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The ex-prime minister faces mounting questions over his motivation for his new ‘Malay Proclamation’ activism.

AN ACCIDENT involving a motorcycle caused a temporary traffic jam on the viaduct at the South Road Properties in Cebu City around noon on Monday, July 10, 2023.

The driver was identified as Daniel Salomon.

Members of the Cebu City Transportation Office who arrived at the scene didn’t get much out of Salomon, who appeared dazed and confused by what happened.

It would appear that he was driving when he suddenly hit the gutter and fell on the road. The responders believed he fell asleep on the wheel.(BBT, PJB)

3 CHAIRS, 5 VICE CHAIRS. If SunStar’s published list is right, Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera now occupies three (3) committee chairs, including the coveted committee on health

and committee on labor and employment, and five (5) vice chairs, including the much-vied-for committee on budget and finance. And she’s the majority floor leader.

The 16th Sanggunian elected new officers and organized committees last July 5, 2023 for its 2023 “season.” And as expected, all the committee seats were filled by councilors aligned

with Partido Barug, the dominant party resulting from the 2022 elections. All are Barugs except two BOPKs (Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan), who were given one each committee member seat: Councilors Mary Ann de los Santos, sports & youth; and Jose Lorenzo Abellanosa, labor, employment & livelihood.

Councilor Joy Pesquera leads, aside from the committee on health, two others: committee on women, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) & family affairs and committee on rules & oversight. She’s the vice-chairwoman of the committees on (1) budget & finance, (2) labor & employment, (3) education & science; (4) barangay affairs, and (5) sister-city & big-brother relations. And she’s a member of the committee on laws & styling -- and, reinforcing all that, the majority floor leader job she has skillfully held since July 2022.

In comparison, Minority Floor Leader Nestor Archival Sr. continues to be excluded from any of the Sanggunian’s 28 committees. (A City Council secretariat quip: Even to the unofficial and fictitious committee on silence, Archival, a frequent discussant, has not been invited and obviously didn’t qualify.)

LONG LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE. Pesquera, an accountant and lawyer, is a veteran legislator, having served as city councilor for 12 years of the terms she won by election (1998-2007; 2016-2019), not counting the rest of Councilor Dondon Hontiveros’s term.

She served Hontiveros’s unexpired term after then president Duterte appointed her in February 2022 when Dondon left the City Council to serve as vice mayor upon ascension of then VM Mike Rama to mayor after the death of mayor Edgardo Labella on November 19, 2021. Her string of victories was cut only in 2019 when she lost to south district congressman Bebot Abellanosa by about 60,000 votes. Later, in the city south councilors race in 2022, she landed #3, next only to Hontiveros and Jose Abellanosa.

IMPRESSION OF INFLUENCE, POWER. A few of the other Barug councilors hold only two committee chairs, such as Phillip Zafra (public services; public order) and James Cuenco (transportation & communication; sister city-big brother relations). Hontiveros, like Pesquera, rules three committees -- education, science & technology; scholarship program; and tourism, arts & culture -- but Dondon doesn’t have as many vice-chair functions as Joy has.

Pesquera’s positions in the choice committees are perceived as sources of influence, if not power, mainly on passage of resolutions and ordinances that govern use of the city’s funds and other resources, access to which enables a politician to succeed and stay long in service and power. Being involved in such important activities helps in getting things done. As Councilor Gealon sees it, a committee chairmanship gives the councilor a direct link to the City Hall department that the committee in effect legislatively oversees.

GEALON’S WISH. Gealon, wishing for another committee chairmanship but not getting it, told Explainer Sunday, July 9, 2023 it would be “a notch closer to my peers in the majority bloc who have three committees or more” that they lead. He said he was willing to give up “all my memberships and vice chairmanships” in exchange for one more committee chairmanship.

One more (committee chairmanship), Gealon said, would enable him to coordinate with one of City Hall’s departments, which “can dispose of resources -- personnel, material or services, to better serve the Cebuanos.”

He griped that he has only committee, committee on laws & styling, where he’s the chairman. His work in the preceding Sanggunian year, by his count, consisted of 800 resolutions, 60 committee reports, 30 approved or proposed ordinances. All that appeared not to “warrant the grant of another committee chairmanship,” Councilor Gealon said.

HOW MARY ANN, ABELLANOSA GOT IN. Gealon said de los Santos and Abellanosa “intimated...they were interested to become committee members.”

Mary Ann, asked by Explainer also Sunday, July 9, said she didn’t ask for a committee member’s seat. She said Vice Mayor and Sanggunian Presiding Officer Raymond Alvin Garcia called her executive asst. for a meeting and asked him what committee she wanted. She submitted, she said, “health, because that’s my advocacy; education, since my ordinance that puts up a Student Assistance Program in elementary, high school and senior high was approved; social services, for the implementing arm of my ordinance; and youth & sports development, since I’m an enthusiast.” She got one: membership in the committee on youth and sports.

