Childish taunts won’t correct PCOS defects

CHILDISH RETORT: Reacting to criticisms of the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines that performed badly in the mock elections last Saturday, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes shot back with a taunt to go back to manual voting if automation is too much trouble.

Pardon our saying it, but that was a childish retort from the 72-year-old chairman who had made his mark as a brillant election lawyer. Is stress taking its toll on him?

The Comelec that had spent billions in taxpayers’ money on PCOS cannot be unaware of the hardware and software flaws casting undeserved doubts on the integrity of elections.

The glitches haunting the second-hand PCOS since the 2010 presidential elections have been analyzed to death. But not much has been done to correct them.

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WHY ONLY NOW?: Why raise the specter of a manual alternative only at this late date? The May 13 elections are just three short months away.

What commitments do Comelec commissioners have to PCOS supplier Smartmatic that they insist on the ageing computers despite the glitches and their lacking the crucial operating system denied them by a foreign third party?

The Comelec should answer that and many other questions before an impeachable “betrayal of public trust” situation develops in the minds of Lozano types.

The big problem here is that if and when Brillantes & Co. fumble, they will sweep the whole nation with them on the straight path to the cliff.

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CULTURAL AWARDS: The Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion, Patis Tesoro, premier woodcarving artist Wilfredo Tadeo Layug, and book author Nina Lucia B. Tomen are this year’s recipients of The Juan D. Nepomuceno Cultural Awards.

In announcing the awards, the Holy Angel University in Angeles City said Tesoro and Layug are both cited for outstanding achievement in arts and culture, and Tomen for outstanding contribution to research and scholarship.

The awardees will be honored during the HAU Founder’s Day celebration on March 8. Previous awardees include National Artist Bencab, film director Brillante Mendoza, linguist Anicia del Corro and historian John Larkin.

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CITATIONS: Patis Tesoro, who comes from the Pamintuan clan of Angeles, is a champion of indigenous fibers, natural dye production and traditional arts and crafts. She revived the piña clothing industry and created a weave of piña and silk that became the affordable piña seda.

She co-Founded the Katutubong Filipino Foundatio^, created the Ninay dolls that are the first Filipino handcrafted dolls mounted on tableaus. For her efforts she received the Dakilang Pilipina Award and the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Services (TOWNS) Award.

Betis-born Willy Layug is the leading Kapampangan woodcarving artist today whose works include the restored Matamoros on the pediment of the Intramuros gate, the baldacchino of the Sto. Domingo Church, the San Lorenzo Ruiz and San Pedro Calungsod altar at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome, and retablos of some of the country’s major cathedrals.

Layug, who trained under Spanish sculptor Jose Antonio Arteaga in Calle Betis, Seville, received the Presidential Medal of Merit for Ecclesiastical Art in 2009. His Betis Galleria provides employment to his cabalen and serves as a showcase of his unique style in carving religious icons.

Nina Tomen of Lubao is a freelance researcher/writer who wrote books on Kapampangan culture, including Kuraldal Atlung Ari and Libad Bangka nang Apung Iru: Beyond the Revelry; Suli: Legacies of Santiago Apostol Church of Betis; and Apung Mamacalulu: The Santo Entierro of Angeles City.

Tomen, who was then Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio’s spokesperson, wrote the narrative of the coffee-table book Luid Ka! Stories and Images of the Kapampangan Crusade for Good Governance.

She does volunteer work on social action with the Archdiocese of San Fernando and is an advocate against rabies, having lost a son to the disease in 2008.

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POETRY AWARD: An Award of Excellence for Kapampangan Poetry has been launched, meanwhile, to attract more poets to write in their native language and boost their dwindling number.

The award was named after Poet Laureate Delfin T. Quiboloy to honor him as a noted poet, playwright and writer in Kapampangan.

Born on July 23, 1911, in Santa Catalina, Lubao town, Quiboloy was an educator who became a prolific poet and playwright in the 1960s until the 1980s. In 1964 he, together with another Poet Laureate, Jose M. Gallardo, and other poets founded the Aguman ding Talasulat Capampangan (AGTACA).

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BODY OF WORKS: In 1969, the United Poet Laureates International headed then by lawyer Amado M. Yuzon honored him for his contributions to world poetry in general and Kapampangan literature in particular.

In 1977, he was elected president of AGTACA. The following year, he launched the annual Don Gonzalo Puyat Memorial Awards for Pampango Literature, through the assistance of then Senate President Gil J. Puyat, also a Kapampangan.

By the time he died in 1999, Quiboloy had written more than 200 poems, novels and zarzuelas. He was a town mate and contemporary of Diosdado Macapagal and Rogelio de la Rosa, who were also poets and zarzuelistas before they became politicians.

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OBJECTIVES: During the launch, Quiboloy’s son Dante explained that aside from perpetuating his father’s legacy by promoting studies of his life and works, the family wants to:

• Help develop the creativity and writing talent of the youth and promote excellence in Kapampangan poetry through writing and declamation contests.

• Support Kapampangan poets at all stages of their career by giving awards and recognition to deserving individuals and providing publishing opportunities.

• Deepen understanding of Kapampangan poetry by encouraging people to read, listen to and write poetry in the native language.

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