Here is this one common habit of Filipinos, us included, of course.
The habit? We made a sign of the cross every time we saw a bolt of lightning coupled with thunder blasts. Another similar and related habit is, that we tighten security and other preventive measures after serious incidents affecting many people happen.
The latter was manifested in Davao City’s Overland Transport Terminal (DCOTT) at Ecoland right at the onset of this week. This happened after a passenger bus departing from the city’s transport facility going north was held up somewhere in Carmen, Davao del Norte. The incident resulted in the death of one passenger even as the culprit escaped to a still unknown destination.
As a consequence, the DCOTT management ordered a lockdown of the terminal and put the same strictest security check on all people coming inside whether they are passengers or not.
Now the management, in coordination with the police authorities, are reviewing the footages of the closed circuit television cameras hoping to get a glimpse of possible suspects in the bus heist last Saturday afternoon.
As it is, the lockdown is a reactive measure undertaken to prevent the robbery from happening again. How come management hasn’t thought of resorting to enhancing the terminal’s security measures to the maximum right at the onset of the holiday season? Such advanced measures could have prevented incidents like hold-ups from happening. The top DCOTT officials certainly know that people are normally going home to their provinces during the holiday season usually “loaded” with cash for their celebration with family members, relatives, and friends
Indeed habits are hard to change, and old ones may never die. Perhaps we, our leaders specifically, need to be reminded of a line in a dialogue between the king and his wife in the movie “Coming to America.” The two argued over a tradition in the kingdom that a royal must be married to someone arranged for him or her.
The queen was sympathetic to her son falling in love with a commoner and the king wanted him married to a woman arranged for him because it is the tradition in the kingdom. The queen curtly reminded her husband: “What are you king for?”
Yes, what is at issue here is the habits – not tradition. But seemingly, these two habits have long morphed into a tradition as these have long been part of Filipino life. And these are even done as couched for undesirable reactions of the country’s leaders every time some unwanted incidents happened like the commission of heinous crimes, destruction of infrastructures due to nature’s wrath, and others.
May be if we Filipinos have difficulty doing away with these two earlier-mentioned habits, perhaps we need to do our own bold move, or for our leaders to take the initiative of using their mandate to change the habits.
Perhaps, if this is done we might be able to avoid getting victimized by either man-made or nature-induced calamitous incidents.
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As it is already known nationwide, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte has offered his services as a member of the legal team that will defend Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment case once this is elevated to the Senate for formal hearing and deliberation.
But of course. That is the least the former President and father of VP Sara could do when the Vice President rejected FPRRD’s offer to foot the bills for her defense lawyers. After all, what is the former chief executive’s being Sara’s father for?
And the former President cannot just be written off by whoever braggarts in the impeachment prosecution he being a former prosecutor for some time until he was appointed OIC Davao City Vice Mayor by then newly assumed late President Corazon C. Aquino.
Of course, as correctly said in the news report, the former President may have some dusting off of his legal cabinet and sharpening his temporarily sleeping legal expertise. What with the many years – roughly over three decades and a half – burying his mind in governing the City of Davao and eventually as President of the Philippines, a job that requires his fullest attention to the effect that legal matters about governance, FPRRD had to delegate the same to his legal advisers.
But defending his daughter in an impeachment case is one responsibility that as a father he cannot afford to be on the sideline watching the proverbial sailboat passing by. The former President-father has to be on top of his daughter’s defense.
By now FPRRD may not only be dusting the pages of his law books for easier reading and review. He could also be cleansing his mind and sharpening his tongue to ensure that what comes out of his mouth fits to a “T” for the defense of his daughter.
We have no doubt that the VP’s impeachment trial in the Senate with the father of the accused standing in her defense will be a sight to behold. For certain the eyes and ears of the people will be on the deliberation.
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Today, December 31st, is the end of 2024. It was quite a tough year for the majority of us. The same year is also politically tumultuous. But the nation managed to survive – not necessarily with flying colors but comfortably.
We have no idea what is in store for the year 2025, which starts tomorrow. We can only hope that everything will benefit the nation and the Filipinos.
Happy and Prosperous New Year to all!!!
