Let's roll with the blows

It says here that a police officer tried to beat up a student who called him a pig and even went further to identify the cop as PO1 Ebola Reston. My source said the cop got mad because he said that’s not his real name Hehe.

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This news story has it that the expensive Lapu-Lapu fish (which us Cebuanos prefer to call Pugapo) is facing an impending shortage. I’m not worried because although I like the fish, I can’t afford it. But my Chinoy friends are worried. They can’t do without Lapu-Lapu in the kitchen. Our love for Lapu-Lapu pales in comparison to my Chinoy friends’ love for him, er, it.

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At first, the world press played up as the No. 1 corrupt nation in Asia. Then came the US-based World Bank’s corruption exposé. And then recently the US State Department came out with allegation that the Philippine justice system is shot through with corruption. Looks like we’re being bullied bad. But, well, if we can’t effectively deny them, let’s just try to roll with the blows! To lessen the welts and the blackeyes.

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Or maybe let’s just rally behind our Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez by repeating after him: “Let them show proof.” Or in other words let them “Prove it!” Haven’t I told you that “Prove it” is the convenient defense of someone accused of wrongdoings?

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My friend Ben Ypil’s ma-in-law passed away recently at the age of 95. But the dad of Ben’s compadre just celebrated his 101st birthday. Ben wondered: “Kita kaha moabot pa tas maong edad?” Oh, well, it’s up to Him up there. We cannot ra ba bribe Him to let us stick around a bit longer.

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In his “Readers Views” article (TF, Feb. 28) Manny Camara Gumban (a long time TF reader) wondered whatever happened to delicadeza. He asked the question in relation of Miss Cebu chair Philip Rodriguez’s decision not to step down despite the faux pas that marred the beauty contest.

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Delicadeza, one of the greatest virtues inculcated in us by our old folks, is still around, Manny. But it resides mainly in the hearts and minds of people who are willing to practice it even if they have to shake off a bit of their pride.

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E-mail from Rusty Luke Meir, a Cebuano in Houston, Texas: “I often read your newspaper online. You serve as my link to the old hometown which I left 25 years ago. From the stories I read I get the idea that Cebu has progressed much. Don’t credit this progress wholly to the political leaders. Credit it mostly to the people who run the businesses in the city ... Keep up the good work.”

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