CBCP head asks faithful: Take a stand vs people’s initiative

Actually, it was not unexpected. But the timing was just perfect. Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo’s pastoral letter urging the faithful to buck the people’s initiative on Charter change and battling for a constitutional convention was read in all parish churches all over Negros Occidental and Panay.

That came just after Speaker Jose de Venecia stormed in on Iloilo and urged the citizens to back the people’s initiative for Charter change.

In short, that Lagdameo letter amounted to an open confrontation with the House leader, the leading advocate of Cha-cha via the people’s initiative. In effect, it is a test of strength, although Lagdameo pointed out that the CBCP is also opposed to constitutional change through constitutional assembly.

Although Negros Occidental remained in the grip of the Masskara fever, expect the battle over Cha-cha to erupt after the festivities. The major question, however, is how many of the Catholic faithful would take up the challenge to have their voices counted on a political question.

This is a pivotal battle of wills that could come up in the days ahead. Already, local government units, meaning local officials, have batted for the people’s initiative and expressed themselves four-square behind it. And many of them are also Catholic leaders.

That should be an interesting showdown.

Parents, nursing grads vs test retake

Not even the Masskara fever managed to stem parents and graduates from joining hands in a common position against the projected retake of Tests 3 and 5 of the June nursing licensure examination.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon pointed out that Negrense examinees should not be forced to retake the tests, pointing out that there were no leakages in local review centers.

Besides, he pointed out that the leakages had already been traced to only a few review centers and that nursing graduates in the Visayas and Mindanao should not be penalized for that exam leak.

Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra himself appealed yesterday to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to "spare those who are innocent and give them the opportunity to reap and enjoy the fruits of their honest toil and efforts."

The prelate said he brought to the President’s attention the legitimate clamor of his flock — the parents of the graduates and the graduates themselves who passed the board examination — who feel they have been unjustly deprived of their rights to practice their profession despite the fact that their names had been published as passers.

The Bacolod Sangguniang Panglunsod is also reported set to pass a resolution calling on the President to recall her retake order.

Earlier, Sen. Ralph Recto also aired the same position, pointing out that Mindanao and Visayas examinees were spared from the leak scandal.

The same issue has been taken up by Iloilo City’s nursing graduates. And the protest is expected to gather steam in the next few days.

Bishop Navarra reminded the Chief Executive to consider the pain and anguish of the parents who had incurred big financial liabilities to have their sons and daughters take the board examination.

Navarra also stressed that the frustrations and discouragement of the graduates themselves "can maim for life their bright hopes and dreams for the future."

He also stressed that those who are guilty of having benefited from the leak and proven as such should be sanctioned.

This is something that the President must heed. I have listened to the parents and graduates deplore the injustice of a widespread implementation of the exam retake order. And most were furious about the injustice of the decision.

For example, the two PRC board officials who have been tagged as the sources of the leaks, have just been allowed to resign with no charges filed against them. So with the heads of the review centers which reportedly had availed themselves of the leaked questionnaires. In short, if the National Bureau of Investigation uncovers the extent of the anomaly, then charges should be filed against those involved in the leakage. And only those examinees who might have taken advantage of the anomaly should be tasked to take the examination for a second time. Not all, including those from Mindanao and the Visayas who might not have taken advantage of it.

True, a blanket retake order may erase the stigma of the June 2006 PRC licensure examination, but those who were not involved aptly pointed out that they were being penalized wholesale for what a handful of officials and review center heads plus graduates had taken advantage of.

That is an issue that could galvanize Mindanao and the Visayas. And it bears careful watching.

Search for 21 missing in Igbaras halted

The Monday mishap in Tangyan River in Barangay Barasan in Igbaras, Iloilo saw searchers abandoning their search for 21 more missing passengers of a mini-bus swept away by rampaging floodwaters.

The river is 35 kilometers south of Iloilo. Igbaras is actually in the first district of Iloilo province. So far, rescue groups and volunteers had pulled out 24 survivors from Tangyan River.

The volunteers and rescuers combed as far as the Guimbal Bridge 11 kilometers down from Igbaras.

The victims were on their way home from the funeral of retired teacher Remo Eguico when the engine of their mini-bus conked out just halfway the Songsongon overflow of Tangyan River.

By that time, the onrushing floodwaters were gathering steam and overturned the jeepney several times.

I earlier had visited the town of Igbaras. Very picturesque and interesting. This was in the company of Primo Esleyer, past president of the Negros Press Club, who hails from the mountain village.

That incident led to a lot of clamor for the government authorities to put up a bridge across the river in lieu of the overflow.

The provincial government, according to Gov. Niel Tupas of Iloilo, appropriated P250,000 to assist the families of the fatalities. The same was appropriated by the Igbaras municipal government, according to Vice Mayor Jose Edmund Esporas.

Although some called it a mini-bus, actually the vehicle is one of the elongated jeepneys. It carried as many as 60 passengers, with many even on the roof. Most of them were children, according to the survivors.

First, there was the problem of overloading. Second, traversing the overflow at the height of a storm is always a risky business. In short, the LTFRB and the LTO should have been more vigilant in enforcing transport safety rules. But then, who really oversees the enforcers, especially in remote areas of the country?

ADDENDA. Last Tuesday, the provincial government held a soft inauguration of the newly competed P162-million provincial hospital in Barangay Lantad, Silay City. Among the key officials present were Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon and Silay City Mayor Carlos Gamban. The hospital was named the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Hospital in honor of the Jalandoni family who donated the three-hectare lot. Fr. Felix Pasquin, parish priest of the San Diego Pro-Cathedral of Silay, led the blessing attended by local officials and members of the Jalandoni family. Dr. Maria Estrella, chief of the Dr. Jose Locsin Memorial Provincial Hospital, said she expects to complete the transfer of all medical equipment and their patients to the provincial hospital within 15 days. Gov. Marañon said the poor may now enjoy the same privilege as those enjoyed by patients of big hospitals at a lesser expense… In Dumaguete City, the death of a senior nursing student of the Silliman University that shook the city Monday was solved with the arrest and the extra-judicial confession of the alleged killer, Raul Compra Jr., 27, of Cervantes Extension, Dumaguete City. Compra admitted having robbed and stabbed Lucia Niña Estacio, 25, using a kitchen knife. The confession was made in the presence of an assistant city prosecutor and the city legal officer. Estacio sustained at least 20 stab wounds, five of them fatal. The suspect said he felt remorse about the killing, stressing that the victim’s family deserves justice. The incident shocked not only SU officials but also the studentry of Dumaguete City.