Politicos should conduct a high-level campaign

The political season is already upon us and has already reached the boiling point especially in Mandaue City. The henchmen of Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, notably City Administrator Briccio Boholst almost figured in a gunfight at OK corral in the pursuit of a 70-meter road in Colina St. with Sally Malig-on, Chief of Staff of Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz. This only proves that politics in this country, especially in Mandaue City has turned from bad to worse!

Mayor Jonas Cortes shouldn’t have issued an order to stop work on that street; after all, it is good for Mandauehanons. On the other side of the coin, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz should have at least informed the Mayor about her projects; after all, it is a matter of coordination between so-called public servants, all for the benefit of Mandauehanons.

With so many streets in Mandaue that needs rehabilitation, Nerissa could have chosen the most dilapidated one so they could have avoided this unnecessary confrontation that only shows both their ugly sides before their constituents. The official campaign hasn’t even started yet and there’s fireworks already in Mandaue City! Thanks to people with cooler heads, this tension was defused.

Let us hope that during the campaign period, both Mayor Cortes and Rep. Soon-Ruiz will conduct a more professional and high-level campaign. I understand that there has been an agreement by both parties to continue with the road project, which is good for Mandauehanons. I just hope that this near conflagration is the last one we’ll see for these coming elections, although I have my own reservations.

Still on roads. I would like to hear from both Mayor Cortez and Rep. Soon-Ruiz if they have any plans to widen H. Cortes St. We have written about this many columns ago. Even Lakas-Kampi Presidential bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. mentioned this road when we interviewed him on our show in Straight from the Sky last Monday. The mayoralty candidate with a workable plan or program that would widen this major artery that passes through the heart of Mandaue should be the one whom Mandauehanons ought to vote into office in the May elections.

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Cebuanos have the longest Christmas celebration. After the Christmas holidays, it is always followed by the Sinulog Fiesta of Cebu. We all know that this brings a flood of tourists into Cebu as the Sinulog has been dubbed as the greatest crowd or tourism drawer in our country. Let’s hope that we would get more foreign tourists, as tourism has now become our bread and butter.

A week after the Sinulog Festival, Cebu will apparently play host to the 45th Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Council (SEAMEC) which will run simultaneously with the 5th Asian Nations Ministers of Education (ASED) Meeting from Jan.26 to the 30. The venue will be at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa. This is the first huge international conference to be hosted in Cebu for the year 2010, which should be a boon to our tourism industry. It is also good that this conference is about education because we ought to be learning more on how we can upgrade our educational standards, which used to be tops in Asia.

With the population of the Philippines recently pegged at 94 million, people once more blame our poverty to overpopulation, which is why people are supporting the Reproductive Health Bill (RH). But bottom line can be found in the headline of The Philippine Star yesterday where it blared “GMA Spent P459-M Pork for Congress Bid.” That is what the President spent in Pampanga so she could be elected as their Congresswoman come May elections. Of course this made the headlines as there is so much anti-GMA sentiment in Metro Manila. But in truth, billions have been spent on many pet projects by our Congressmen though their main duty is to legislate laws and not execute them. This is why we should cut the “Pork” via Charter Changes!

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Congratulations to Mr. Geo and Karlie (Avila) Tan on the birth of Gianna Kamille their daughter and second child at the Chong Hua Hospital last Jan.5. She is seventh great grandchild of my parents Atty. Jesus and Ascension Avila and my 3rd grandniece. When I visited the happy parents Geo and Karlie, I could see that Lola Pilar Tan of Zamboanga, Geo’s mom beaming with pride for her little 6.8 lbs apo! May her newly-assigned Guardian Angel watch over Gianna Kamille and watch her grow in the years to come. Congrats and welcome to the Avila Family!