“Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.” –Gabriel Garcia Marquez While facing the media, following the dismissal of his boss, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael Sueno, by President Rodrigo Duterte, DILG Undersecretary Jesus Hinlo shed tears. “Inalisan kami ng bodyguards (Our bodyguards had been recalled),” …
OPINION
If only he wasn’t ‘promdi’
“What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” –Christopher Hitchens If he were not a “promdi,” or from the province, Ismael ‘Mike’ Sueno would have survived the power struggle at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), however, since he did not have the stature of Alfredo Lim, Mar Roxas, or …
Nurturing a culture of thievery
The first encounter with the causal thievery that occurs in the city was with the house helper of a neighbor. With a bevy of plants growing outside the house, including green onions, lemons, calamansi, malunggay, among others, there have been plenty of neighbors who have asked if they could have some. With the simple request, …
Returning to my Father
I was down, troubled, and in distress. I felt alone, depressed, and sad. I thought no one was there to pull me out of my anguish and misery… but then I realized I still have my Father, who loves me unconditionally despite all the wrongs I have done.Holy Week made me reflect more about the …
Capitol brawl not related to war on mistresses
“No violence, gentlemen – no violence, I beg of you! Consider the furniture!” –Arthur Conan Doyle Friendship ends where the attraction to sex objects begins. While there are some quarrels among “macho du jours” in government that are job-related, they have not been necessarily been sparked by a tug-of-war among neophytes, like the case of …
DOT warns of bogus travel agencies
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is warning the public of fraudulent tour operators that claim to offer cheap tour packages, in an attempt to take advantage of the upcoming summer season. Undersecretary for Tourism and Regulation and Resource Generation Alma Jimenez stressed the importance of only using DOT-accredited establishments and facilities to avoid being victimized …
The need to block out nonsense (particularly at the gym)
Last week, walking towards the gym, realized was without a mobile phone. Unlike other clientele, at the gym, the phone is not used for selfies to post on social media or phone calls while leisurely strolling on the treadmill, the primary purpose the phone is for time and music; measuring how long a certain piece …
Coca-Cola ban in Negros is a mockery of laissez-faire
“Free-market capitalism is a network of free and voluntary exchanges in which producers work, produce, and exchange their products for the products of others through prices voluntarily arrived at.” –Murray N. Rothbard Government, back off! If it is better for business, then, by extension, it is better for society as a whole. Under the principle …
The sugar industry and the government’s preference for socialism
In recent days, the province witnessed the local sugar industry, along with local leaders, take a stand against Coca-Cola over their use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Labor groups and their allies rallied outside the bottling plant of the beverage maker and burned an effigy in the image of Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel …
Chinua Achebe and our own ‘Digong’
“Remember that politics, colonialism, imperialism, and war also originate in the human brain.” –Vilayanur S. Ramachandran “You crazies and sons of a whore leave us alone. Don’t impose your culture on us.” That was President Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte’s curt message to the European Union and the United Nations, which is also an attack on lingering …