If you think that the problems that the Cebu Country Club (CCC) had with the striking caddies serving the member golfers are over… apparently it is not. Those caddies blocked the main entrance of the CCC last month and spoiled the 33rd Coral Tee Invitational Golfest, because they did not like that the caddies had to register before they could go inside the golf course. This was done as a security measure… where even cars without stickers had to be checked before they are allowed entry to the CCC.
I haven't played golf in the past week because of a funeral in the family and finally when I planned to play yesterday morning, I was warned not to proceed as the striking caddies once again blocked the main entry to the club premises. At this point, let me say that the members of the CCC have been tolerant against these caddies and gave in to their right to seek redress. But when they blocked the main gate of the CCC in order to stop the entry of members into the club premises… they too violated our rights.
Whether they like it or not, the Country Club is like a second home to many members and when I'm prevented to enter the CCC… I too get pissed off and I tell you I'm pissed off right now because as of press time, the Philippine National Police (PNP) haven't yet cleared the area where the strikers are. I hope that by today, this area would finally be cleared.
Again I'd like to point out that the members of CCC have their rights to enter and leave the premises without incident. The caddies have been "conned" by representatives of the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) to commit an illegal strike because whether they accept it or not, there is no labor-employee relationship between the caddies and the golf club because it is the members who pay the caddies directly. In fact the Country Club or any other golf club for that matter doesn't even get a percentage of the money they earn on any day. The least that the club offers its member is provide change for their money.
At this point, I would like to say that the Cebu Country Club has bent too far for these erring caddies. I dare say that it is high time that they learned certain lessons about rights of people. If they continue and prevent access to the CCC premises, then we should file a case against those who prevent us from entry because those people have no right to prevent us from doing so. These people do not want the police within certain meters from their encampment. Well, I say it is high time that the police came into the picture and put these people in their proper places.
Speaking of ALU, it seems that they are fighting a two-front battle. The one in the Cebu Country Club is a battle supposedly against the rich and the poor…where ALU looks like it is championing the rights of the poor. But in the case of the fencing of the Silot Bay which was awarded to Atty. Democrito Mendoza (the titular head of ALU) by a Supreme Court ruling on March 28, 2007 it is crystal clear that this was a wrongful ruling and for sure, the Associate Justices of the High Court never came to Cebu to take a look at the boundaries of the property in question.
This is why I take my hat off to Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco for issuing a cease and desist order against the fencing of what is in fact sea water. If the Cebu media made a big fuss about the infamous Balili property which was titled and bought by the Province of Cebu… Silot Bay takes the cake! Silot Bay has a tidal basin wherein during high tide, the water goes to its natural borders and recedes during low tide. That tidal basin can and should never belong to any private individual because it is beyond the commerce of man.
Those who are badly affected by the privatization of Silot Bay are the poor fisherfolk of Liloan… which brings us to the question, will Atty. Democrito Mendoza agree to have this Supreme Court decision reviewed as requested by the municipality of Liloan? I hope he would because it would mean a lot to those fishermen who would be displaced by the fencing. Like it or not, ALU must be consistent in advocating for the rights of the poor. Unfortunately, these two cases have ALU on both extremes of the law.
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Last Friday we hopped over to Camp Lapu-Lapu for an overview of the new gun laws with no less than the newly installed chief of the Firearms & Explosive's Unit (FEU) Police Chief Superintendent Louie Oppus presiding over the seminar on the new gun laws. Apparently Republic Act no. 10591 was recently revised and this new gun law had to be explained to the many legitimate gun holders here in Cebu province. The problem they encountered was that, the new law mandates that fingerprinting and photographing of the new or old applicants have to be taken in Camp Crame in Manila. This is another centralized form of bureaucracy that we hope can be changed as soon as they add expenses to the gun holder plus worsen Manila's traffic.
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