I have always been skeptical of former Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson for the simple reason that he ran away from the law and remained a fugitive until Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino, III became President and resurrected him. Lest you folks do not know, if you are running away from the law because of a certain crime that you have allegedly committed… you have committed another crime by turning fugitive. But then this is the Philippines where we observe a double standard in the application of our laws.
So now, Sec. Ping Lacson has become the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery. When Pres. PNoy appointed him to this office, I was again skeptical that he would be able to get things done, more so that he made a promise that by the Year 2016 the rehabilitation program would be done. Then a few months back, Lacson was involved in some kind of bickering with other Cabinet members whom he blamed for blocking his progress. But then Lacson's problem was a mere tip of the iceberg. The reality on the ground is crystal clear… that the national government did not lift its fingers to help the Yolanda victims until it got the information that Pope Francis was going to visit Tacloban. This forced the hand of the Aquino Regime to prepare Tacloban for the Pope's visit.
The bottom line here is, the bigger problem lies upon the reality that the national government where he belongs just cannot see eye to eye with many local government units especially in Tacloban. That's because our current system of governance no longer works for the greater interest of the Filipino people. This is why we all must seek a change for the better to bring the nation up to speed with our ASEAN neighbors who are very much ahead of us in the community of nations in all aspects.
So a few days ago, Sec. Ping Lacson came to Cebu, which we know too well that the national government had all but neglected for a year since Super Typhoon Yolanda struck us. So what did Sec. Lacson learn from his meeting with the mayors of our northern towns in Cebu? He learned that no one could construct a house on a property that is not titled. Bantayan Island is our best example where Presidential Proclamation no. 2151 declares Bantayan Island as a "Wilderness and Protected Area." So how can the government purchase land with this Presidential Proclamation still enforced?
Of course the LGUs in Bantayan Island (there are three municipalities there, Sta. Fe, Madridejos, and Bantayan) would love to have this Presidential Proclamation lifted. But is this the right thing to do? Should Proclamation no. 2151 be lifted in order to legalize the purchase of land for the purpose of making homes for the typhoon victims?
I'm not saying that this is right or wrong. Call it a bureaucracy if you wish but I would rather that the LGUs come up with a study on the positive and negative effects of the lifting of this proclamation. Come on, why was this presidential proclamation enacted in the first place? Surely our predecessors wanted Malacañang to protect Bantayan Island. In the meantime, I am for the exemption of the areas that would be used in building the homes for those that need rehabilitation. But at the same time, the Province of Cebu should find the ways to conduct that much needed study whether or not to lift the presidential edict that protected Bantayan Island in the first place.
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Today is a memorable day for the Avila family and me because 35 years ago, I lost my father, the late Atty. Jesus "Lindong" Avila to aneurism. After the construction of Century 21 Cinema (today it is the JESA IT Bldg) my father left Cebu to visit my brother Rene in the US for a couple of months. On Nov.24, 1979 he was on his way home via Hawaii and there I was at the old Manila International Airport waiting for him… but no one came out of the gate.
I later learned that my father had a stroke just an hour before landing in Manila and an ambulance rushed him to the Makati Medical Center. So I rushed over there and when I saw him, he was already in deep coma. He died after three days in the hospital. He was only 59 years old. Back then, I was only 28 years old, a 3rd year law student at the University of San Carlos Law school. Due to the long funeral arrangements and vigil, the Dean of USC Law School, Atty. Fulvio Pelaez, asked me to repeat my 3rd year. So my inspiration to take up law died with my father.
More often than not, even if we plan our lives to become a lawyer or a doctor, sometimes we have some kind of divine intervention that makes us shift our lives to do other things. Three years later, I met Manong Max Soliven, then publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, who was in-between newspapers as the Philippine Star was just coming out. Hence, instead of becoming a lawyer, I became a journalist. Max Soliven was my father's favorite columnist. I'm sure he would have been elated to learn that Soliven became my mentor. May we request our pious readers to please pray for his soul.