She didn’t seek out the committee assignment; in a way, it was offered. De los Santos said BOPK in 2013 didn’t give a committee seat to any councilor of Barug (of which Mary Ann at the time was a member) but in 2016, when Team Rama dominated the Sanggunian, “Mayor Tommy appointed me as deputy mayor for health.” Some people suspected then that the appointment must have added to the reasons she defected to Tomas Osmena’s BOPK.

SHUT-OUT-OPPOSITION RULE. What Councilor de los Santos and some City Hall watchers recall is the total exclusion of the opposition from the committees -- with a few rare exceptions.

To the victor belongs the spoils, or some similar spiel. Plus the harsh reality that majority

rules. Barug prepares and approves the lineup of officers and members of committees in the City Council. Except in extraordinary situations, such as when two opposition members like de los Santos and Abellanosa, are given each an individual concession, though still pittance to the opposition cause.

Zero presence in the committees assures full control on legislation but the sad, at times tragic, drawback is that a bad ordinance or resolution is not corrected at the committee level and often neglected or ignored at the en banc deliberation.

That was dramatically raised by then vice mayor Rama when he was presiding at the City Council and ally Edgardo Labella was running the mayor’s office Woe on us, Rama said in effect, we approve millions of pesos in projects and contracts, without really studying each project or contract. The alarm bell should start ringing at the committee level; one oppositionist in the committee could help

THE Cebu City Police (CCPO) filed a case on Friday July 7, 2023, for serious physical injury against the persons involved in piercing the eyes of Doctor Charles Sia, 41, on Wednesday, July 5, inside his clinic on Queens Road in Barangay Kamputhaw.

Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, CCPO director, did not say who they were suing, but he made it clear that the two accused were positively identified by the victim and his secretary.

It is said that one of the motives for the crime was related to the victim’s business, which is lending.

The police official said the doctor sued three women who owned him money in court. Two of the cases were dismissed, but one case prospered.

Based on the statement of Sia and his secretary, the boyfriend of the person who owed him, along with an accomplice, were responsible for last Wednesday’s attack.

The woman, though, was not charged because she was not involved in the crime.

Dalogdog said they have provided security to the victim, who is still in the hospital, because the accused is still in the city.

Dalogdog said they are waiting for the warrants to come out so they can arrest the two men. He said they considered the case closed.

Meanwhile, Sia is in stable condition.

According to his doctor, he can see clearly in one eye, but he suffers from blurred vision in the other because it is still swollen.(AYB, PJB)

THE Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has awarded the security guard who almost lost his job for helping someone in need.

Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, CCPO director, gave Dean Cueno of Malaking Ibong Bughaw Security Services Inc. a certificate of appreciation during the flag ceremony at the police headquarters on Monday morning, July 10, 2023.

According to the police official, Cueno didn’t hesitate to leave his post to assist John Mark Barrientos, a collector for a remittance firm, last July 4.

Barrientos was heading to Mandaue City when the zipper of his backpack broke, letting money bills fly out into the air and land on the viaduct of the South Road Properties.

Cueno tried to prevent bystanders from taking the money lying on the ground.

Cueno said the initial plan to fire him has been shelved. However, he was placed on floating status after he was told not to return to his post at the Cebu-Cordoval Link Expressway (CCLEX).

He said the security firm told him they will assign him to another post once there is a vacancy.

“Wala pako nila hatagi og pwesto kay ang ilang client diri sa Cebu ang CCLEX lang ug sa may Ramos dapit (They have yet to assign me to a new post since their only clients in Cebu are the CCLEX and another one in Ramos),” he said.

Cueno said he will return to his hometown in Cebu Province until then.

However, when Colonel Dalogdog got wind of Cueno’s situation, he coordinated with the Regional Civil Security Unit in Central Visayas to help the latter apply at another security agency.

Dalogdog said Cueno deserved all the praise for going out on a limb to help a fellow man.(AYB, PJB)

Manila Trial Court Branch 16 Presiding Judge Janice Yulo-Antero denied the petition of Joven Javier for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus against Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo De Lamos. 

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos should discuss in his second State of the Nation Address when the investment pledges secured during his foreign trips would translate to jobs and other tangible benefits for Filipinos, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said on Monday.

Members of the Wild Boars football team revisited the Tham Luang cave complex to pay tribute to the thousands of people who worked for 18 days and nights in a daring rescue operation five years ago.

July 10, 2023 6:30 PM

The incident reportedly happened on a village road in Penang on Saturday night.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo said that there should be a measure that bypasses the current process of making a records request, which involves filling up government forms and at most two weeks of waiting.

