lucky that Madame Miriam did not bite his head off for that act.

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During her speech at the new airport in Silay, President Arroyo subtly twitted local officials for the delay in the opening of the facility. She told them she had been ready for a long time to inaugurate it, but they were the ones who could not decide when. Although she smiled when she said the opening might take place in 2010 yet, and while everybody laughed at that, nobody dared to ask her, how about your NAIA Terminal 3, Ma'am? It's been finished for years now, but it still hasn't been used, or inaugurated. At least no ceilings have been fallen off the Bacolod-Silay airport yet.

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He only held the office of mayor for a brief time when the duly-elected one was dismissed by the Ombudsman, but former Pasay City vice mayor Allan Panaligan had stayed long enough to be questioned before the Ombudsman for allegedly not paying a restaurant for a dinner he had sponsored. Panaligan is said to owe the Dragon's Gate restaurant P60,418 and despite numerous attempts at collection, has not done so yet. Now that he has lost the position, and being out of government service, he is still hounded by his official decisions. Anyway, even if he did not pay, at least the Dragon did not complain that he padded the bill, or any receipt because he hasn't paid yet.

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The San Sebastian Cathedral was packed with members of the Diocese when Bacolod Vicente Navarra installed Fr. Felix Pasquin as its new rector. It was a very warm welcome, indeed, for Fr. Pasquin, who has served in several parishes in Bacolod and Negros Occidental so far. Although a native of Pototan, Iloilo, he studied at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod, so he is virtually a Bacoleno. His last posting was Silay City, where he headed the Pro-Cathedral there. Now he is back in Bacolod.

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Among those who flocked to his installation rites as well to the welcome dinner in his honor later were his former parishioners from the Airport parish of Our Lady of Good Voyage, and the St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Alijis, the construction of which he was largely responsible for. So if Alijis Barangay Captain Pete Malapitan and his wife Libby looked very solicitous, it is because they have worked with Fr. Pasquin for a long and fruitful time. Welcome back to Bacolod, Father Pasquin, and may God bless you in your new post.

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By the way, his new parishioners will be interested to know that their rector will mark his birthday on Sunday, July 29. I'm not telling how old he will be since he still looks too baby-faced to be a senior citizen already. Advanced Happy Birthday, Father P! Imagine, two milestones within one week.*

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