Launching Sara Duterte in the Senate

Yesterday the Cebu media was hosted to a sumptuous Cantonese lunch for the soft opening of Hai Shin Lou Cantonese Restaurant at the lobby level of the Marco Polo Plaza. The Marco Polo Group have always been linked to Hong Kong and yesterday, I met Mr. Alfred Ty who apparently convinced the Manila-based Hai Shin Lou to open a Chinese restaurant at the Marco Polo Plaza and that’s exactly what we tasted for lunch. Perhaps the best part of the luncheon was when owner Mr. Al Tengco told us that his restaurant would be serving roast goose! If there is anything higher than Peking duck for me, it is roasted goose and that’s the only reason why I go to Hong Kong. But if Hai Shin Lou will be serving roasted goose, then there’s no reason for me to go to Hong Kong anymore.

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Yesterday I interviewed newly-appointed Cebu City Councilor Erik Espina (he is my talk show host on MyTV on his famous show “Republika”) for my talk show on Monday, as he is now a public servant here in Cebu City. Just in case people have forgotten, Erik is the son of Cebu Governor Rene Espina who was also appointed Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways and ended up constructing for President Ferdinand Marcos the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge, which was eventually operated by VC Ponce Corp. Yes, it must be told that while the late Senator Serging Osmeña (and so many Cebuanos) dreamed of bridging the Mactan Channel, it was DPWH Secretary Rene Espina who worked on the first bridge.

I was totally surprised when I learned that Espina was appointed to replace Councilor James Cuenco simply because I knew that the Espinas had no political ambitions or plans in Cebu. Espina was a columnist in Manila Bulletin and active in the army reserve so he was in a way helping our country. But somehow, God allowed him to serve Cebuanos when he was appointed to the City Council.

At the end of my TV interview with Espina, he gave me a press release of his “Inday” Sara Duterte for Senator Movement. He is spearheading this movement in Cebu to secure one million signatures to persuade Sara Duterte to run for the Senate. Actually if you looked at the recent surveys, Sara Duterte is within the five top-ranking senatoriables, so this is a reality that we should consider. Plus the fact and reality that right now, there are no Cebuanos in the Senate.

With President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte always saying that he comes from Danao City, therefore, Sara can easily identify herself as a Cebuana, after all she speaks Bisaya as fluent as anyone here. Best of all, Sara, being the Presidential daughter, would certainly be a huge influence in the Senate after the 2019 elections because her father will still have three years to go as president. So let’s go for Sara for Senator!

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Finally, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines debunked Senator Manny Pacquiao for allegedly misinterpreting the Bible in justifying his stand for reviving the death penalty. CBCP Commission on Prison Pastoral Care Executive Secretary Rodolfo Diamante pointed out that Pacquiao had a “wrong interpretation of the Bible” in claiming that God allows capital punishment. Indeed, God never allowed capital punishment simply because the word “capital punishment” did not exist 2,000 years ago.

Pacquiao argued: “I agree it’s wrong to kill, okay, individually, we’re forbidden from killing…but you can read in the Bible, the authority, meaning the government, is given power to impose death penalty. If you will read Romans 13 and study it carefully, God is giving the authority to impose death penalty to those who commit heinous crimes.”

However, Diamante said: “Sen. Pacman is actually misleading the public on his own understanding of the scriptural passage. This is what is dangerous.”  First of all, Senator Pacquiao is neither a pastor nor has he studied theology in school. So whatever he says as a Protestant, we Catholics should not give it any importance. If it’s a report on boxing, I will never argue with Pacquiao but when it comes to religion, I dare him to come to me for some catechism.

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