Once again, it’s Imperial Manila vs VisMin

Kudos to Cebu Holdings, Inc. on the soft opening of the new wing of the Ayala Shopping Center. The ceremonies began with a solemn Holy Mass officiated by our dear beloved eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. When the Ayala Business Park opened 20 years ago, we saw the mock up model of the entire facility. But then, this was the 20-year plan or vision of things to come for Cebu. However, because of the success of Greenbelt Park in Makati, the Terraces was introduced to the Ayala Shopping Center and with the latest addition that was blessed yesterday, you can say that finally, the Ayala Shopping Mall is finally complete. More power to the Cebu Holdings, Inc.!

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I’m sure that many of our readers saw on live TV the verbal tirades in the hallowed halls of the Philippine Senate between former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. And if you used Sen. Santiago’s Facebook accounts, she no doubt has gained the upper hand in this debate of the century. However, I find it sad that the Filipino people applauded Sen. Miriam Santiago because they just don’t know what she and JPE have done to damage the already damaged image of the Philippine Senate.

It is only now that many senators are thinking that perhaps they should expunge from the records the privilege speeches of the two senators because of their unparliamentary behavior. Yes, in the parliament of the United Kingdom and in many parliaments of other nations, they are very careful not to use profound language or abusive words that would bring down a person, much more the institution. This is why the Senate has a sergeant-at-arms, whose job is to stop senators or visitors from making a mockery of the Senate proceedings.

But alas, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms failed in his job. So did Senate President Franklin Drilon totally fail in preventing the further degradation of the very institution that he heads. Today, the Senate is considered “damaged goods” since the exposure of the Priority Assistance Development Fund (PDAF) by the whistleblowers against Janet Lim-Napoles (JLN). The image of the Senate has been further eroded by the grave abuse and misuse of the privilege speeches given only to the legislature. In the end, the Filipino people applauded this “Made-for-TV Reality Show” but at the expense of a once noble Senate. For sure, the great senators of the land must be turning on their graves because of what Sen. Santiago and JPE had done.

Meanwhile, we turn to another squabble that has turned viral in the social networking sites. This time, it is between Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Manuel “Mar” Roxas and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez . This has now shifted to a new arena in the Senate during the joint congressional meeting of the oversight committee on the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010.

The words by Sec. Roxas “You are a Romualdez and the President is an Aquino” became viral in the social networking sites when he blurted this out a few days after the typhoon struck. We did not write it because I thought it was just a rumor, but now… thanks to YouTube, we have seen that indeed Mar Roxas said these words and no matter how he tries to use their Yellow propaganda machinery, if he denies saying it…we’ll call him a liar!

There is no doubt in my mind and I can say this for many of our readers, especially those netizens that politics really got in the way of the relief operations in Tacloban because Mar Roxas is just too drunk with political power. And as we have also learned from no less than Sec. Dinky Soliman of the DSWD, she admitted that they used the “Voter’s ID” in giving out relief goods to the victims. Clearly everything about the search and rescue, and later, the relief goods operations, was tainted with politics. Even Sen., Antonio Trillanes IV who chaired that oversight committee blurted out, “Recalling what Mayor Romualdez mentioned, if politics got in the way of disaster response, this is the worst thing we could ever do.”

But beyond the politics or the verbal tussle between Mayor Romualdez and Sec. Roxas is that never-ending problem that the Visayas and Mindanao always experience against Imperial Manila. That Pres. PNoy Aquino never came to Northern Cebu despite his having so many presidential choppers that he could use only shows his total unconcern for the people of Cebu.

No matter how Gov. Jun Jun Davide or Vice-Gov. Agnes Magpale explains this reality to the Cebuanos, we will never forget this presidential snub. In my book, it is time for us Visayans to ponder and think whether our being with the Philippines has been an advantage or a bane for us. If Pres. PNoy is willing to share power with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), perhaps we in the Visayas ought to demand the same from the national government. Time to rethink of that One Visayas Movement!

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