Changing the name of BBL to BLBAR, same dog?

Remember during the debates for the Bangsamoro Basic Law where no less than President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III tried to scare us that if the BBL is not passed there will be bloodshed and turmoil in Mindanao. Well, the 16th Congress ran out of time and the BBL has not passed, but Congress still has three weeks of sessions left come January next year. But this is the biggest challenge of Aquino, many of whom perceive him as already a “lame duck” president. 

Meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has come up with a new threat stating that they would not lay down their arms if the BBL will not be passed. Incidentally they have a new name to this old dog called the BBL, they now call it the Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR), which in my book is just a new collar to the same dog! Meanwhile MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said that the decommissioning process would also be stalled. What decommission is he talking about? The MILF never laid down their arms. This is why the BBL failed!

*  *  *

Yesterday, I passed by Katipunan St. where that controversial island caused the suspension of Mayor Michael Rama by the Department of Interior and Local Government coursed to the Office of the President. It just really get your blood boiling that a Cebu City mayor gets suspended on such very flimsy reason, which I’m sure has elated his political opponents. This is where politics in this country has become nothing but a circus, where political allies can cause the suspension of a mayor of a very important city in this country.

This in my book is a slap to us Cebuano constituents because they could have found other more important cases to have Rama suspended. Since his suspension, I have been going around in so many Christmas parties and I can confirm or validate that this DILG order to suspend him has literally boomeranged on his political enemies. He no doubt has gotten the sympathy of many Cebuanos, thus vastly improving his chances of winning his reelection bid.

Speaking of centers islands on the street, if you noticed why many of these island barriers are made of plastic, some look like cones others look like barrels, it is due to the fact that these are movable objects. In the US, there are four-lane roads that are designed to be three lanes going on one side and one lane going back in order to handle the morning rush hour traffic. Then during the afternoon rush hour, the lanes are moved to make it three lanes going the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, our barangay captains especially the one in Labangon doesn’t understand the nature of traffic management. But if he thinks that he has done his political master a favor by having Rama suspended, he ought to think again because people here are not happy with the suspension of our city mayor. It is Imperial Manila vs. Cebu!

I also heard that because of the suspension of Rama, a councilor and his friends in the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan allegedly demanded that acting Mayor Edgardo Labella immediately vacate the office of the Vice Mayor. If you ask me, that councilor is just too trigger-happy to demand that the vice mayor vacate his office. This behavior is boorish to say the least. This, my friends, is the true reality with Cebu City politics today and it has only turned from bad to worse!

*  *  *

Did you read the latest from the Commission on Elections that the new voting machines would have an audio feature that could help Persons with Disabilities? Suddenly the Comelec is showing that they care for PWDs? Well, that was not the case in the last 2013 mid-term elections where all the PWDs wanted was to vote on the ground floor of the various schools where the voting took place.

But then things have changed since Sixto Brillantes retired as Comelec chairman. But then, while having an audio feature is a plus factor. And yes, I do support the Comelec’s plan to have the voting done in shopping malls. But what about the towns and provinces that still do not have their shopping malls? But what is my take on what the Comelec has been announcing in the media? It is a mere smokescreen to the real problem that lies ahead during the 2016 presidential elections. That the voting machines once called the Precinct Count Optical Scan  and changed to Optical Machine Reader would still do a massive electronic cheating like what happened during the past two elections of 2010 and 2013.

*  *  *

For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.