Peaceful holidays

I am happy to note that we Cebuanos had a relatively peaceful and orderly observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days last week. Reports have it that no untoward incidents were recorded except for some petty crimes. But let me share my observations.

Last week, the Poca family went as usual to Cebu Memorial Park to visit our late mother Reynalda. In my case I went there on Thursday AT about 9 a.m. and upon arriving early experienced difficulty looking for parking space as the parking lot was nearly full and the way to it blocked by cars.

What drew my ire was that some drivers reserved empty parking spaces by putting chairs in them.

I also could understand why some cemetery goers ignore the law that forbids them to bring in intoxicating drinks. Many still took the risk and tried to smuggle in prohibited drinks.

But all in all, the observance was very peaceful and orderly and I would like to thank our policemen, volunteers especially for traffic management, the City Traffic Operations management, barangay tanods and City Hall.

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I am amazed at the destruction that superstorm Sandy brought to the US especially the east coast territories of New York and New Jersey.

I have seen some news footages of the damage that included flooding in the streets and blackouts that hit million of houses and left them in the cold.

I was shocked by the incident because in my whole life this was the first calamity of such magnitude that I have seen hit the US yet there are those who say that what happened in the US is nothing compared to the flooding in our country.

Well the difference is that we Filipinos are used to flooding while Americans in the US are not.

Let us pray to San Pedro Calungsod and to Sto. Niño that the suffering Americans be given the strength to recover from the devastation wrought by Sandy. Let us also thank San Pedro and Sto. Niño for protecting us Cebuanos from a major calamity like what just happened in the US.

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Presidential elections will be held today, Nov. 6 in the US amid the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy. In the last stretch of the campaign, Democrat President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are still neck and neck with the former enjoying a slim margin.

It has been observed that debates between the presidential candidates play a crucial role in the US elections unlike in our country where candidates ignore invitations for debates.

In the US, Obama and Romney had three debates with the latter winning the first while Obama came out strong in the second and third debates. Romney is harping on the issue of the economy while Obama showed himself strong on the issue of foreign policy.

It is good to see that platforms of governance are taking center stage in the US presidential elections. Issues like domestic leadership, foreign policy, health and others dominate the political conversation. In our country, we still stick to the traditional politics of personality in choosing our leaders.

I hope that eventually the people are going to vote for the president on the basis of what he stands for or his platform of government. I am seeing a trend in that direction with the emerging political maturity of our people.

I also hope that our people will no longer allow money to dictate how they vote because it blurs the chances of electing an honest government official.