Of love and Lent

The Lenten season this year starts on Feb. 13th, Ash Wednesday, reminding us that time flies, and life is short.

But God be thanked, February is also popularly considered the Month of Hearts, when we observe Valentines’ Day on the 14th. The day is special for lovers and even close friends and relatives, (or sometimes even between the anonymous) as a day for the sending and/or exchange of expressions of love and affection in cards, messages and gifts and/or other tokens of affection. Actually, the day is named after several saints named Valentine.

In this connection, Fr. Jerry Orbos. SVD, reminds us that matters of the heart still do matter. That “we not be so engrossed in practical, pragmatic and beneficial concerns at the expense of sacrificing or lessening the stuff we are made of as persons.” That we may “have hearts that dare to be true and honest in a world that is so full of dishonesty and manipulations.”

This particularly refers to current Philippine politics which is more about changeable(!) party affiliations than independent evaluation of candidates. As Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma cautions, we should not be dictated by surveys.

It was a relief, for a time, when the impasse at the Provincial Capitol was temporarily eased. Then last Wednesday media reported that in the administrative case regarding the Balili estate, it was found that the suspended governor and 5 others were guilty, with Gwen Garcia and former provincial board Member Juan Bolo spared full liability due to legal technicalities. The decision was followed with accusations, charges and counter charges again flying thick and fast, turning it into another “drama” or “sitcom” of “she says, they say” ad infinitum. So, abangan pa ang iba pang susunod.

Other cases have risen regarding explanations from the Badian executive regarding “missing rice,” the Ombudsman refiling the lamppost cases, cybercrime trafficking, drug cases and some students’ sex video.

Hopeful news, on the other hand, is that Asst. City Prosecutor Maria Theresa Casiño is recovering from successful surgery for a bullet in her head from the recent Palace of Justice shootout.

Meanwhile, we now look forward to the start tomorrow of the Chinese New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choi! The Chinese Lunar Calendar welcomes the Year of the Water Snake following after on Feb. 10th. We expect to see the traditional and colorful lion and dragon dances performed in our various malls. These are especially significant in Cebu with a vast Chinese or Chinese-oriented population. Earlier, I already noticed displays of colorful Chinese charms in one of the Cebu malls. By the way, the public has been cautioned that some of these charms may contain harmful substances which have not been specified, and I wonder how we are to distinguish them. Another display I saw at the mall was that of the Chinese sticky rice delicacy tikoy. It brought back early childhood memories of when I used to enjoy it when a Chinese suki bread vendor used to gift it to us with the bread we bought on what I years later learned was Chinese New Year’s Day.

On ecological concerns, years after then US vice president Al Gore came up with his book “An Inconvenient Truth,” the world has been environmentally concerned, especially in the wake of the past weather disasters. Consider the latest man-man environmental disaster with the USS Guardian ship running aground and destroying some 4,000 square miles of our treasured World Heritage Tubbataha coral reef in Calapan. After blame-laying and then careful assessment, attempts are now on hand to lift the stranded and now destroyed ship, or break it up piece by piece, or leave it as is, with expenses and recompense shouldered by the US government and apologies duly made and acknowledged.

For good news, congratulations to the JRG Halad of the Jose Gullas Foundation on its 3rd anniversary. And to Dr. Jose Gullas himself, executive vice president of the University of the Visayas, and founder of the JRG Halad Museum, on his birthday last February 1st! A Pistahan photo exhibit is also going up to Feb. 18th at the Gullas Museum at D. Jakosalem, and at Fort San Pedro as Viviendo del Teniente.

More on culture as the Student Council at the University of the Philippines Cebu, now under newly installed dean Liza Corro, marked National Youth Week last Jan. 28 to 31 with a Cultural Night. This celebration has been held regularly since the end of the first quarter storm that marked the beginning of more similar movements.

More good news for the youth is the addition of two more slides from the Canadian Consulate for the Plaza Independencia playground.

I also went for some culture last week to see the long-run showing of the movie musicale “Les Miz” based on Victor Hugo’s book Les Miserables, which was required reading for us in college.

And now, congratulations to the Bureau of Customs in the Cebu Port (have they already transferred to the landmark Bureau of Customs building?) on their 111th anniversary.

And to beloved retired Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on his 82nd birthday, also last Feb. 6th. On Monday, the 11th, we observe the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Memories of my visit with my late husband to Her Shrine, famed for miraculous cures, in southwestern France, will hold for next week.

Until then, as always, may God continue to bless us, one and all!