Kudos to the University of the Visayas

For our Sinulog Presentation on Straight from the Sky, we bring you once again our very own Archbishop Jose Palma who was installed in the Archdiocese of Cebu on January 13, 2011 and has since become a worthy successor of the late Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. Last year Archbishop Palma was the first guest on this TV program so this week, he is our Sinulog guest. One thing I learned about this interview is that the Archdiocese of Cebu is the largest archdiocese in the Philippines and has the biggest number of priests.

In this interview I also asked Archbishop Palma for a summary of 2018, the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Life, and what to expect in the Cebu Archdiocese for 2019, the Year of the Youth. So watch Archbishop Palma tonight on SkyCable’s channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV’s channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.

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Last Saturday night, I joined the opening salvo of the centennial celebration of the University of the Visayas (UV) which was originally founded by Don Vicente Gullas as the Visayan Institute and at one time had the biggest student population among all the school in Cebu City. UV’s motto is “Amor, Servitum, Humanitas” or in “Love, Service to Humanity.” It was indeed a joyous time for Sir Eddie Gullas, the President of UV, and Sir Dodong Gullas. Eddie Gullas always pointed out that while UV is a sectarian school, each class starts and ends with a prayer.

The FREEMAN also celebrates its 100th year next month which gives you an idea that the Gullas Family has kept the issue of education not just in the school campus, but also shares it with the Cebuano community through having a fearless newspaper. Kudos to the Gullas Family for keeping people well-informed, and if you visited UV today it has become a very modern and well-accomplished university. Both Sir Dodong and Sir Eddie always honor their mother Inday Pining Gullas in their speeches, proof that they are truly following the good roots of the Gullas family tradition.

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Early Saturday morning I motored to the pier near the Island Central Mall for the inauguration of Topline Express a company dedicated to help the workers and employees of the Mactan Export Processing Zone avoid the daily hassle of traffic. As they say: Necessity is the mother of invention. If you are working in MEPZ l and it takes you at least two hours to get to your workplace, your best bet is to take the Topline Express because this ferry only takes you 30 minutes travel time, which means you save at least an hour and a half for yourself or for your workload. The president of Topline Express is Eugene Eric Lim.

On hand to inaugurate Topline Express was no other than House Speaker and former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In her speech, GMA mentioned the many things that she has done for Cebu when she was president. Now since I was asked to sit at the same table with GMA, I reminded her that one of the biggest things she did for Cebu was her approval of the South Reclamation Project. Sure, this project may have been conceptualized by Mayor Tomas Osmeña, but it could only take off with the approval of the president. Mind you, I got this information directly from my friend the late, Cerge M. Remonde, who was then her Press Secretary.

I also reminded GMA of the year when she became president as it was the end of the infamous “Ancar Permit” where you could not leave the Island of Cebu unless you could prove that your car wasn’t stolen. The person who came to Cebu to ask me how to remove the Ancar permits was Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez and he removed the offensive Ancar permits and it became the “Strong Republic Nautical Highway” the backbone program of President Arroyo. GMA thanked me for reminding her of her history, to think it was Alvarez that she had to remove to become House Speaker. Very few people knew about this incident, which happened when GMA took over as president from Erap.

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