Nothing illegal
or disgusting

I disagree with Atty. Franklin Britanico, brother-in-law of the late Kabankalan RTC Judge Henry Arles, that the mass and prayer rally by Ilog officials and residents for Mayor John Paul Alvarez are disgusting.

That public support for the town mayor is simply an expression of their belief that the Ilog Mayor has been unjustly accused for the slaying of Arles last April 24.

Even if it is a political gesture of support for the mayor, still there is nothing immoral about attending mass and praying for the town mayor and his co-accused.

It will have no bearing on the outcome of the trial of the case if it comes to that. The trial of the case will depend on the outcome of the evidence submitted by both defense and the prosecution against the accused.

The PR gesture, if that was what it was intended to be, is good. Because it injects God in the entire process. And God will certainly help all concerned.

So, it is not disgusting, despite the pain Arles’ killing had filled the hearts of the Alvarez sibling.

Let justice prevail.

***

I don’t know what Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri meant when he called for an extension of the lifting of the tariffs on imported sugar from 2015 to 2018. This purportedly will help the Philippines sugar industry to be ready to survive.

In the first place, the Philippine government cannot unilaterally adopt the position which has been approved by the ASEAN trade pact.

Can the Philippines still lie on the fact that the industry should have by now adopted measures intended to soften the impact of a zero tariff on sugar by now. We had years to prepare for that contingency. But we remained completely supine.

We could have adopted the remedies adopted by our neighboring countries. But our government still has been unable to recognize that there are many ways by which government can go around the subsidy issue.

But our production cost remains very high compared to those of our neighbors. For example, the cost of money is prohibitive compared to that of Thailand and other countries. Our government has not extended any assistance to the industry despite the clamor of the industry.

If we have to be honest about it, it even was the government that sort of applied on the growth of the ethanol industry and other use of sugar byproducts.

I have been listening to industry leaders discuss the possibility of ethanol and other use of sugar by products for various purposes.

But, so far, in contrast to what the late Don Fernando Cuenca of the Philippine Sugar Institute (PHILSURIN) had detailed as possible sugar byproducts, there hardly seem to happen much done in making use of them for purpose of diversifying the source of sugar income.

So, will the extension of the tariff produce results? Very unlikely. The industry’s leaders are fond of making promises and drawing pictures of what they can do to diversify their products. But so far, nothing much has been done.

Simply because the government seems not to be listening to them.

***

The Philippine Army is right in looking into reports that more barangay officials of Escalante City may be affiliated with the New People’s Army.

This after the reported death of a suspected purok leader of the city who reportedly was a member of the NPA.

Col. Oscar Lactao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, reportedly referred to the case of Edgar Saguere Lopez, purok president of Sitio Gaway Gaway in Barangay Jonob, who was killed in an encountered with members of the 6th Regional Public Safety Batallion in Brgy. Paitan, Escalante City.

Lactao said he had informed Mayor Melecio Yap on the death of Lopez who trained out to be an NPA member.

Lactao, in a regular meeting of the Joint Peace and Security Council Thursday stressed that barangay officials should work for the governor not with the NPA, reports also said.

But Lactao must be able to elicit from the family of Segura Lopez why the official had opted to join the rebels instead of helping the government by attending to his duties.

There must be a reason for such a turnaround by Segura Lopez. And that is something that the military should be able to elicit. That, perhaps may help enlighten the military on why some local officials abandon their duties and instead take up arms against the government they are sworn to protect.*

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