The countdown did count

Wow! The countdown initiated by the city of Bacolod has obviously gone places farther than the city’s boundaries. I am not referring only to the publication of photos of the activity in the national dailies, but especially in the Los Angeles Asian Journal that reportedly carried a photograph of the Bacolod Government Center with the fireworks crowning it on its front page. This we learned from several friends in the United States, especially in California, who texted or called, informing us that they had seen and read about it.

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Of course I had seen and read some issues of the LA Asian Journal during my visits to California. At the time, though, I did not know that it has a circulation of about 500,000, which was what those delighted friends and relatives told us. Most of them were, of course, from Bacolod and Negros Occidental, but who sounded very proud, because their friends there also read about it. We should therefore not be surprised if more balikbayans make plans to come and spend the Christmas holidays here. And we can also tell them that, aside from Bacolod, they can also enjoy similar productions in other cities in the province like Bago and Talisay.

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Meanwhile, we wonder how the families in the devastated areas that had been visited by “Sendong” had celebrated both Christmas and New Year’s Eve. But if I know my fellow Filipinos, they will find ways to observe these special days appropriately. Those who survived will have found the occasion to give thanks for being spared, and those who lost loved ones would have found time to pray for their eternal repose, and for resignation to the will of God. And, perhaps, also to give thanks for the generous and caring response of their fellow Filipinos in assisting them.

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By the way, the national dailies yesterday also carried reports about the way the New Year’s Eve revelers had turned not only the Quiapo area in Metro Manila into a huge dumpsite, and did the same with the historic Plaza Miranda. The reports said those places were virtually covered with food wrappers, plastic plates, utensils, styrofoam boxes, cigaret butts and packages, and all sorts of garbage that had to take dozens of dumptrucks to haul away. Sounds familiar?

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We have a new year, but we still have to grapple with the same issues. For one, there is the abominable Ampatuan case that again grabbed the headlines in the new year with the news that the Court of Appeals had dropped the rebellion charges against the family. Frankly, the dismissal of that particular charge was no surprise to me. How could the Ampatuans be convicted for “rebellion” when they were close allies of the administration then? And so that dismissal was a given, and let’s concentrate now on the massacre charges, with the 51 individual families pursuing charges against them.

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Then, too, we went into the first working day of the year with the Corona impeachment case still on the top of the news. But this is going to be a long-drawn out presentation fraught with drama and legal duellings, considering the protagonists. Alas, this promises to be a no-win affair for everyone, no matter what the outcome. If the Supreme Court Justice is impeached, we will have a wounded Justice system. If he is not, will the Supreme Court ever be the same again? Will litigants always be confident that their cases that reach that level will be acted on without fear or favor, without bias?

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How unkind can those oil producers be? Right after the New Year began they also hiked up the prices of regular gasoline, diesel, and other fuel products. Couldn’t they have waited for a while because our people are still recovering from the expenses of the past holidays? When will we ever discover oil in our own country, or when will scientists invent an efficient substitute for it? So many new gadgets and gimmicks have been invented, but, so far, nobody has managed to counter the indispensability of oil. Will the day ever come?

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Meanwhile Bacolod, and especially the business community, were shocked yesterday with the news that Jose Maria “Boy” Zayco, vice president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry had died suddenly of a treacherous heart attack, “in the line of duty”. At the time, Boy was working on an investment prospect for the city and, in fact, the STAR’s issue yesterday even carried a statement from him. A very friendly, affectionate and hard-working fellow, Boy will be very badly missed by his colleagues and the friends he had made. Let us offer prayers for his eternal repose and thank him, albeit belatedly, for his contributions to our city.*

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