No justification

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The recent tit-for-tat between the Central Negros Electric Cooperative and the Bacolod City government caused much damage to the residents and their businesses.

Call centers expressed fears that the confrontation might last longer and cause them bigger expenses because they had to run their standby generators. The generators could also have conked out and cut off their operations entirely.

Hotels, restaurants and malls feared similarly for their food storage while hospitals and clinics were deeply concerned over the impact on their services, their blood banks and various medicines.

Ordinary citizens could well afford to go out of their houses and fan the heat away but they also ran risks of fires from candles and gas lamps.

The intervention of some concerned citizens paved the way for Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra to mediate, and before midnight of January 9 electrical power was restored.

The City and Ceneco presented their positions and their reasons for acting as they did, but their justifications did not sit well with many residents.

The partisans had a field day accusing one party and the other while reporters had their stories and media commentators aired their opinions.

Underneath all this is one important lesson – the value of dialog mediated by a respected personality like Bishop Navarra.

As expected, there are now many claimants as to who initiated the dialog. That is not important for those who attempted to resolve the issue without self-aggrandizement or efforts to exploit the situation for political gain.

The protagonists may have legal justification but we urge them, and the people expect them, to come to the negotiating table before taking rash actions on matters that will endanger public interests.

There are personalities in Bacolod who can be trusted to be fair and willing to resolve any issue, no matter how difficult or seemingly impossible.#