According To the banner headline of a local weekly newspaper in Davao City, the Central Bank (CB) Davao has not released the retained amount from purchases of gold sold by gold mining cooperatives in Davaeo de Oro and Davao del Norte.
The retained amount of roughly 3 percent of purchase peice is supposed to be released after the final assay of the metal at the main office of the CB in Manila.
The source of the news is one unknown cooperative member who added that it happened since a little over a month ago and that the total retention is now estimated to be over a hundred million pesos. If the report is true why is this happening? How come the CB is withholding the retention when the normal waiting time for the final assaying of the gold sold at the CB-Davao is roughly from one to two weeks?
On the other hand, why did it take long for the concerned miners to disclose to the public this apparent irregularity at the CB?
We can only hope that the top officials of the CB in Davao City will immediately issue a clarification or explanation of this apparent mess. The government’s main bank should not allow the alleged non-release of the retained money to be a source of speculation especially at this time when the heat of politics is literally suffocating the people, especially those residing in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro.
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It is barely 14 days from today and it will be midterm election day. But instead of individual leaders of candidates going the rounds in the various communities in Davao City hardly had we seen mobile campaigners. In fact in our barangay in Tugbok district only two of the three personalities running for city mayor have conducted some kind of a meeting although these activities were more of a distribution of “ayudas” in terms of at least five kilos of rice and some canned goods.
Only that in between the parts of the program some candidates or their representatives were given the opportunity to deliver their campaign speeches.
Yes, some residents in the barangays are able to earn a little money by posting campaign posters of certain candidates after they were “hired” by their leaders. But what is missed somewhat are political leaders who visit almost every household in their assigned areas and conduct some convincing with prospective voters to support their candidates.
The situation now actually allows us to remember our experience when we were new in Davao City and our father-in-law was a trusted leader of one well-known politician. Since at that campaign period our father-in-law was recuperating after a week of hospitalization, we were asked to pinch hit for him. We could not say no since we were newly married then.
Imagine hiking with another leader to each and every household in our barangay some of which were located on top of steep hills and some as far as one kilometer from each other! And there were no roads then; no single motor bike to ride.
We did what we had to do because political loyalty then was a virtue. Today however, candidates and their leaders are doing the house-to-house campaign through the social media and the many applications of choice. Sadly however, through the social media it becomes convenient to make truth lies and lies truth.
And depending on how well-versed the social media practitioner in crafting very convincing presentation, the constituents are vulnerable to believe in the narratives. That is where the danger lies, according to senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson whose assertion is agreed by Baguio City Mayor retired Police Lt. Gen. Benjamin Magalong.
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Now that Pope Francis is buried the Catholic faithful are focused on what the Conclave of Cardinals will update them of their serious responsibility of electing the next Pontiff.
There are names most frequently mentioned as potential successor and luckily for the Filipinos one of them is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. That is why our people are eagerly awaiting for the result of the conclave as this might produce the first Pontiff from Asia, and from the Philippines at that.
Will the Conclave not fail the 100 million or so Catholics in the Philippines? Everybody is hoping that when the white smoke emits from the Chamber of the Sistine Chapel the name that will be announced is that of Carinal Tagle.
Should it happen we can only imagine how wildly holy will be the rejoicing of the Filipino nation.
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