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July 3, 2011
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Dangerous Driving ome parents and adults, consciously or subconsciously, expose their own children or minor wards to danger. We sometimes forget that if adults expose children to danger, it has criminal consequences under the law. Exposing our own children to danger is a form of child abuse. Parents are not exempted. A well-meaning citizen, who happens to be a ranking public official, was aghast one day. While she was driving, she was shocked to see right in front of her a motorcycle with four passengers including the driver. What shocked the official was that the fourth passenger was a toddler who was made to hang on one side of the motorcycle while held in one arm by the rear lady passenger who seemed like the child’s mother. The motorcycle with four riders was driving in the busy streets of Dumaguete, exposing the poor child to possible serious injuries, if not, death. This is the height of irresponsibility. The well meaning public official said that this is nothing less than child abuse.
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Editorial Capitol Political Intramurals
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he tyranny of numbers in the Provincial Board inside the Capitol is now displaying its force with the recent and sudden realignment of standing committees and their chairmen, among the provincial board members. This is the right of the majority who may ask: what are we in power for? And who empowered them but the people. This indicates that as early as now July 2011, the political battle lines for 2013 are now definitely being drawn. We can observe that the nine-member majority of the Provincial Board, who are composed of non-Liberals, have initiated the move in order not to be preempted by the party in power which might catch them flatfooted –if they tarry. During their time, they knew the vast resources controlled by the party in power which is now the Liberal Party over and above the old Lakas Kampi and the NPC. Unexpectedly, the Liberal Party here, headed by Cong. Josy Limkaichong and Clark Development Authority chair Atty. Ipe Remollo, was caught by surprise when the Lakas and NPC camps headed by the Teveses and Arnaiz clans, announced in a caucus, the sudden realignment of
standing committee chairmanships in the provincial board. What does this mean? This means that whoever holds powerful and influential major committees will have an advantage of getting closer access to the voters if they know how to play the game. It means that powerful committees such as education, peace and order, health, public works, finance, etc. will have great influence on the voters if they know how to reach them thru their committees, and even pork barrels, which are actually part of the governor’s discretionary funds. Notice that behind the majority Lakas and NPC are veteran politicians like the Teves and Arnaiz clans while the new party in power are virtually newcomers. So let’s see how the Liberal Party will counter- strategize the Lakas NPC onslaught in return. With these kind of movements, we can easily glean that this realignment of board-standing committee chairmanships signals the advent of a new dawn of political history in Negros Oriental, since a lot of our new provincial board members are full of energy, yet some of them need enough knowledge and experience to tackle the tests of traditional as well as contemporary political intramurals.
And if we look at the child abuse law, Republic Act 7610, indeed, the reckless criminal act falls under this law. The law’s policy is clearly instructive: “It shall be the policy of the State to protect … children gravely threatened or endangered by circumstances which affect or will affect their survival and normal development and over which they have no control.” Letting a child hang in a motorcycle that is
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Judge President Aquino in two years ear One being a “transition year,” President Noynoy Aquino ought to be judged after two years. It is not so much like PNoy is one like an OJT (on-the-job trainee) lost in a new labyrinth as much as it is the man firing and swording away the octopus of webs that predecessor GMA had left him to grapple with. Good governance is never easy, the once reluctant candidate was told as much. What, therefore, should we of Housing and Urban Devel- enues (b) plug the leaks from expect of the president after two opment. those revenues and (c) cut exyears? He himself had set his Along the way, we certainly penditures. Today, after the targets. Let’s assess them. hope that the agricultural land be zero budgeting by budget The government must made acceptable by banks as boss Butch Abad, cost-cutting have made a dent against, cer- loan collateral and banks per- flavored by graft-paranoia can tainly forged a new direction suaded not to give them discrimi- be counter-productive. to address – the huge 3.7 mil- natory loan values compared to So, therefore, despite the lion housing backlog in the their commercial, residential and rich lobby money obtaining, we country. Vice President Jojo industrial counterparts. We are should see the approval of and Binay has been crowned an agri country, for goodness the resulting tax revenues (in bil“Housing Czar” and is ex- sake. lions) coming from the approval pected to be backed up by a In capital starved coun- of the revised ‘sin’ taxes on alconew legislation mandating the tries like RP, budget deficits hol drinks and tobacco. Not much new Land Administration Act, are always a headache. Now, new taxes after that. a National Land Use Policy and there are three ways to nip that the erection of the Department budget deficit: (a) raise revTo page
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Dateline Manila by Bingo P. Dejaresco
36 YEARS OF COMMUNITY JOURNALISM
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