False cancer rumor

The nasty rumor that my cousin Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama is suffering from prostate cancer is definitely not true. I think Mayor Mike should be happy enough that it is a false rumor.

As for   Congressman Tommy Osmeña,  who survived bladder cancer, I continue to pray that God will  keep him cancer-free and  in the pink of health.

It’s not easy to lose a family member  to cancer. My mother died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. I was  miserable when  she passed away after she went through her last stages with the illness.  I was at the Ateneo Law School when her cancer was discovered. I  remember dreading the idea of going home  during that semestral break because I didn’t want to  see her deteriorating condition.  She was  practically in and out of the hospital.

My  mother was a big woman but days before her death she was practically skin and bones. I know how it feels to have someone in the family suffering with cancer.

* * *

I am in favor of the passage of the sin tax bill. Aside from the fact that the  government would be able to raise revenue, the tax would help fight  lung cancer. Medical studies have clearly shown the ill effects of smoking to both  smokers and persons inhaling second hand smoke.

That is why I can’t understand why  some militant groups are against a proposal geared to  helping promote public health.

Cigarettes and hard liquor are  not  essential goods needed by people, especially the poor. We can  live  normal lives without these products.

In a way I was disappointed with the version of the proposed sin taxes of Sen.  Ralph Recto. He succumbed to  the pressure of cigarette and alcohol manufacturers. I’m happy that Sen.  Franklin Drilon now heads the Senate  ways and means committee and is  amenable to a sin tax bill that would generate about P45 billion in revenue for the government.

It is hoped that senators show concern for the harmful effects of smoking and alcohol by supporting the  sin tax bill.

* * *

I can’t see why the  Cebu City Council is dilly dallying  with the passage of supplemental budgets  submitted by the mayor for operations and the  delivery of basic services.

Apparently the City Council failed to act on the mayor’s request for meals and snacks of volunteers during All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

Supplemental Budget no. 2   has not been approved by the council, which is taking its time reviewing it and asking for many explanations and documents from the executive unlike before when they were still party mates  of Bando Osmeña- Pundok Kauswagan and the mayor’s budget went through smooth sailing.

The city legislature shouldn’t make the mayor’s life miserable with the delay and shouldn’t deprive the public of necessary basic services.

I think the guiding principle for politicians should be the prompt delivery of services due to those who elected them to office.

Partisan politics has no place in public service especially if it hampers the delivery of basic services. It is for  the people to judge them on election day.