Sen. Lacson is running from the law... period!

It is crystal clear to us that Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson doesn’t intend to face the music on the charges that may be filed against him on the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. He defends himself that his fleeing from the country is not an indication of his guilt and says that he would never allow Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) to arrest him as he believes that this is a conspiracy against his person.

Is it really a conspiracy? This crime has taken so long to solve and now that witnesses are coming forward, Sen. Lacson disappears. I would like to believe that the evidence against Lacson is so overwhelming, he’d rather run than get himself thrown into jail. This is the kind of Senator that you folks elected into office. But as the old Latin maxim declared, “Dura Lex Sed Lex” the law is harsh, but it is the law.

You can also say the same thing to the case that seems to have hounded former Cebu City Mayor Alvin Garcia that was filed against him by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña for violating the limits set for political advertisements way back in the election year of 2004. As the report said, the Supreme Court ruled that Alvin Garcia must face and answer those charges against him; after all, it is the law of the land.

With elections already underway, you can say that this legal issue is a nuisance for Alvin. But like it or not he has to face the music on this issue; otherwise, what good are the laws of this country? I don’t want to see Alvin jailed for this, but just like Sen. Lacson he must face it. Once more, these two cases brings us to the reality, that the biggest problem of this country is a serious lack of Justice. We concur with that legal dictum, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.

* * *

I joined the “Power” meeting at the Governor’s conference room the other day where Gov. Gwen F. Garcia was appraised by the stakeholders in the power industry like the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) the National Power Corp. (NPC) the Department of Energy (DoE), the Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC), Kepco and the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) including the three business chambers of commerce as to the real power outlook of Cebu.

There is a Gas Turbine plant on a barge that still hasn’t been tapped because of a lack of a fuel supply agreement. We already know that the brownouts that we are experiencing today was expected and planned. This was postponed to February so we can have a brownout-free Christmas and Sinulog. So if that Gas Turbine Barge gets fuel, it would certainly alleviate our power situation.

Meanwhile, as a member of the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) I suggested to the Governor that since she was leader of the One Visayas Movement, we should have a power summit of all the power stakeholders in the entire Visayas. Gov. Gwen was a bit cautious as it is election season, but she agreed that this is necessary and can be done after the elections. Pres. Sammy Chioson of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. suggested that this could be one of the highlights of the June Chamber month.

I’m glad that Gov. Garcia exercised her leadership in this current power crisis, which was greatly alleviated by VECO’s Interruptible Load Program where companies with generators fired up their own power to ease our power shortage. Without the Governor pushing for this, the situation could have been far worse. So now we need to plan for the future!

* * *

THE BLACKBOX:

A close friend texted me that during a marine incident where a ship stalled due to an engine problem a few months back, one of its passengers cried out that the vessel that they took wasn’t seaworthy and said that they were floating coffins. This was picked up in the news. Well, that same person apparently was seen purchasing a ticket for that same vessel again, which makes me think that either he has changed his mind about that vessel’s seaworthiness or he is prepared for the inevitable to make his maker!

* * *

Kudos my good friend, Eduardo “Eddie” Alegrado and his son, my fellow Easy Rider biker and fellow Rotarian Bernard Alegrado on the grand opening of Cebu’s very 1st Oyster Bar at the newly opened Bridges Town Square (BTC) in Plaridel St. Mandaue City. This is the first Oyster Bar of its kind in Cebu and it’s perfectly located for people who are going to or coming from the airport so they could give their friends a welcome treat of fresh oysters! So congratulations on this first-of-a-kind endeavor!