According to an official from the City Agriculturist Office (CAO) the durian harvest in Davao City will peak only sometime next month.
That means a number of persons at risk of getting high blood pressure will be lessened to a minimum this month and will only peak as well by September. Also, less housewives of reproductive age are likely to get pregnant this month. That is, if we have to agree with the notion that durian fruit is one natural (?) enhancer.
Anyhow, farmers with large durian plantations this month and the next will be laughing their way to the banks.
And Davao City? Well, at this peak of the Kadayawan Festival celebration it is already clear that durian has become a major come-on to visitors. Other fruits come in secondary only.
As we said in an earlier column commenting on the claim of the city’s leaders that the present national administration is deliberately destroying Davao City, we will soon know after the figure on tourist arrivals (no manipulation please) is made public and the volume of patronage of the city’s products comes in.
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A few days back we read in the papers, heard and seen in the broadcast media City Mayor Baste Duterte boldly saying he will slap Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III when they meet.
So far the two haven’t met personally. Torre has not made a call on the Office of the City Mayor, andBaste hasn’t had the chance of meeting even by accident, the Police Regional Office (PRO) Director in some official functions. The question now is, “Will the mayor make goof his intention to slap the police general?
Yes, civilian authority may be over and above that of the men in uniform but will slapping a police
general simply because he is suspected to carry out some kind of political harassment be enough to throw down the drain civility in running the government?
Assuming that indeed the city mayor has that raw guts to slap the PRO head, what will that make of him? And what could be the possible repercussion of such an act? Yes, the mayor would probably earn the tag as the “bravest” ever in the country. But as one common adage says, bravery is not just manifested in one’s use of brute force to show disagreement with others but also by the ability of one to use such guts in the most appropriate time.
In the case of Mayor Baste’s political journey as mayor of the city it is clear that it is buffeted with what his group as “harassment” from the administration of Marcos, Jr. With the situation we cannot help but be reminded of this beautiful line from an article written by the late former Vice President Doy Laurel on his wife Celia that says: “In making life’s journey it is not the storm that one meets but it is on how he or she navigates out of it that defines the quality of the person caught in the midst.”
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National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Region XI director lawyer Archie Albao strongly denied
accusations that he received bribe money from the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, now in hiding from crimes he denied. The NBI regional chief also debunked claims that his team’s raid on one of the Pastor’s suspected hiding place was “scripted.”
Well, with such accusation denial is normally expected. But somehow, many might be wondering why Albao is accused of receiving money from the KOJC when he is an appointee of the current President who is now considered the nemesis of former President Rodrigo Duterte, a close friend of the fugitive Pastor.
The question that may now be further confusing the minds of Davaoenos may be this: Was Albao appointed by the President on recommendation of FPRRD when the latter and the incumbent President were still best of friends? If indeed that was the circumstances behind Albao’s appointment then his loyalty to either Marcos, Jr. or the former President could have a role in the accusation of the director allegedly receiving money from the KOJC.
There is however a very strong redeeming factor in the person of NBI XI chief Albao – his immediate manifestation of willingness to submit to an investigation by appropriate higher authorities. That would only mean that the lawyer NBI head is certain he is not hiding anything in the discharge of his duties and responsibilities.
And one more question: At whose behest is the accusation of bribery against the NBI director? These days when political battles are fought even long before the elections, devious intrigues play a major role in attaining victory. Relationships are often sacrificed if it could mean getting more support from others.
If minus 1 could mean an addition of hundreds or thousands, then some political personalities will not hesitate to do away with the one.
