Welcome to SM, Red Ribbon

This is something for Ripley's "Believe it or not" series. A member of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shot his own hand when he tried to fight against hold-uppers. The ISAFP man was reported to have come from the market after buying fish when he met the hold-up men who threatened him with bladed weapons. He pulled out his gun but clumsily pressed the trigger and shot his own hand! And then, believe it or not again, the robbers got scared and ran away! They didn't even try to get his fish.

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Another hard to believe report was that of a man who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Pasig City judge for selling P100 worth of shabu that weighed .03 grams. Of course the sentence must be prescribed by law and, as the saying goes, "Dura lex, sed lex" or, The law is harsh but that is the law. But we are thinking of other people caught with the goods and already charged in court, for much, much greater volumes of the prohibited substance, who have not been tried yet, much less sentenced, years after their apprehension.

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So they dropped Kiko Pangilinan from the list of Genuine Opposition bets for the Senate. I doubt if the husband of Sharon Cuneta gives a hoot whether he is included in their line-up or not. Perhaps he has realized he is not really one of them, that is, his opposition may not be genuine. Or maybe he thinks they need him more than he needs them. So who's filling the blank? Will it be Richard Gomez after all? Since the Team Unity has Cesar Montano, they can not say GO is using showbiz personalities.

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Pulse Asia released its latest survey results that showed the GO with eight, the TU with three, and one independent making it. But it's early days yet, so I wouldn't feel complacent if I were in their place. For the record, though, the Pulse Asia "winners", in the order of ranking, are Loren Legarda, Ping Lacson, Chiz Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano (why doesn't he start calling himself just Alan), Kiko Pangilinan (see why he's smug?) Noynoy Aquino, Gringo Honasan, Ralph Recto, Tito Sotto, Manny Villar, Koko Pimentel and Ed Angara.

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Those are the first twelve, and trailing them are John Osmeña, Mike Defensor, Antonio Trillanes, Sonia Roco, Tessie Oreta, Nikki Coseteng, Prospero Pichay, who tied with Richard Gomez, Chavit Singson, and Cesar Montano. Hey, what happened to Spice Boy Migs Zubiri, he with the most juvenile ad on TV? Were the people polled by Pulse Asia all mature ones, who didn't care for the Boom-boom come-on? Anyway, as earlier noted, it's early days yet, there will be a lot of shuffling and reshuffling and survey after survey to come out yet.

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Today is an exciting day for Bacolod business because this is the day when the giant chain of malls launches its Bacolod establishment with holy mass and a reception at the site. City and Provincial officials as well as members of the business and civic community will gather to welcome this exciting addition to Bacolod's business community. As we welcome ShoeMart, now better known as SM, we thank its management for coming to our city. We hope this will be a project that will be of mutual benefit to our people and our investor.

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That is why, even if the ShoeMart people addressed me as "Publisher" of the DAILY STAR in their invitation, I'm not taking it against them and will surely be there this afternoon. Maybe they just don't know that I have never held the post of publisher of the STAR, and that there has never been such position in the newspaper all these years. Anyway, I got another invitation from them addressed only to DAILY STAR. That's better.

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Also today, the popular bakeshop, Red Ribbon, will formally hold the opening and blessing of its Bacolod branch. Although Red Ribbon has been familiarizing itself with the Negrense palate for some time now, this formal rite confirms that it has truly come to like the place and that it is here to stay. We welcome Red Ribbon, we, the sweet-toothed people of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.*

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