It’s been almost 30 years since EDSA Revolution. We’ve been ruled by a succession of five presidents including two Aquinos and we have moved on. Certain sectors, however, seem determined to hold us hostage of a painful past.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s inauguration, he was most applauded when he declared: “As we move forward, we must not allow the past to pull us back.” Ferdinand Marcos Sr. is PAST. Let’s not make him continue dividing and pulling us back. Logic, sobriety and sanity must prevail. Let us bury the past underground with the remains of a PAST, deceased President.
As Albay Rep. Joey Salceda puts it, since President Duterte has decided to allow Marcos’s burial at the Libingan and it’s not banned by law, let’s respect the law and the President’s decision.
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President Duterte’s new thrust relative to mining may consign thousands of local mining laborers to joblessness. This certainly is a sad collateral damage created by irresponsible mining operators themselves. This does not amount to hopelessness, however, for those affected.
Inspired by the positive posture of viewing disasters as opportunities for good tidings, a group of retired journalists and business executives met recently to address issue. They formed a corporation designed as “Agri de Mina, Inc. (AMI), with the primary purpose of converting mined-over areas into productive farmlands.
AMI has tapped the support of UNIGROW International which markets the “miracle fertilizer element” used by China to address the needs of millions of destitute Chinese families.
UNIGROW stands on its record of quantifiable and verifiable success of converting agricultural wastelands into productive centers of harvest.
AMI’s top honcho, Raoul Alvarez, a former BANCOM firebrand who worked shoulder to shoulder with financial wizards like Sixto Rosas and Louie Villafuerte adopts AMI’s mission as doctrinal.
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Our sincerest condolences to the bereaved family of Engr. Edmundo M. Tolentino, PDP-Laban Aklan chapter chair who passed away last Tuesday. He succeeded me as chair of the chapter which I organized in 1986-87 per instruction of then DILG Secretary Nene Pimentel. A prominent civil engineer-businessman and philantropist, Tolentino had served as Aklan Provincial Board member and Luneta Development Authority executive director. DILG Secretary Mike Sueno, who directly mobilized the Aklan PDP-Laban during the last elections is expected to extend Tolentino due recognition.
(Johnny Dayang)