Welcome to blessings in June

So soon, and now in June we are already in the middle of the year. When classes open on Monday, we hope with the pre-school year efforts of Brigada Eskwela, the generous donations by civic-minded business and community organizations of school buildings and equipment, as well the refurbishment of existing facilities, our public school system, particularly, is ready for the influx of enrollees.

Parents, meanwhile, prepare to cope with rising costs of school supplies, despite discount sales that opened as early as last month. Expenses of private school children include rising tuition and new school uniforms as well.

The educational school system, public and private, is also faced with the financial problem of raising salary scales needed for its teachers and educators.
Meanwhile, other problems and fast-breaking events this week include environmental disasters, the latest of which is the massive fish kill in Batangas in the area of Taal Lake due to the current lowering of oxygen levels there, volcanic tremors in the Bicol peninsula, and the disastrous landslides in our mountain areas. Add to the still hotly debated RH bill, a counter Human Right to Life bill, and now, a proposed divorce bill!

On the lighter side, that delightful French Pop Circus I witnessed last month with a packed SRO crowd at the Ayala Activity Center was well reported in the papers. With three casually dressed male performers and only wood planks, boards and a ladder for props, the performance had all the elements of earlier circuses I remember seeing: agile acrobatic and skillful balancing acts with touches of silent comic humor made for a memorable hour-long performance.
Last month, which was designated National Heritage Month, featured two traditional religious tributes to the Blessed Virgin. In the daily Flores de Mayo incorporated in the afternoon Mass, a procession up to the altar with little children dressed as angels, bearing decorated letters spelling “Ave Maria” and praying it in song lay floral offerings before the image of Our Lady.
Meanwhile, the Santacruzan is an outdoor procession from and back to the church of ladies representing the various virtues of Our Lady as they walk along under floral arches. Hopefully, as it evolves into what is now apparently also a beauty and fashion affair, the religious motivation will not be overlooked or forgotten.

Wednesday last week, I attended the Conferment of a Papal Award to each of nine Cebuana Dames of the Order of St. Sylvester during a solemn Mass for the occasion at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral celebrated by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, with Cebu Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal in attendance. Awardees were Anita Cabinian, Julia Gandiongco, Lourdes Jereza, Anita Sanchez, Conchita Go, Rosa Maria Garcia, Lourdes Cornejo Lee, Alita Solon, and Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung. They have all generously contributed in their respective fields of involvement with their time and active participation to works of charity of the Church for the community.

After the extensive media coverage of the annual Gabii sa Kabilin Friday last week, I hope to take time soon to visit three more museums in the Kabilin itinerary that I have not yet seen.

May 28th last week, National Flag Day, commemorated the waving of the tricolor flag on that day in 1898 by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to mark the Filipinos’ victory in the Battle of Alapan in Imus, Cavite, and eventually, the Declaration of Independence from Spain. More next week on other significant Philippine cultural and historical events in the last days in May, and this June, many involving our national hero, Dr.Jose Rizal.

In closing, please remember in your prayers the soul of Ester Alferez, a longtime broadcast colleague, veteran performer in Cebuano radio dramas and accomplished singer of Cebuano songs, who unexpectedly passed away last Wednesday. Her body lies in state at the Chapel on F. Pacaña Street in Punta Princesa, and will be moved to the Lourdes Parish Church next Saturday, June 11th, for the funeral Mass preceding her interment. May she rest in God’s peace.

Till next week, then, may God continue to bless us one and all.