All-out war vs. Communism: A year after

A year ago, we chastised and corrected Worldbex Services International (WSI) for their false claim in supposedly holding the first Cebu Auto Show at the Ayala Center simply because decades ago, Cebu City already played host to many auto shows and some of them were done inside the Ayala Center. I remember one was even held at the Nurses Home Auditorium because back then they asked me to be one of the judges. Well apparently, Worldbex is back at it again, this time claiming to hold the 2nd Cebu Auto Show, which is slated to open today up to June 3rd.

Perhaps it is time for Cebu Holdings boss Francis Monera to inform Mr. Joseph Ang of WSI that his company should stop making frivolous claims because it insults us Cebuanos who have had a long history of hosting many auto shows. Call it truth in advertising if you wish but what's happening at the Ayala Center today is definitely not the 2nd Cebu Auto Show! They claim this as an automotive madness and I concur with them that it is madness if they continue to make these false claims!

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Tomorrow the second of June is the first anniversary of the declaration of All-Out War against Communism by Governor Gwen F. Garcia, a declaration which was later echoed by no less than Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) a week later. What makes this declaration unique is that Gov. Garcia is the first Local Government Unit (LGU) official to have made such a unilateral declaration against the real enemies of this country who has for three decades caused untold misery and countless deaths against those who refuse to accept the ideology of Marx, Lenin and Mao Zedong.

This has always been the way of the Communists. They always win their arguments through the barrel of a gun that is why today, soldiers and innocent civilians get killed because they openly expose the evils of Communism. Here, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is avowed to establish a Communist government by hook or by crook… mostly by crook!

Here in Cebu, thanks to the relentless drive in the media against the evils and bankruptcy of the Communist ideology, there are only a handful of hardcore ideologues. But when Gov. Garcia made her historic declaration, the spin-doctors of the Communists with the full cooperation of their media friends warned about the spilling of blood in Cebu Province. But it's been a year since this declaration was made and not a single blood has been spilled in this all-out war against the Communists. That means the Communist propaganda machine has been proven wrong again.

The biggest incident I can remember after the Governor made her declaration was the arrest of New People's Army (NPA) cadres who were on an extortion mission in Talisay City. They have since been arrested. That incident proves to one and all that the ragtag group of Communists here in Cebu is no longer pursuing its goal of changing our government. They have since resorted to banditry by scaring innocent businessmen to pay their revolutionary taxes, which are nothing but extortion of the highest order.

It's been a year since Gov. Garcia made her declaration and while congratulations may be in order, now that she has a new mandate as governor, the people of Cebu would like to know where she's headed in this campaign to eradicate the communist threat in Cebu Province. Perhaps she can give details when she assumes her office as the re-elected Governor of the Province of Cebu.

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Some friends who read my article on the phenomenon called Gawad Kalinga (GK) asked me what drives this project to be so successful. While I'm not entirely privy on GK's management structure, I do know that the people behind GK here comes from that charismatic group called Couples for Christ. Yes, it is a lay organization and most of the work done there comes from lay volunteers. When you get the true Christian picture of loving another person as Jesus has loved them, then the rest is easy.

Actually, you can study to be a lay evangelizer and volunteer, which is a course being offered by the Community of St. John in Banawa Hills. This will empower the future lay evangelizers in the spirit of the Apostle John, to shepherd their life and help Filipinos in their basic needs. I went to mass there last Sunday and I read a quote they posted on the bulletin board, which goes:

"A new state of affairs today both in the Church and in the Social, Economic, Political and Cultural Life, calls with a particular urgency for the action of the lay faithful. If lack of commitment is always unacceptable, the present time renders it even more so. It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle. - Pope John Paul II."

I agree with this statement of the late Pope and I hope those of you are still searching for the truth you can find it in St. John's Community.

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