Sinulog without politics
Many are asking if suspended Gov. Gwen Garcia will dance in today’s Sinulog Grand Parade. If she does, what happens to her stay at the Capitol? Will she be allowed to go back to her office?
So far, as of this writing, the only hint we got from the suspended governor is that she is willing to sacrifice and be embarrassed.
Sacrifice because there is the possibility that she may not be allowed to return to her Capitol office, not by acting Governor Agnes Magpale, but by other forces who are not inclined to allow the suspended governor to go back.
Embarrassed because of the possibility that she may be booed by spectators, especially Cebu city residents where she is less popular than among her contituents in the towns.
But I am confident that as Catholics, the audience will not act that way out of respect for the child Jesus.
I believe the Sinulog celebration will unite people and find forgiveness in our hearts. Partisan politics has no place in the Sinulog.
What is important at the Capitol is that Acting Governor Agnes Magpale is functioning well as chief executive of the Province of Cebu and the suspended governor is not interfering in these functions.
Garcia may be getting moral support from some municipal leaders but that is a given. She’s been governor for three terms.
Her brothers may say painful remarks but what is important is that Acting Governor Magpale and her group are not distracted by Byron’s antics, and just focus on doing their jobs well.
The people expect much from her and I’m confident that she will do a good job.
To both acting governor and suspended governor, good luck and may the Sto. Niño give you good health and find peace in your hearts.
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The Atimonan Quezon violence was alarming. We can’t blame the public for not trusting the police which is sometimes seen as the oppressor, instead of the protector of the people, as what happened to the victims of the Atimonan checkpoint incident.
The investigation by the National Bureau of Investigatino showed that occupants in the vehicles had no opportunity to fire their guns.
Their vehicles were peppered with bullets, leading Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to speculate that an ambush took place even as NBI investigators describe the shooting as an overkill.
Many could not understand why the PNP did what they did to innocent civilians with some police officers inside the bullet ridden vehicles. We agree that going after criminal elements is the job of police officers but murdering them and carrying them in a very suspicious manner is not the job of the PNP.
I hope that this kind of violence doesn’t happen again. Who is going to protect innocent civilians from abusive law enforcers if the PNP acts this way?
I think the administration of President Aquino has a difficult task cleansing the ranks of abusive policemen. This is one challenge he has to make a priority to regain public trust in the role of the PNP as protector of the people.
The task isn’t easy. There are scalawags in uniform who have abused the power entrusted to them.
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Allow to me greet everybody a happy fiesta in honor of the miraculous baby Jesus, Sto. Nino. We pray that our fiesta especially the grand parade today will be peaceful and successful.
So sa tanan, Pit Senyor!
