Postscript to the Sinulog Festival

Sunday evening when the Sinulog Parade was over and done, people who didn’t have any transportation walked the streets, which gives us an idea that the time has come for our city planners to install wider sidewalks because our Building Code was enacted when there were only 25 million people in the Philippines. Now, widening our sidewalks is already a necessity.

Sunday evening also revealed what I have always known about our motorcycle riders, that if and when they don’t see any policemen or enforcers, they do not follow the traffic signal lights. This happened along Escario Street where motorists ran the red light when they realized no vehicles were coming along Gorordo Avenue. Professional and obedient drivers follow the traffic rules even if there are no policemen or traffic enforcers around.

Come to think of it, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña used his political clout to help the 7,000 motorcyclists in Cebu who wanted to join “Angkas” even if they did not identify them as Cebu City residents. Osmeña even made an appeal to Congress to help people living in far-flung areas that have no public transportation go about their daily life by approving Angkas as their only means of public transportation even with the realization that children riding motorcycles live their lives dangerously! Mind you, last Sunday many motorcyclists went riding without helmets because they know too well that all enforcers are assigned to the Sinulog Route.

The only positive thing that happened during the Sinulog Grand Parade was, there was less litter in the streets in the morning after, which means our people are starting to realize that they should not throw trash in the streets during the Sinulog festivities. While it wasn’t yet a totally clean road at least it is a good start. Hopefully the Sinulog next year would become a great example of that Catholic doctrine “cleanliness is next to godliness!”

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One big event that happened last Sunday was the WBA Welterweight championship between Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Adrien Broner a fight that the Pacman won supposedly to the pride of the Filipinos. I say supposedly because, in my book, Pacman fought a nobody like Broner and despite their age difference, he clobbered his opponent in a unanimous decision fight, which made the Pacman keep his WBA Title.

Of course there is no question that the Pacman made money in that fight. But at 40 years old the Pacman has reached his maximum age and it is better for him to quit while the quitting is good for him. In fact, Adrien Broner didn’t depict himself as a loser as he was supposed to have a guaranteed $25 million purse for this fight. Mind you, at least here in Cebu, the Pacquiao fight didn’t spoil the Sinulog festivities. For the first time many Cebuanos chose to be in the Sinulog festival rather than see the Pacquiao-Broner fight. I guess that one of the reasons was that no one knew who Broner was.

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Last Saturday, we learned of the passing to eternal life of the “richest man in the Philippines,” Mr. Henry Sy. He was 94 years old. Henry Sy opened the first ShoeMart store in 1958 and transformed it from a shoe store to a department store in the 1970s. By 1972, his shops had branched out into selling all manner of goods, prompting the name to be changed to SM Department Store. In 1985, SM City North EDSA, the first SM supermall with 200 thousand square meters rental area was constructed. The SM North EDSA mall included dozens of stores, cinemas, restaurants, banks, and other attractions that made it a one-stop shop for millions of Filipinos. This created the shopping mall culture in the Philippines because we have very little public parks for people to congregate in and a shopping mall is air-conditioned!

Then SM City Cebu then opened in the early 1990s and the age of shopping malls became a reality in the Philippines as it became apparent that shopping malls could also exist in smaller Philippine cities outside Manila. Since then, SM Investments has built more than 70 malls. At this point, we ask our readers to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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