Cebu's water problem? It never gets fixed!

For tonight’s special presentation on Straight from the Sky, we bring you something great that is going to happen to Cebu. In the very near future, Cebu will become the world hub for learning the English language. Last Aug.23, 2009, I had a couple of foreign guests on this show, Mr. Paul Roberson and Mr. Shin Yong Young. They told me that in no uncertain terms, have they dreamt that someday, Cebu will become the English language hub of the world. This is not a far-fetched dream as thousands of Koreans are already in Philippine shores learning how to speak English.

In the pursuit of this noble goal, on the first week of August, there will be an international convention dubbed the 1st Cebu International TESOL Conference with the theme “The English Language: The Power to Connect.” TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. This goal isn’t difficult to achieve as all we need is to get our acts together. That too seems to be happening with the Cebu Leads Foundation (CLF) taking a leading role and committing to make this a reality. So too with the major schools and universities in Cebu who are fully supportive of this endeavor.

With us tonight is Mr. Roy Lotzof, Vice-President of the Cebu Leads Foundation (CLF), Dr. Ester Velasquez of the Cebu Hub for English Language Learning Excellence (CHELE) and Ms. Anna Conejero, Convention Secretariat. There is a huge ripple effect if we make this a reality, especially with regards to the Tourism, Hotel and Restaurant industry as thousands of students from all over the world will be expected to come to Cebu and take short courses in English. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s channel 15 at 8:00pm tonight and get a glimpse of Cebu’s tomorrow.

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We have long known about the problem of Cebu when it comes to water but as always, the ugly trait in us Filipinos is that, we only push the panic button when the wells have already dried up. That front-page foto of the Buhisan Dam all dried up is a picture of how serious is our water problem. Meanwhile, it would be good if someone smart in MCWD quickly got hold of a few bulldozers and start bulldozing the dried up silt so that when the rains come, the Buhisan Dam can be of good use. It’s almost June and we can expect heavier rains to come. I hope they act quickly.

Gone are the days when you poke the ground in Talisay and water will spurt out because of the Managa River. But this has been a long drought and we need to conserve water if at all, you still have water in your house. Alas, those in drought-prone areas are already forced to ration their water. We bewail the reality that our politicians never seem to solve the people’s most basic needs but then should we really care if the people also vote into office the wrong people to lead them? Call it a catch-22 situation. But then this is the Philippines, where nothing gets fixed!

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It’s been two weeks since the May 10 elections and from all the facts that have been presented, it looks like the Filipino people have once again been screwed! What can we hear from those who are supposed to unmask electoral fraud, like the Commission on Elections (Comelec)? We hear nothing from them about the serious discrepancies that have appeared from all over the country as a result of their automated counting machines.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) also revealed many discrepancies, but even with the full knowledge of the cheating in the last polls, they openly declared that no fraud had taken place. This statement puts a black mark on the PPCRV as the various protests have started to mount. Sure, they may be coming from losers, but hey, this is the Philippines, where no one loses in the polls as everyone gets cheated.

What I would like to hear from the PPCRV is, a comment on the report by the 86-member foreign election observers who clearly stated that the May 10 elections were neither honest nor fair. On this alone, there should be a massive albeit independent investigation on what happened last May 10 as it puts a cloud of doubt on the winners of this elections, including the winning of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

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An ordinance sponsored by Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem CITOM and Councilor Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba was a pet project of the late Councilor and former CITOM Chairman Rogelio “Jing Jing” Jakosalem. I just don’t buy the reason being peddled to the public that the increase of the number of vehicles is one of the reasons why CITOM should be a department. The main reason are the people working with CITOM who have been there for many years and are still considered casuals. Let’s do it for these hard working men and women of CITOM!