Robredo’s misfortune

What happened to Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was indeed unfortunate. He’s   an asset of the administration and one of the hardworking Cabinet secretaries of President Benigno Aquino III with a  bright future ahead of him.

I met the secretary twice before he was appointed to lead the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), once at a Ramon Aboitiz Foundation affair and another time at the University of San Carlos during a symposium about governance. I was impressed with the frankness and humility of the good secretary at these functions. One could feel his sincerity to help the government and our country. He was after all awarded several times for his service as mayor of Naga City in the Bicol region.

Speculations is rife that in the event that Robredo, who remains missing as of this writing, could not be found, Sen. Panfilo Lacson would be appointed by President Aquino as a replacement.

I think  Lacson is very good material for the DILG because of his police background.

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I am in a great quandary as to why the Cebu City council is so eager to pay the Rallos heirs when  they were already paid at least P50 million by the city government during the previous administration. By the way,  did the City Council approve the payment at the time? I’m not sure the councilors even reviewed the payment.

The Commission on Audit recently started investigating the Office of the Governor for releasing funds as donations to storm-stricken provinces allegedly without the approval of the Provincial Board.  In the case of Cebu City, the City Council returned the proposed supplemental budget of the mayor that allocated money for senior citizens but set aside a contingent fund for the possible payment of the Rallos heirs, ignoring and disregarding a  recent Court of Appeals ruling about the case.

Another controversial case is the one of Roque Ting whose property, like the Balili lot, is under water. Now some quarters are asking why the Cebu city government is being asked to pay for submerged property. Mayor Michael Rama is very cautious about these dealings because many of the properties are questionable. I am happy that today we have an administration that protects public funds against  wasteful spending like the payment  of parties who have no rightful claim.

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I have been pestered by many who asked if my cousin Annabelle Rama is running for congresswoman in Cebu City’s north district.  I recently got  confirmation that she is indeed running.  Annabelle is a full-blooded Cebuana whose life is a story of  rags to riches.  She once stayed in the Asilo dela Milagrosa and grew up in the Rama Compound.

Her father is the late Captain Laurente G. Rama who used to stay in San Jose Street in the north district.   What is important is that Annabelle became rich because of hard work even when she was in the United States where she  sold merchandise to the Filipino community.

Today she’s  a talent manager, along  with her family. She’s engaged in honest work and never had a record of stealing or cheating on her talents.  Annabelle is a fighter for what is right and good.

She gets in  trouble because she’s honest and does not allow herself to be used to cheat on anyone. She is always provoked; that’s  why she’s always  in a fighting mood. She hates dishonest and hypocritical people who can be found aplenty in Manila.