After the (some say) surprising come-from-behind victory of Mayor Mike Rama against his mentor-turned-tormentor, people are now saying that Cebu City is finally about to turn a corner. Before we proceed with that all-important turn, let me write down some of the reasons I overheard some people say why Mayor Mike won.
My musings last week on the letter of Jeff Ruffolo that was printed in this paper about two weeks back received some reaction from readers. Let me reprint those from foreigners, non-pigs, who have had the chance to live longer in this so-called pigsty, Cebu. My good friend Paul Gerschwiler, no stranger to Cebu having [...]
Jeff Ruffolo’s contributed article in Cebu Daily News titled “Why is your city in chaos?” has stirred up anew a hornet’s nest of condemnation from readers. One can see in the online edition of this article that those who disagreed felt slighted to the extreme by Ruffolo’s ranting and raving about their beloved Cebu.
My congratulations to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and Balbino “Ka Bino” Guerrero for winning in the war against the diaper commercial that denigrated and trivialized the Battle of Mactan. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines has put its foot down. As I had written in my previous column (“Ka Bino’s Diapers”), let no [...]
Mayor Paz Radaza and her tourism consultant, my good friend Balbino “Ka Bino” Guerrero, cannot be faulted for pointing out, no matter how belatedly as people see it, the offense felt by Lapu-Lapu City over the EQ Diaper commercial spoofing as it were the Battle of Mactan. While it may be true that the commercial [...]
The fourth leg of the San Remigio Archaeological Project of the University of San Carlos Museum started yesterday at the archaeological site known by many as the Lapyahan Public Beach, a small stretch of white sand beside crystal clear waters just behind the San Remigio Catholic Church. Two doctoral degree students, five master’s degree students, [...]
For Roman Catholics, today is the day to visit seven churches in a tradition called Visita Iglesia, or literally, church visit. The practice dates back to ancient times when Holy Thursday was marked in the Holy Land with a visit to some of the sites associated with the defining moments in the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
Netizens and Facebook users went viral over the weekend when people started posting the interview with Msgr. Achilles Dakay, the Cebu archdiocesan medial liaison officer, regarding reports that Pope Francis, while still Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio, rode buses and trains in lieu of a chauffeur-driven limousine and had lived in an apartment, in lieu of a [...]
John Paul II and Benedict XVI, popes of very recent memory, share one thing in common: they were not front-runners during the conclaves that eventually elected them to the papacy. Referred to as “compromise candidates,” both Karol Cardinal Wojtyla (John Paul II) and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) were elected popes because all those speculated [...]
In two previous columns, I have brought attention to the issue of Sabah. The first time it broke three weeks ago, I warned that work was cut out for President Noynoy Aquino as members of the Sulu Sultanate began occupying a section of Lahad Datu. Last week, I hinted that the Lahad Datu incident was [...]
It is quite a sad commentary that the once-mighty royal house of Sulu has had to resort to what Malaysians see as extra-legal means to impose what it steadfastly believes as a simple misinterpretation of a treaty signed over a century ago that has led to decades-long injustice. Unlike the nine sultanates under the federal [...]
It is a bit of a sad reality that when the conclave to elect the next Pope opens at the Vatican sometime between March 10 and March 20, only one elector will come from the Philippines. That voter is himself a papabile, the term used in Rome for a potential candidate as the next pope. [...]
How strange the twists and turns of history, more so when it involves the same political names that are embroiled in the continuing saga of the tragic falling out between governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia and her erstwhile favored friend, Acting Gov. Agnes Almendras Magpale. On Feb. 4, 1964, or exactly 49 years ago the other [...]
