Cleaning up Cebu City is a priority
Last Sunday was Father’s Day. However, today is the nth birthday of my eldest daughter, Dra. Frances Angelique R. Avila Tequillo who 40 years ago made me a father. She was not only my first child, but also the first grandchild of the Avila Family. After she married her husband, Atty. Jennoh Tequillo, she gave me five grandchildren and all I can say is what a great blessing parenthood has given to me and my family. Happy birthday, Fara!
* * *
I was driving early in the morning between the two flyovers, near Ayala Center Cebu and TESDA, and let me tell you that I could see piles of uncollected garbage in Cebu City. Call it a coincidence that yesterday morning, I read a news report that Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte has one advice for new mayors who will be assuming their posts on June 30: Clean their cities or he will force the government’s present mindset on them. This was during an interview last Saturday in Davao City. We all know that the president was mayor of Davao City before he became president. Duterte pointed out that being mayor is just about making sure that the city is clean.
As he said: “It’s just about cleaning the city, imposing law and order, and especially drugs, and try to limit the movements of criminals from other places.” He added: “These are the things we would like to do which in the past has been there on the agenda of government. It’s either they accept the present mindset of the government, or if not, we will force it upon them. There’s no other choice.” According to Pres. Duterte, the Philippines is still a democratic country but noted that democracy has good and bad effects on society.
President Duterte also advised future presidents to not covet the position and just allow fate to take over. He said this was also the advice of his late mother. As he pointed out: “The presidency is a gift from God. My advice to the coming presidents, if they get into office, in the meantime, do not covet anything and it will come to you.” Very well said because despite the ill-effects of the Smartmatic in collusion with the Commission on Elections he still won the presidency!
But now, Pres. Duterte has three more years to go. Sure, he may have said that he regretted his decision to run for president, but then this is the problem with Pres. Duterte who always talks when his mind is open and you get it regardless of its consequences. In effect, Pres. Duterte is a very honest person to a fault that he tells us what lurks in his mind. For instance in social media, too many netizens question the president’s silence on that raging issue of a Chinese fishing vessel supposedly ramming a Filipino fishing boat in Recto Bank. People are saying that Pres. Duterte is scared of telling China’s president about this incident.
Meanwhile, the problem happening in the streets of Cebu City is that the garbage in many areas has not been collected. Fortunately we cannot blame the newly elected leaders in Cebu City because they still have to take their oaths and occupy their new positions on July 1. So in short, if there is anyone to blame, it is still the administration of Mayor Tomas Osmeña who still has less than 20 days as our mayor. So we have to ask the mayor what is wrong with his garbage collection system. Why isn’t it working as it should? So while the mayor still has two weeks in power, he must finish his job and clean Cebu City whether he likes it or not!
* * *
Did you read the news that Sen. Franklin Drilon demanded an apology from the Chinese government about this maritime incident? How conveniently Sen. Drilon forgot that when he was Senate president on August 23, 2010, under then president Benigno “PNoy” Aquino during the hostage-taking incident in Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park where a multi-awarded police officer, Rolando Mendoza, took hostage Hong Kong tourists on board a bus. And at the end of this ghastly incident, eight tourists were killed. Worse, Pres. Aquino was seen and photographed in the front pages of our newspapers smiling while he inspected the ill-fated tourist bus. Now did the Aquino issue an apology to China for that incident? I don’t think so!
- Latest
