SORSOGON CITY--Members of the provincial legislative board of Sorsogon have expressed support for the full autonomy of Bikol, the second poorest among the country’s 16 regions, as an alternative to better governance and progress.

The beginning of summer is the beginning of graduation season. In various newscasts, there are guidelines coming from the some officials of the department taking care of education regarding the wisdom – or the lack of it – in engaging the many politicians much too eager to deliver their thoughts about the value of education. Often, one hears from these individuals the most banal of speeches, the severely trite advice, and nostalgia always for the kind of education they have received in the past.

Half way through Lent , we find ourselves praying for more cleansing and more purity in our relationship with God. Although lent is not required anywhere in the scriptures, it has been a custom, which Christians have practiced for most of the last two thousand years. In many languages, the word “Lent” actually means “Fast.” This is where the custom of giving up something for Lent originated.

SA KINABAN nin mga suan oy na pagtubod sa mga supernatural na pangyayari, biyo kitang pinapatanidan na likayan an paghirô, paghirá, paggaba, o pagraot nin mga dáan na bagay huli sa mga elemental na puwedeng nag-eerok digdi. Pinapatanidan kita kan mga gurang na mag ‘tabi apo’ kun minaagi sa madidiklom na parte kan kakahuyan o pag nakakahiling kita nin mga punsô na tinutubudan na erokán nin mga duwende asin tawong lipod.

In early 1998, as May or Robredo “blessed” and campaigned for his interim successor Cho Roco, his administration released a P2,085,000.00 loan to Sabang Puro Urban Kabisig Organization, Inc. (SPUKOI). This, the COA questioned in 2002:

Welfare is the most convenient system of delivery of basic services in the Philippine government. Consider for instance GMA’s solution to the fuel and rice crises. The government chose to subsidize fuel and rice. But the way to a poor man’s heart is through his hungry stomach. Subsidies are better than nothing at all. However, money is lost in subsidies in many ways. But more importantly, we lose our chance for independence and self-reliance. The poor continue to be dependent. And subsidies can in fact be an act of pandering.

As this newspaper ran Atty. Che Carpio’s columns assailing the claim of the Naga City government that transparency is at work through its website, we have sought the side of the much lauded and awarded mayor of Naga City, Jess Robredo. Since he was out of town and unavailable, the mayor directed us to the city’s auditor, Ms. Paciencia Tabinas, to provide responses to the inconsistencies pointed out regarding the city government’s claims of transparency vis-à-vis the website’s selective information.

NAGA CITY--In a forum calling for the creation of “genuine” Bikol Autonomous Region by amending the Constitution, lawyer Leonard De Vera, chairman of Equal Justice for All Movement, said what makes Bikol one of the poorest regions in the country is not its lack of resources but the bad effect of the country’s unitary form of government, and graft and corruption. “Your region is very rich in resources but it is taken from you. Mayaman ang Bikolandia ngunit mahirap ang mga Bikolano,” said De Vera in the presence of representatives from various sectors in this city.

MANILA--In a show of solidarity with the Church’s ongoing resistance against the passage of RH bill, the Knights of Columbus (KC) held a rally for life dubbed ‘Walk for Life’ last Saturday, March 21. The event drew a large crowd of participants as members of various KC units in different dioceses came in full force.

MANILA--Members and friends of Focolare have observed the first death anniversary of Focolare founder, Chiara Lubich through a Eucharistic celebration and a book launch of her writings. Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams led the memorial Mass together with His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, other bishops and clergy of the Archdiocese of Manila at the Manila Cathedral on March 13.