Thanks from the handicapped and the elderly!

I've been with the media for 19 years now and every now and then we are accused of presenting only the bad news, mostly because only bad news sells, while the good news is never given any importance. Well for today, allow me to present to you a good news story that should be told to all. First off, allow me to congratulate the management and staff of Gaisano Metro at the Ayala Shopping Center for going out of their way to help the elderly and the physically challenged, a.k.a. disabled or handicapped people.

I got a call yesterday from a good friend, Mr. Gerard "Gerry" Gabuya Barrera who suffers from Celebral Palsy and a member of Handicapped's Anchor is Christ, Inc. (HACI). Last Sunday at around 2:00 p.m., when he got down the taxi in front of the Gaisano Metro, a security guard approached him without being requested or asked and escorted him in his wheelchair to wherever he wanted to go in the store.

Gerry was quite amazed that the security guard went out of his way to assist him. Believing that he just met a kind-hearted security guard, he asked a store supervisor whether this was a one-of-a-kind incident... and he was told that the Metro Gaisano management had instructed all security personnel and their staff to give special attention to the elderly and disabled people to make their shopping as easy and as comfortable as possible.

Of course, being handicapped for so long, Gerry was taken by complete surprise that finally, there is a store in Metro Cebu that looks at them not with pity or compassion, but with the thought that handicapped or disabled people are just like you and me... they also have places to go and things to do like shopping. In our family, we got used to how people stare at us especially when we go down to help my sister Adela Kono get off or on the car.

Again, kudos to the management and staff of Metro Gaisano, to Dr. Edward Gaisano and his management and staff for their noble effort in helping the disabled and the elderly go around their store. May your tribe increase. I can assure you that the elderly and the disabled have taken notice, which is why they have requested me to write this story.

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I gathered during last Friday's meeting of the full council of the Regional Development Council from RDC chairman and Negros Oriental Governor George Arnaiz that there is a big meeting between the 24 senators and the League of Governors for lunch at the Century Park Hotel in Manila today. I really don't know how many senators or governors will be attending that meeting... let's just hope that a considerable number would for the sake of this country.

I'm sure that by now the senators realize that the coming charter changes, the Senate would certainly be abolished... and if we finally get our dream to become a Federal form of government, then like the United States, the next presidentiables or prime ministerables will no longer come from the senator class who comes from the Legislative Branch, but from the governor class who are in the Executive Branch of the government.

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I got this e-mail from our good friend, Dr. Darcy Tabotabo.

"Dear Bobit, I read your article about the Mass. Of course the Pope has the right to change whatever he wants because he is the Vicar of Christ here on Earth but according to Fr. Stravinskas (I personally met him and talked to him, he being I think the most learned man in the U.S. regarding the rubrics of the mass) it is acceptable to hold hands during the Our Father as long as you are not irritating the person you are holding hands with. As for the communion by hand, the late Pope John Paul the Second said that although receiving the Eucharist by hand is alright because a lot of people want it that way, he personally preferred to receive it by the mouth. In fact I have not seen any of his footage wherein he gave the communion by hand; it is always by mouth. Regards and see you this January because for sure I will be back there from Jan. 10 up to Jan. 17 when Steve Ray gives his talk. Darcy".

Thanks for the letter Darcy who lives in Kentucky. I did check this with Fr. Ramon Ofredo during our Holy Mass with the Sons of David yesterday morning and he told us that any order that the Vatican sends to the Philippines has to be discussed in the Episcopal Commission on the Liturgy. In this particular case, in the year 2000, the holding of hands during the Lord's Prayer has been tolerated. The Catholic Church has to adapt to certain cultures. For instance in Cambodia, Catholics there would pray with clasped hands as that is their way of showing reverence.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com