Delayed acknowledgement
of Robredo

The fact that the administration has decided to give DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo a fitting send-off with a state funeral simply means it is making up for its having cold-shouldered him as member of the Aquino Cabinet.

But that does not mean that even the gesture of trying to confirm belatedly his appointment by the Commission on Appointments can undo how he had been treated as member of the cabinet.

Belatedly, it seems that the President and the entire Cabinet had finally awakened to the reality that they had in Robredo a treasure they had missed. Unfortunately, his untimely demise only served to open their eyes to the reality that the man was the most respected official of the government.

Thus, you have the spectacle of thousands of mourners, many of them from as far as Mindanao who trooped to Malacañang to pay their last respects to Robredo, the symbol of good governance.

Cheers to the one whom God has called to His bosom as it only to reminds us that government officials need not be focused on enriching themselves in power and grasping for more wealth and power.

A lesson for most of us, hopefully now that the 2013 elections are just several months off.

***

I just want to apologize to readers and friends who had sort of been dismayed that they had not received an invitation to a concert by my daughters on my 79 th birthday anniversary last 23.

For the past four years, every time I celebrated my birthday, my children and grandchildren invariably joined hands to give me a concert.

For that matter, since 2004 when I first observed my 74 th birthday, I had consistently been billed as celebrating my 75 th birthday. To the point that last year, my children simply emblazoned the hall where the concert was held – “Diamonds are forever.” In effect, they just stopped counting the 75 th birthday since the first mistake when my 74 th birthday was commemorated by a similar concert.

This time, however, I guess the expenses just had become prohibitive, although my son Junior and wife, Mercy Cavile, arrived here for the Cebu Triathlon.

Well, I just want to apologize for my failure to inform you in advance that the concert had been cancelled.

Sorry.

***

Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. is correct. He should not attend the NPC meeting in Manila when it is not clear whether he is walking right into a trap where he will be declared non-candidate of the UNA by the Nationalist People's Coalition.

He had been deprived of the chairmanship of the party without even an inkling as to the reason why. And he just could be deprived of the nomination which is billed as an UNA decision.

The Spanish has a word for it – jugar limpio (play clean).

In short, no underhanded tactics should be used against Marañon if you can't have the UNA reject him. Do not let the NPC dictate to UNA what could be done insofar as the choice between Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez and Marañon is concerned.

***

Chief of Police Ricardo de la Paz is correct in suspecting that the abduction of a teenage son of a Northern Negros Occidental businessman may actually have been an inept effort by a fraternity which was trying to recruit the young boy.

The most telling argument in favor of a fraternity was the call by the victim's classmate, a student of the Miagao UP to the Miagao police station five minutes after the abduction report.

The wallet of the second year chemical engineering student was recovered only 50 meters away from the Miag-ao police station.

In short, what was the purpose for his snatching by four armed men while he was walking along 21st Street?

The student lost P9,800 of his tuition money and his expensive wristwatch.

These are questions that the police would like to know about. And, perhaps, solve the mysterious abduction.*

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