So where's Limlingan?

I was talking to somebody very close to me and the name Limlingan was mentioned.

Who and what is Limlingan? I asked.

Well, he's the guy who's the chief assistant of Vice President Binay and the Senate Investigating Committee is looking for him. He is supposed to know about the affairs of the Vice President and the Senate wants him produced, obviously to throw light on some alleged shenanigans.

“So?” I said.

“The guy has disappeared. Like a magician making a rabbit disappear before your very eyes, Limlingan has vanished like a smoke blown away by a strong wind;

“So what happened to Limlingan? A lot of persons disappear now a days. A young girl disappears – then found out dead in a sugarcane field. Obviously a victim of rape. Many things disappear now-a-days. Airplanes filled with people. What doesn't disappear is poverty. So where is Limlingan?

“They say he slipped out of the country through the backdoor. It's quite easy if you have the means. And Limlingan from all appearances had the means.”

So what's new? Remember that Hello Garci affair when the whole country was cracking its head where a guy named Garci involved in electoral anomalies was after he disappeared. He was in the U.S. He was in Malaysia --- or was it Indonesia. Sleuths considered the whole globe as to where Garci is but even Sherlock Holmes could not have figured it out.

It has become a modus operandi for those who are in danger of being dragged to a government investigation to disappear. It is more convenient than information being squeezed out of you or even charged with a criminal offense. As Sherlock Holmes said to Watson: Elementary, my boy!

* * *

The other night was the joint Induction and turn over ceremonies of three Bacolod Rotary clubs - East, Marapara and Central held at the L'Fisher Hotel, a well attended affair. The unit (Bacolod Rotary-East) that I belong was headed by Sonya Verdeflor. The club under her leadership has garnered numerous awards. Now, Doc Ben Souribio will have to work hard to match Sonya's record.

The three Bacolod Rotary clubs belongs to District 3850 whose vision is: Riding high on our rich diversity of cultures and languages, we are the FUN Rotary District serving communities in South West Philippines through Disaster Response, Health and Literacy. After Yolanda adequate Disaster Response has become a mantra. And so does Health and Literacy.

The Philippines is in direct path of seasonal typhoons. As one writer puts it, we are located in the bowling lanes of these monstrous natural forces. Yolanda was a dramatic strike. And with earthquakes shaking the whole planet it makes absolute sense to prepare for the big one. Health is an achievable goal although as consumers we have to battle parts of the food industry who don't really care about the public, selling them foods injurious to health. As they say, it's the money, stupid. And who can quarrel with literacy, the ability to read and write, the shape of which is changing due to marvelous advances in communication.

All in all, the affair went well, especially the Bacolod East group that sang (and swayed) to the song “Two for the road”. The music has strummed a lot of heart strings, lots of memories. Thanks guys!*

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