Bad punch

Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte has been in the news for her  inappropriate behavior of punching  a court sheriff who was only performing his duty.

What Mayor Sarah did could never be justified.  She’s a  public servant and her behavior, caught on news cameras, was  pathetic.

Inday Sarah has taken a leave of absence and  apologized for her outburst  even as her  father Vice Mayor Digong Duterte and brother,  the ABC federation president,  practically encouraged her and justified her action.

Father and son showed  their own conduct unbecoming a public official by giving the dirty finger on camera.

Vice Mayor Duterte called the gesture a part of freedom of expression.   He’s wrong;    decent people don’t  resort to this crude gesture. Neither should  elected  officials.

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The government is looking into the past practice of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office PCSO  donating  ambulances to public officials and SUVs to church officials.

I think ambulances should be given to public hospitals especially those in poor provinces and municipalities.

Should  ambulances be given to local government units? Yes,  because they are helpful in some localities though  I’ve seen ambulances ferrying  mayors or vice mayors to   meetings at the Capitol, instead of being kept available for emergencies.

PCSO and the Office of the Ombudsman should look into how the donated ambulances are being used.

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Last  Monday was a sad day for the Rama family because my uncle, Miguel G. Rama Sr., brother of my mother, died.

He was laid to rest yesterday  at the Cebu Memorial Park beside his siblings  after a Mass at the Mt. Carmel Church in Magallanes Street.

It was a nostalgic visit for me to the  parish church of my childhood when I was staying  in the old Botica Catalina. It   brought back memories of my  accompanying my maternal grandmother, Catalina, to attend Mass. I was about  5 years old then and would  lie down in the pews and get up to kneel  during the consecration of the host. It was still a quiet place in Magallanes then  and I really enjoyed my childhood days.

Four  children of Tito Mike came home from the United States,  Tina, Marilou, Joy and Chona.  It was good to see them again. To Tito Mike,  goodbye for now. We know you are happy in the  arms of God, with your brothers and sisters   who went ahead of you.

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When Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama gave his State of the City Address on July 1, it was also the last day of work for some contractual employees at City Hall.  Those who didn’t have their work contracts renewed lambasted the mayor, whom they said they had campaigned for in the 2010 election.

Former mayor now Rep. Tommy Osmeña joined the fray.  He  found another issue to  criticize Rama. When  he was reminded by barangay captain George Rama that he, too,  terminated  more than a thousand city  employees when he was the mayor, Osmeña countered that he didn’t  terminate employees who campaigned for him.

Mayor Rama, when asked for his reason for letting the workers go,  said he only acted on the recommendation of  department heads.

He said these contractual workers were often  absent, habitually  tardy or were found to have shown conduct unbecoming of public employees.

Their admission that they had campaigned for Rama is electioneering, which government employees are prohibited from doing.

Rama showed he was not favoring anyone despite the fact that they had campaigned for him. But if you commit  abuses at work,   you have to go and will not  be protected.

I think that rare gesture should be commended and  not criticized.  Not often do you see  a public servant exercising the  political will to serve the public sincerely.