Economic liberation: At what price?

 An uncle of mine, Clemente C. Relampagos, husband to Raquel who is a sister of my mother Flora, passed away last January 30 at the age of 82. A loving and devoted husband, he must have been devastated by the death of Raquel just a couple of weeks earlier.

 The closeness of the successive deaths must have similarly devastated my cousins and I can only pray that they find the strength to overcome this great challenge in their lives, and take comfort in the thought that their parents are now in the company of an ever-loving God.

 My heart especially goes out to Ruth and Suzette, the elder two of a brood of seven girls to whom I am closest to, being the ones I knew from early on in our childhood days. Marjorie I met many years later when she had a brief internship with The Freeman.

 The rest of the girls I have not met, or met some only during the wake of Tia Raquel. And that means I may need a little catching up with relations. I did find occasion to meet other cousins, sons of Luz Quinain, another sister of Raquel and my mother. And that is a beginning.

 Which is good. Because for every end there is always a beginning, for every closure a new opening. For every tear that falls, there is always a cleansing. Death may come at a price, but it is a blessing too. May my dear cousins find beautiful new meanings in the midst of their loss.

 Tio Inting, whose wake is at Chapel B of the Cebu Rolling Hills, will be buried tomorrow, Saturday, February 6, at the Mandaue City Roman Catholic Cemetery after a 2 p.m. Mass at the San Roque Parish Church in Subangdaku that city.

 Ruth and Bobby Kintanar, Suzette and Eddie Tecson, Joy and Danny Benabaye, Joan and Tomas Talavera, Jean and Mario Sanchez, Mary and Rodulfo Pinote, Marjorie, children and grandchildren, pray that others may join them in prayer to ease the burden of souls as they meet their Maker.

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 President Arroyo was in Cebu last Wednesday for a whirlwind tour of the so-called "Cyber Corridor" at I.T. Park, the hub of the BPO or call center industry. With more than 40 I.T. firms as locators, the Cyber Corridor is thus home to nearly 20,000 employees.

 That is the positive aspect of the whole thing. Employment. And not just involving ordinary workers but world class job holders. But those entrenched in this strip of prime real estate are not the only esoteric members of an emerging exclusive sector in the labor front.

 Strewn in patches all over the metropolis are other call centers and call center hubs, each with their own tight-knit populations of young and economically-liberated Filipinos who, as a consequence, have become essentially divorced from parental influence.

 I wonder if, during her visit, somebody made President Arroyo aware of the fact that underneath the veneer of prosperity in these I.T. hubs, there is a downside that could not have been more alarmingly exposed than by that University of the Philippines study on sexuality.

 The study, which focused on the sexual habits of young urban professionals in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, has determined that the dreaded HIV has become prevalent among members of this exclusive sector.

 The question begs to be asked as to whether any safety nets are forthcoming in light of the alarming disclosure made in the UP study. For this country cannot simply ignore the fact that underneath this sunshine industry lurks a dark and vile virus gnawing at the fabric of society.

 More importantly, are barriers being set up to contain the phenomenon of drug abuse and casual sex in a sector populated mainly by the young, the supposed hope of the land? Who must take the rap for the evident Godlessness? Who must lead to bring about urgent change?