IN OUR last column, we wrote about our opportunity to get invited to turn-over rites of an electrical laboratory facility in a national high school in Talandang, Tugbok District. We cited some of the key persons present, but we intentionally did not mention some others for fear that we might be wrong in identifying their names.
And indeed, we would have been mistaken if we did mention their names because we were wrong in our recollection. Their names were not on the invitation card.
Yes, two others were important personalities in the Department of Education’s efforts to seek partnerships with stakeholders to enhance its Adopt-a-School Program. The two are Maam Lydia V. Ampo, schools district supervisor and head of one cluster in Tugbok District, and Jonas Piore, Adopt-A-School program coordinator at the local DepEd.
We are truly sorry for our infraction. But we’d rather do the necessary than be sorry later.
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We had some not-so-pleasant experiences last Sunday, Mothers’ Day, in a restaurant nestled in the midst of a sprawling farm somewhere northwest of the city. No, it was not really directly our group but the scene that transpired while we were there.
The restaurant was caught off-guard by the avalanche of customers, mostly whole families celebrating Mothers’ Day. The management failed to anticipate the customer hordes because it could not provide backup waiters and cooks.
Our group included two visitors from Switzerland, though we were already served our orders because we had come in earlier. The usual items that should have been put on the table first – water, spoons, beverages, or appetizers – were not delivered. Instead, the food came in ahead, the spoon and fork came after, and the drinks came in much later.
But no, it was not that mess that got our goat. It was hearing the complaints of other customer groups that they had been there for hours, yet their orders appeared to be not coming at all. Their voices were already raised and uttering words detrimental to the restaurant. And the children were seen apparently uneasy because of hunger.
We hope the management or owners of the restaurant will be able to look into the problem and take some corrective measures. The owner, a friend of ours, as we know him, is very sensitive to issues related to his business.
We are certain he will immediately take action.
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For the first time in about eight years, we had the chance to visit areas in the Marilog District closer to the boundaries of Bukidnon and Arakan Valley. And wow! What a massive change in the area, especially in Salumay. It is getting “Baguiodized.” We mean the development is fast replicating the journey of the summer capital of the Philippines. So many beautiful restaurants and roadside diners, and even inns are sprouting. These are complimented with inland resorts, mostly upland farms converted into tourist destinations.
And wow! Vacation houses and residential abodes as well by local residents, can be seen built on the cliff sides, unmindful of possible landslides should there be strong earthquakes. Also, the usual fare still exists and growing even more prosperous – the flowering and ornamental plants trading, the “commercialization” of the once Mountain provinces-dominated agricultural product – the strawberries.
With this fast-changing landscape of those particular areas in Marilog, it is now imperative that the humanly-intervened aesthetics be regulated stringently so that the current pace of development will not bring immediate destruction to the environment.
The local government of Davao City, North Cotabato, and, of course, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) must be proactive in looking into how the areas and the resources there can be judiciously developed without endangering the ecological condition of that part of Davao City, Cotabato, and Bukidnon provinces.
