Again, we need to hold a traffic summit

The House of Representatives is trying to make history by approving House Bill no. 7303 or “An Act Instituting Absolute Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage in the Philippines” co-authored by House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano, Rep. Edcel Lagman and Rep. Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela. This measure was blocked by pro-life congressmen Lito Atienza and Raul del Mar.

The Congress voted 134-57 to pass House Bill 7303 on third and final reading. This is the problem with ordinary human beings who are voted into positions of power, and then suddenly they act as if they have “divine authority” over what God has ordained “no man must set asunder”. If Alvarez did not have a paramour and remained loyal to his wife, would he have co-authored this measure?

I don’t doubt the Catholic Church is against this measure. After all, the Philippines and the Vatican are the only states that do not have divorce. On the plus side, at least Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte is against the legalization of divorce because it would be disadvantageous to children and abandoned spouses. No doubt, Pres. Duterte must have read the volumes of documents about the ill effects of divorce in many western nations, which is why they have so many dysfunctional families there.

Why did 134 congressmen approve House Bill no. 7303? I really don’t know, but I would like to believe Pres. Duterte is a man who keeps his campaign promises, so when this bill reaches his table in Malacañang, I believe he will veto this bill. But then we wait for that day to come.

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I don’t know what happened during the last meeting of the Regional Development Council-7 where my good friend Rep. Del Mar walked out. Then came the news yesterday that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña described the RDC-7 as “incompetent” for allegedly blocking projects for Cebu City because RDC-7 did not approve the projects pushed by Del Mar for the city’s north district. Osmeña added: “Those guys don’t know anything. They have bad intention and they have no competence…the good people are not there.”

The problem with Mayor Osmeña is simple; he is the only one who knows about the problems of Cebu City, while the rest of us lesser mortals who live here and do the daily grind have no idea of how to solve traffic problems. But I have already analyzed the current situation, that after years of being part and parcel of the ruling party, finally Del Mar has to face an RDC that he has no control over. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. What is needed is for Del Mar and the Department of Public Works and Highways to brief RDC-7 of their infrastructure projects something that I heard was never done!

This is why I already proposed for Cebu City to hold a traffic summit so that not just our elected officials can participate in giving suggestions and solutions to our traffic problems. But no one seems to be interested in holding a traffic summit. I exhort all metizens to dare our elected officials to hold a traffic summit so we can solve our traffic problems together and as one people. Can we do this?

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After an initial confusion as to who really is the head of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP-Laban) in Cebu, no less than PDP-Laban National President Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, National Secretary General House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, and Vice Chairman Alfonso Cusi signed the appointment papers of Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella as PDP-Laban Cebu City head. So now, Vice Mayor Labella can proceed with his plans and programs for the PDP-Laban in Cebu City, especially for the up-and-coming midterm elections.

During the last national elections, I suggested to then mayor Michael Rama to shift alliances from the United Nationalist Alliance party of then vice president Jejomar Binay and join the bandwagon of then mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his PDP-Laban, but Michael Rama stuck it out with Binay despite his failing survey reports. Too bad for Mike, he didn’t listen to good advice, especially at a time when the people backing Duterte were in dire need of political allies. But then, that’s how the cookie crumbles!

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