A lot of work still needed

All of us were euphoric to hear about President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo giving her verbal okay to the reopening of the Bacolod airport.

Let us not delude ourselves. A lot of work is still to be done. There may be some who will put up road blocks. But that's what we call a part of the game for a highly politicized project.

We just hope Mayor Bing Leonardia succeeds. He needs our help.

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But on the Silay airport, it has gotten the support of many. We have all been impressed by the enthusiasm and hard work of Silay Mayor Jose “Oti” Montelibano.

What many have observed with Oti is he is a positive thinker, mark of many successful executives. Many agree with men that Oti enjoys his job. This is his passion.

I got a call yesterday from Nene Leonardia, a Bacoleño with businesses in Silay. He resides in Bacolod . He liked what I wrote of Silay the other day. He believed like I do that Mayor Montelibano must work hard for Silay if he wants it to be a city he dreams of.

What do you see in Silay 5 or 10 years from now? he asked. I said, if Oti Montelibano is still there, I see a rosy picture. But he also agrees with me that, contrary to old beliefs, there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

During the inauguration of the airport accompanied by a drizzle, a rainbow appeared and a picture was taken for DAILY STAR by Jay Jalandoni. The rainbow framed the picture of the airport, backdropped by Silay mountain.

It was believed to be a good omen.

But that rainbow should have been more of a message for our Anti BAHA group. The Bible said, after the deluge sent by God to punish the sinners, he sent a rainbow as a sign that there would be no more flood of that kind.

Also because the people, the descendants of Noah saved by God, sinned no more.

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I got feedback about my item on pork barrel the other day. But I like more the feedback from an ex-pat Robert Leonard Strause whom I always kid as the Mayor's relative. There's only a slight difference between a Leonard and a Leonardia.

Here's Strause: “Your article on pork barrel is quite interesting and especially in regards to the history of slave owners giving their slaves barrels of pork. John McCain as you know who is running for president of the U.S. wrote in Reader's Digest March 007… ‘In 1994, we became the majority in both houses of Congress in order to change government.

“Instead government changed us, we lost our way… corrupted by special interest money.”

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Continued McCain, “The prime target was pork barrel spending. We had begun to believe that it was OUR money not theirs (taxpayers).”

Said Strause, “That most likely is what a lot of legislators think in the Philippines . I agree with you that there should be some kind of accounting,” said Strause.

On a personal note, he said, “I don't think McCain has a chance of winning. “He is much too old and his old injuries still haunt him and cause him a lot of problems. McCain was shot in 1967 as a pilot and locked away in a Hanoi prison for five years.”

Twinkling's distant cousin also said, “Ms Leonardia mentioned Fr. Norman Segovia. His brother Eduardo Jr. is my best friend in the Knights.”

I like Robert Strause. He can be bitchy when he does not agree with you. But he can take as he can give. A counter punch puts him in his right place but he also takes one in stride, like all Americans. The important thing is, to quote him, he loves Bacolod and a Bacoleña.

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I am also happy the DOTC has returned to our traffic cops and traffic enforcers the authority to confiscate driver's license and issue a Temporary Operator's Permit. I don't like our government making something sound so nice that loses its intrinsic value.

It is not a TOP. It is a TVR or Traffic Violation Receipt. Probably, that's the reason why drivers don't mind violating traffic rules. I even prefer to call it a Traffic Violator's Receipt, to remind him he is a traffic violator.

I want our traffic officers to be effective. We give them the responsibility to have an orderly traffic. Yet we don't give them the power to do it. Poor management.

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Talking one time with some TEs, I complained they were so lax in apprehending and punishing traffic violators. I was told, their problem was when they apprehended an influential person, the TEs are reported to city officials who scold them.

Many of these TEs are casuals and they are afraid to lose their job.

I'd like to ask our city officials, don't intervene in the job of our traffic officers. I hope TEs report to us and to media officials who intervene in the apprehension. Our Bantay Banwa can take care of that, too.

We ask our police officials to also study on how mulcting by traffic cops can be avoided. This is easy. What is needed is just the system and a political will to implement it. This will avoid the suspicion that top police officials get a share of the mulcted funds.*

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