The 888 News Forum yesterday marked its fifth anniversary at Marco Polo Plaza Hotel with Mayor Edward Hagedorn of Puerto Princesa as guest speaker.
Mayor Hagedron presented a short video showing the beauty of Palawan and his city, which amazed the audience.
I bet if you saw Mayor Hagedorn’s campaign to make Puerto Princesa’s Underground River one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, you’d be convinced the river deserves the accolade.
The mayor presented new aspects of the river, like the discovery of a 2-million-year-old fossil of a sirena or sea cow in a cave wall, that could play a crucial role in the writing of the history of the Philippines.
Having seen the video, I urge our countrymen especially the Cebuanos to vote for the river. Check the website www.new7wonders.com. You can vote by texting PPUR to 2861. The cost is P2 for Sun subscribers and P2.50 for Globe and Smart subscribers.
I also invite our countrymen to experience the river cruise to see its majesty.
The 888 News Forum, where I serve as moderator, awarded eight personalities and institutions that contributed to the growth of tourism in Cebu and the country. These are Mayor Hagedorn, Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, former Cebu City councilor Nestor Archival, Aloguinsan Vice Mayor Cynthia Moreno, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel former general manager Marco Protacio, the University of San Carlos, Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.
Congratulations to our awardees and thank you to general manager Hans Hauri of Marco Polo Plaza Hotel for generously hosting the 888 News Forum every week.
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Now that Migz Zubiri has resigned from the Senate to spare his family from the heat of allegations of poll cheating in the 2007 elections, the people want to know whether poll fraud accompanied the election of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the presidency in 2004.
A political science student asked me, “Sir, what would happen to the presidency of PGMA?” That’s a difficult question which will draw different answers, especially from lawyers.
The fact is that Arroyo was the president of our country whether or not her election will be nullified by the Commission on Elections.
But what’s the implication if it is found out that her camp cheated their way to having her elected? Difficult to answer, but for sure history will not be kind to her. Fernando Poe Jr. would be declared the duly elected president in the 2004 exercise.
If the election of GMA is nullified, what happens to all the transactions she entered into on behalf of the government during her presidency?
That’s up to the legal luminaries to debate and settle. Definitely the controversy will reach the Supreme Court.
This story will be a strange chapter in history books. Only in the Philippines. Funny but true.
It is hoped that in the near future our people will judge the presidency of PGMA kindly and fairly. But I am hoping that the perpetrators of cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections shall be held accountable so that similar fraud won’t happen in the future.
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I am astonished by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma’s visit to barangay Suba Pasil in Cebu City.
The archbishop pledged to listen to them and to be their adviser in dealing with their problems with the city government.
I appreciate the humility shown by Archbishop Palma unlike some priests in Cebu who are up so high that sometimes they cannot be reached.
Truly Archbishop Palma is a man for others who reaches out to the people, the poorest of the poor.
I expect to see other priests follow his example. The Catholic Church needs to be closer to the people especially with so many challenges confronting our society.