Could it be Pressure?

Valenzuela City has been declared and awarded by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the Most Business Friendly City of the country for 2014. I’m sure Bacoleños are feeling sad about this because this was the title that Bacolod used to hold. Will it ever return to Bacolod again? Not if businessmen trying to find a place keep complaining about what they call Pressure.

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Meanwhile, the House of Representatives passed yesterday the country’s budget for 2015. The news immediately drew a lot of comments from protestors, even in the Senate. They say there are some irregularities in the budget. Well, let us wait and see how it will fare in the Senate. Let us hope nobody will claim that Pressure has been exerted. Anyway, I was glad to note that Education is being given a very generous chunk in the budget, because this augurs well for its state in our country.

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So there will be no election for the Sangguniang Kabataan in February 2015 as previously announced. The next date set is in October, 2016, when it will be held together with the barangay elections. That is a good move, because it will probably mean less expense for the government, and will also ensure a new crop of candidates for SK members who may have a better orientation on their responsibilities and functions than the recent ones. Does it also mean that Comelec Chairman Sixto Brilliantes got his way? He had not made his objection to the SK a secret, you see.

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So the “fiance” of the Olongapo transgender who chambered over the fence of Camp Aguinaldo and roughly shoved off the military policeman guarding the place, has opted to seek voluntary deportation. He did not seem so aggressive anymore when he found out that contesting it would mean he could not return to his job that he would lose if he didn’t report back to it Monday. He said he could not lose it because it is his means of livelihood. The way he behaved, one would think he was a millionaire over there, only an ill-mannered one.

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Meanwhile, it was something of a shock to see the picture of the suspect in the killing of Jeffrey/Jennifer Laude, who looks so different from what you would think a killer should. Joseph Scott Pemberton really looks like the teener he is, as he is said to be only 19, and a recent high school graduate. The poor boy probably had no experience in such matters, and probably had no idea about the kind of “girls” who “welcome” arriving Marines in Olongapo City. Officials of his school say they have no bad records of him, and his family also has only good to say about him. And here he is, on his first trip out, and facing what could be life imprisonment.

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A few months after the FIBA games held the sports world enthralled, it is now focusing on the National Basketball Association, or NBA, that began this year’s season yesterday (in the Philippines). Together with all die-hard fans in the country, however, we grieved over the loss of “our team” in its first encounter with the Houston Rockets to which it lost badly after a trying game that poor Kobe Bryant could not keep up by himself. We very sorely missed his tandem with Pau Gasol, the lanky Spaniard, who has moved to the Bulls. This time the Lakers seem to be hounded by injuries, Kobe himself had not been in the court for a long time, and yesterday, another player got a serious injury.

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Last season’s champion, the San Antonio Spurs, however, were not able to exhibit the skills that earned them the trophy, because they won over the Dallas Mavericks by the skin of their teeth, that is, 101-100. Retaining the championship will not be a walk-away, it seems. Meanwhile, Clevelanders will be holding their breaths to see if the return of their Prodigal Son, Lebron James, is worth the hysterical welcome they gave him. Their Cavaliers will show their mettle against the New York Knicks tomorrow.

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Is it true that Filipino families are shopping less and less for groceries? A report said it has been shown in a study that more Filipinos now rely on fast food outlets for their meals, and even for take-out food, which they find cheaper and more convenient. It means they do not have to go to the wet markets, and to spend time cooking, especially if both parents are working. But how will this type of nutrition affect the health of the family, especially the children? If true, this just shows how much this generation has come to opt for speed and convenience.*

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