With the untimely passing of our very good friend and a great Cebuano, Mr. Roberto "Bobby" Aboitiz, President of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., I told my director/editor Albert Dajab that in the 17 years we have been showing Straight from the Sky in SkyCable and MyTV, we have interviewed the late Bobby Aboitiz nearly a dozen times from 2000 until he got sick four years ago. Who could forget Bobby when he carried an oar and sold the idea of his "Bugsay Principle" which his daughter Amaya turned into a Children's Book entitled "Akong Bugsay"?
Yesterday morning, the friends of Bobby Aboitiz who ride big bikes and those from the Sports Car Club of Cebu joined us at the Cebu Country Club where Bobby was once president and we all rode from there to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) offices in Lopez Jaena St. and passed through MetaPhil and Tsuneishi Heavy Industries and finally to the Kool Adventure Camp in Balamban. That Tribute Ride for Bobby brought in almost all motorcycle clubs in Cebu, led by the Cycluns, the Road Brothers, Vogue, Hero, Recycle Club, the Star Touring and Riding Club and our old club the Easy Riders Club. Thanks to Anton Perdices and Bingen Mendezona for organizing this great ride for Bobby!
So for tonight, we bring you a few of those interviews with Bobby Aboitiz as Straight from the Sky's tribute to a great friend. While some videos could no longer be retrieved, we do have enough to bring you back to the life and times of Bobby Aboitiz who was in his element during our interviews with him. So watch this special presentation as our tribute to Bobby Aboitiz tonight on SkyCable's channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV's channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.
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If Cebuanos were edgy for most of the week, it is because the Armed Forces of the Philippines gave no indication that they have neutralized the remaining members of the Abu Sayyaf Group that they allegedly cornered in Inabanga, Bohol. We only got sketchy information from our friends through their Facebook page. One friend showed us an entrance to a cave in Inabanga where the ASG apparently hid. It had a very small entrance and admittedly it was not easy to find.
But with no news on what the military has been doing, we got all sorts of information that armed men were seen in the south. That turned out of be a group of Muslims passing through the south, but none were armed. Then there was that report that the ASG may have moved from Inabanga to Olango Island, just across Mactan Island and that they were hiding in the mangrove forest. But the SWAT Team sent to search for the ASG only found a hammock and pots and pans, but no ASG. So there was no telling if those utensils belonged to the ASG.
Last Saturday, Colonel Edgardo Arevalo, chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office, confirmed the death of Joselito Melloria, but did not give other details except that he was killed during an encounter in Barangay Nahawan in the town of Clarin, which is next to Inabanga. Found with his body was his M16 rifle with an M203 grenade launcher. Another Facebook friend posted the colored photo of the dead bandit who was believed to be the guide of the ASG in Inabanga. Most reports we got by Saturday evening was that the firefight with the ASG was still ongoing.
Meanwhile we need to beef up our security in our ports especially in the Pasil Fish Port area where there are at least 30 motorized pumpboats that ply the Cebu City to Inabanga and Clarin route. It's very easy for the ASG to take any of these pumpboats and come to Cebu City. Of course, we learned that Cebu City Police Office chief Senior Superintendent Joel Doria has already assigned PNP personnel to watch passengers coming into the Pasil Fish Port. The question is do they know how the ASG men look like? Until they are caught or killed, Cebuanos would have to deal with declining tourist arrivals.
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I just learned that come May 15th, the Cebu City Government will be transferring all the 70 assorted animals living in the Cebu City Zoo to their new home in Amlan Dreamland Nature and Adventure Park in Amlan, Negros Oriental. In short, the City of Cebu is finally closing the zoo simply because they can't afford the upkeep and maintenance of this zoo. I have been to the Cebu City Zoo only once during its better days. But then those animals are better off in Amlan than staying in a zoo that cannot take care of them.