Donating SRP land to COA? Now way, Jose!
First off, I got this report from my sister Adela Kono that two Cebu City councilors, both good friends of mine, Councilor Renato “JunJun” Osmeña and Councilor Alvin Dizon, have truly gone out of their way to help my sister and Tess Chua on how the Cebu City Councilor could help persons with severe disabilities in Cebu City. They are not just ordinary persons with disability (PWDs) but persons who cannot even help themselves through their daily chores. If this gets approved by the Cebu City Council, it would mean that our taxes are being used by people who really need the help of our City Council through medicines and medical supplies for their daily needs. God bless the Cebu City Council for doing this.
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There is something wrong happening in the City of Cebu when the Cebu City Legal Office declared that it finds no legal impediment to donate a parcel of land at the South Road Properties (SRP) to the Commission on Audit (COA). I would like to believe that the City of Cebu has many other properties within the boundaries of the city, but why donate land that was reclaimed in order to be used for commercial purposes?
Sure COA chairman Michael Aguinaldo, his office may find the terms and conditions to be within the bounds of the law, but that is not the point. COA is now choosing very expensive commercial property for its use, which for me is not proper. They can always find properties owned by the City of Cebu in many other areas…but why the SRP? At this point, I dare ask Atty. Rey Gealon, if he failed to find other properties within the boundaries of the City of Cebu that he now has to give COA properties within the SRP? So let’s find out first what are the other properties belonging to Cebu City before they ask Mayor Edgar Labella to sign this donation?
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When I read in the news that the Province of Cebu has imposed a 90-day temporary ban of pork and pork products from the entire island of Mindanao after it was confirmed the existence of African Swine Fever (ASF) cases in the Davao Region, I said to my self that this was the right thing to do. It turned out that Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia signed Executive Order No. 7, which also bans the entry of boar semen, pork-related products and by-products, and all other food products that have been commingled with pork from Mindanao. This is the only way for ASF to stop spreading at least to the Island of Cebu.
Meanwhile we learned that President Rodrigo Duterte also issued Administrative Order No. 22 that directed the strict implementation of DA’s Administrative Circular No. 12 or the “National Zoning and Movement Plan for African Swine Fever." Pres. Duterte said there is an urgent need to ensure consistent implementation and compliance with DA circular for a more effective control the ASF virus toward its complete eradication
As it turns out, the decision to ban meat products from Mindanao came after Gov. Garcia met with the Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative (CVIPPCO), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ), and the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) last Tuesday. I really don’t know how long will this ban be, but at least we are told that the pork producers assured the Governor that there will be no hike on the prices of pork here during the ban, which is a good thing for Cebu.
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So finally the Philippine government has officially sent the notice to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) to the United States government. This was confirmed last Tuesday that the notice has been signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, Jr. and sent to the US government on the same day. Apparently Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to tell Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin of the Foreign Affairs to send the notice of termination to the US government and the Executive Secretary sent the message to Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin, and the latter signed the notice of termination and then sent it to the US government.”
According to Presidential spokesman Panelo, the termination will take effect after 180 days from now. Meanwhile, Sec. Locsin in a tweet said the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy has received the notice of termination. So we are now headed towards the unknown.
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