A jarring tragedy on Easter Sunday
The discovery was trumpeted by local radio stations and, to a certain extent, marred the faithfuls’ meditation on the meaning of the Resurrection and the hope that provides life beyond death.
PO1 Francisco Lobaton, the Murcia PNP desk officer, said investigators also discovered a letter at the crime scene. This was allegedly authored by Imee Cunanan, the victim’s daughter who claimed that she and her live-in-partner, Benjie, were responsible for the death of her father. She accused him of having molested her two years ago.
Both Imee and Benjie are reportedly living in Manila, but returned last week to seek justice from her father.
The couple reportedly fled the crime scene on board a motorcycle.
But that still unsolved crime (the perpetrators are still missing), failed to dampen the sense of loss among Negrenses for the demise last March 13 of the late Governor Joseph Marañon. His family and provincial officials held Easter Mass for the late governor at the Nature’s Village in Talisay City.
Mrs. Aida Marañon thanked all those who showed her family thoughtfulness and gesture of love that eased their grief at times when they needed them most.
But there was also the good news that lightened the hearts of the Marañon family. The reports that the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Meet was won by Negros Occidental despite the vigorous effort by the Iloilo delegation.
Antique Gov. Sally Zaldivar-Perez interrupted the jovial mood of the governor’s night in San Jose to ask for prayers for the deceased Negros Occidental governor.
“His death on the eve of the WVRAA-became instead a source of unrelenting passion for the Negrense athletes who eventually clinched the overall championship,” pointed out Governor Perez.
Governor Perez revealed for the first time that the late governor Marañon could easily have taken the RDC chair, but gave way and entrusted the rudder of the whole region to her, “giving his pupil a wider horizon.”
Actually, game officials announced the overall championship only a few minutes before the closing of the games. Iloilo put up a spirited fight all the way. Even the press and media deferred the announcement at the 11th hour.
“Sports officials and Negrense athletes, pointed out Gov. Perez, acknowledged publicly that they were dedicating their trophy for their beloved Gov. Marañon,” stressed Antique Gov. Perez.
Sacrifices needed – Bacolod Bishop
Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra Sunday said, “we should follow the example of Christ who showed that sacrifice is needed to live out the message of the resurrection, we can hope for better things if we emulate Christ’s example,” he added.
“To stand up for what is right and to speak the truth always should be the people’s contribution to the sacrifice made by the Lord,” the prelate added.
He had earlier called on the people, especially the young, to practice generosity and charity during Lent as a way of life.
The Bacolod Diocese ended the Lenten celebration with a mass for the children at the San Sebastian Cathedral. This was followed later by games at the provincial lagoon.
The problem of rice
Negros Occidental has always been a rice deficit area. Thus, the problem of rice is something that bothers most Negrenses. And nothing could be worse than the specter of a possible shortage of rice.
But National Food Authority provincial manager Marianito Bejemino allayed fears of such a shortage over the weekend, pointing out that the province has an inventory of 1.4 million bags.
These, he said, could last 61 days.
But he also said the NFA has 169,855 bags stored in different warehouses in the province, a sharp increase from the 118,044 last year for the same period.
Last year, he added, the local inventory of rice in the province only reached 1.2 million bags.
Alejandro Deoma, Bayan Muna provincial coordinator, pointed out that the NFA has only direct control of its rice stocks and that prices of rice will soar soon since the stock bulk of the rice stocks are controlled by big rice and food traders.
“NFA has only 169,855 bags under its direct control. It makes it appear sufficient because of the continued importation of rice, including 120,000 bags for April,” Deoma pointed out.
In short, he argued that the NFA stock will actually be good until the end of the month.
“What the NFA did not clearly admit is that the bigger chunk of its 1.4 million rice inventory are actually under the direct control of big rice and food traders,” Deoma added.
By April, he projected that the prices of rice would likely soar to as high as P30 a kilo for low quality rice, and up to P45 per kilo for well-milled rice.
For the moment, though, local household residents still have yet to complain about the rice price increases. But when the time comes for the crunch, it is speculated that there may erupt restiveness in the province should the prices of the grains reached the predicted levels by Deoma.
NFA, meanwhile, has mobilized monitoring teams in the province to track down unscrupulous traders, especially those mixing NFA rice with their commercial stocks and passing them off at a much higher price than the NFA grains.
In short, the situation bears close watch. We hope it does not reach the point of the Martial Law years when rice shortage hit the province with sugar farmers panicking because Panay Island provinces clamped down on the shipment of cereals from their territories to Negros Occidental.
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