Cooler heads needed
in RH Bill debate

Give it to our Bishop Vicente M. Navarra.He has become a very well respected Bishop in the face of the controversial RH Bill debate.

Bishop Navarra articulated the stand of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines but also respected the contrary opinions.

It grieves me to see other Dioceses getting into the fray with statements from their priests that strengthened the stand of the anti-RH Bill proponents.

In every issue there are always two sides.We may not agree with the other side but we must respect it.

I don’t agree with some anti-RH Bill supporters hinting of ex-communication of President Aquino and his supporters.Nor do I agree with a priest in Baguio telling parishioners to go out of the Church if they agreed with the Bill.

Well, we know this will have a happy ending as long as both parties view the issue as just an issue and not touching personalities like one priest calling former Congresswoman Riza Hontiveros “ugly” for supporting the bill.

***

We went to attend the birthday bash of 90-year old Uy patriarch Cleto Marcelino Cang Uy at Business Inn, I saw the place too crowded with Uy’s well wishers.So, I went home without wishing him Happy Birthday.

I agree with what Twinkling wrote about the well applauded G.V. Tampinco’s advice to his father-in-law that “from now on, eat anything you want, including those chocolates you like…don’t listen to them.”

Yes, at 90 there is no more prohibition on food.Even smoking, if he smokes.Worse if one stops smoking after one smokes his whole life.

***

Ceneco and its manager Jun Lagarde are right.Ceneco does not have a power supply contract with Manta Energy, Inc.

If Manta keeps on claiming there is a contract, it just wants to put Ceneco in a bad light, a vindictive act.

I recall some months back, my friend Neil Honeyman asked me if there was a contract between Ceneco and Manta.I inquired and told Neil there was no contract.

If Manta keeps on making the same claim, Ceneco can go to court and claim for damages.

***

I thought crimes have abated.

Yesterday’s front page story said “Store owner shot by robber dies.” The robber did it just for P800.

In page 2, another news item said, “Akyat bahay members nabbed.” Then another news item, “Homicide try suspect apprehended.”

There does not seem to have a letup on criminality.Our police chief Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz is a bemadalled police performer.

I believe police have a file of the profile and record of these criminal elements.De la Paz should be able to neutralize them.

Or in the language of effective police work, why don’t we send them “underground?”

***

If we need honesty in government, we must start with “public biddings.”

We have always been supportive of Gov. Freddie Marañon in insisting on open and transparent public bidding of government projects.

Provincial Administrator Enrique Pinongan said the biddings for Sipalay and Cadiz hospitals and the transfer of funds to the Sagay City government for the one in that city should be public and transparent.

When the public bidding is not transparent those who deserve to win but cannot because they refuse to “come across” will complain.

The secret here is for media to be on the alert too.A case with the Ombudsman still threatens the dishonest.

***

Banner line in Manila newspapers, “GMA faces plunder raps over P550M.”

The complainant is former Solicitor General Frank Chavez who filed Monday a 23-page complaint claiming that Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative “misused more than P550 million from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) from March 2003 to February 2004.”

Chavez said in the papers there was the handwritten note of GMA that said, “OK, charge to Owwa funds.”

The OWAA funds, Chavez said, is held in trust by the government one cannot dip his finger into the cookie jar that exclusively belongs to the overseas Filipino workers.”

***

How the Ombudsman will act on this will be an interesting thing to watch.

This will be another problem for Ombudsman Gutierrez.Let us see what will happen.*

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