I spent a good time last Tuesday morning until the afternoon with my eyes glued on TV to watch history being made when North Korean leader Kim Jung Un went to Singapore to meet with US President Donald Trump in a historic meeting that the whole world wanted to realize. That meeting was something that the world did not expect to see would happen, but it did and we are glad that today the world is a safer place.
I was just surprised to hear the negative comments coming from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour who made her comments after the meeting of the two world leaders, saying that the US President gave so much by giving up the military exercises with South Korea to please North Korea. Christiane obviously knows that Pres. Trump didn’t know where the talks would lead to the point that he even said that he would leave if it were necessary. But the meeting went very well… and produced a good beginning for the future of the Korean Peninsula and World Peace.
Unfortunately, CNN’s hatred of Pres. Trump got them to find ways to belittle what the US President has done for the world. While I did watch the historic events unfold through CNN, in reality BBC came up with a better commentary for the world to hear. CNN commentators shouldn’t have expected much after all it was the first meeting. They can be critical in the future meetings, but not on the first one. But like what I said, CNN’s commentators had no choice but down play what Pres. Trump has done.
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Call it unbelievable, but did you know that in the last six months, three Catholic priests have been killed in this country? Last June 10, Father Richmond Nilo was shot and killed as he prepared to celebrate Mass in Nuestra Senora de la Nieva Chapel in Zaragoza. Another priest, Fr. Rey Urmeneta was shot by two gunmen in Calamba City last June 6.
Last April, Fr. Mark Ventura was shot and killed in Gataran, while Fr. Marcelito Paez was killed last December in the town of Jaen. What’s going on here… why are priests being targeted, shot and killed? This is the first time that in just a few months so many priests have been shot and killed. Why is this happening to our Catholic priests? Fr. Nilo was a parish priest in the Northern Philippine Diocese of Cabanatuan, where he served as apostolate for the deaf and mute. I dare the Duterte government to give these priests the justice they deserve! I have no doubt that God is watching over the killers of those priests… God will have his own revenge when the time comes. Obviously these killers do not believe in God.
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At least we hear something new… That with the opening soon of Terminal 2, buses from Cebu South Bus Terminal to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport-Terminal 2 will start operating next month. Sugbo Tours buses are already having a dry run, according to CSBT manager Joey Herrera, which gives us an idea that its time has come because, except for the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA), no airport, either local or international, is accessible with the use of buses. Now this is a reality that is welcomed by international passengers at a cheap fare of P40.
Presently, four buses are plying the CSBT-to-MEPZ 1 route. There are six stops where the buses can load and unload passengers along the way. These are the Island Mall near the airport, Pacific Mall in Mandaue City, North Bus terminal, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Fuente, and the CSBT. The minimum fare in between stops is P25. Mind you, this could never happen unless a private consortium would run the airport. Mind you, in Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, buses take you from the airport to the Air Termini where all passengers would go.
In Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan, you have a lot of choices to take from the airport to downtown Tokyo and buses are the cheapest means, or the train. At least in the Philippines, MCIA is leading the way for passengers to choose which public transport they should use to take them to the places they want to go.
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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.