The Commission on Audit has raised concerns over the Philippine Coast Guard's acquisition of a luxury vehicle worth P4.9 million without the approval of the Department of Budget and Management, as well as its purchase of brand new vehicles despite having a fleet of more than 400 vehicles.

July 10, 2023 6:00 PM

Asean centrality refers to the grouping being in the driver’s seat and shaping key decisions affecting South-east Asia.

Remulla said five Chinese suspects have been released for further preliminary investigation. Complaints related to the raid are also still pending because the evidence is not complete, the justice chief said.

A MINIBUS traveling from Pinamungajan in western Cebu to Cebu City slammed into an eatery in Sitio Cogon, Barangay Poblacion 1, Carcar City at 4:10 a.m. Monday, July 10, 2023.

Seven persons were injured, including 57-year-old Vivian Abella, the mother of the eatery’s owner, Kent Abella.

The other victims were identified as Rey Ybañez, 27; Martie Barangan, 18; Johnar Ybañez; Jundy Barbieros, 26; Bon Roland Miñoza, 28; and Warren Plarisan, 31.

They all are residents of the sitio, save for Plarisan, who hails from Sitio Bansai in Barangay Bolinawan.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gifter Sucalit, chief of the Carcar City Police Station, said the minibus’ driver, Pinamungajan resident Argey Sevellino Ogahayon, of legal age, is in police custody.

Based on initial investigation, the victims were sitting outside the eatery when the incident happened.

Kent, the owner, was asleep next door when he was suddenly awoken by a loud bang.

He rushed his mother to the hospital when he discovered that she was among the injured.

Sucalit said they have yet to verify reports that Ogahayon was under the influence of liquor. (BBT)

July 10, 2023 5:55 PM

The man has spent nearly five decades on death row since he was sentenced to death in 1968.

A man was found dead in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido after he entered a hotel with a person who was small, wearing a wide-brimmed black hat, dark clothing, and carrying a large suitcase.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has delisted thousands of voter registrations in Cebu months before the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

In Cebu City, the Cebu South District reported at least 6,082 delisted voters, while figures recorded by the North District have yet to be finalized.

In Cebu Province, over 20,000 registrations were removed.

The delisted voters were identified by the Comelec based on three factors: deceased voter, Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) or voters with two recorded biometrics, and transfer to another city or municipality.

Data provided by Comelec Central Visayas to SunStar Cebu showed that as of July 10, around 20,633 deleted voters will be added to the previous 381,906 removed voters nationwide.

Majority of the removed registrations were voters who transferred to another city or municipality, accounting to a total of 9,172 voters.

Also removed from the list were voters with two or more fingerprints detected by the AFIS, numbering to about 6,215 voters.

There were also 5,231 confirmed deceased voters and 15 voters with multiple or double records in the city or municipality.

With this, the number of voters for BSKE 2023 in Cebu Province is now 3,384,185.

The Comelec said, though, that the figures may change due to the ongoing evaluation process.

Meanwhile, Comelec Election Assistant Officer II Meguni Tapia stressed the age requirement and Anti-Dynasty Law for those planning to file for candidacy.

"Ipa state gyud ang age inig election day... Basi'g underage diay siya. Bantayanan kaayo namo na. Di na mo dawaton og underage or overage," he said.

(The candidate must state his/her age before election day. The candidate might be underage or overage for the position.)

Comelec guidelines stated that the candidates must be at least 18 years old but not more than 24 years old on election day, October 30, 2023.

Tapia also said that the Anti-Dynasty Law will be implemented for running SK candidates.

"Nya unsa pay lain bantayanan sa SK, katong Anti-Dynasty Law. Kung naa siyay amahan nga official, di sya kadagan. Dili ka lansar og naay incumbent nga up to second civil degree," he said.

(If you run for SK position, you have to be aware of the Anti-Dynasty Law. You cannot run for a position if you have an incumbent public official from any government offices under the second civil degree of consanguinity.)

The filing of Certificate of Candidacy for BSKE will run from August 28 to September 2. (CNU interns Erica Abella and GK Marie Dejacto, and UP Cebu intern Chrys Chelsea Bernales)

CEBU Governor Gwendolyn Garcia praised and defended Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco, who happens to be her daughter, amid criticisms hurled against the latter over the slogan controversy.

"Allow me to speak as a mother who is extremely pained by witnessing what her beloved daughter has gone through these past few weeks, unfairly criticized, bashed, ridiculed for a sin she did not commit and yet she stood her ground,” Garcia said during the opening of the Tourist Rest Area (TRA) in the northern town of Medellin on Monday morning, July 10, 2023.

According to Garcia, Frasco has accomplished a lot since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed her to the Cabinet post, one of which is the establishment of TRAs across the country.

The governor also thanked the mayors, the local legislators, the Provincial Board members and other stakeholders who attended the activity as a show of support for the beleaguered DOT secretary.

“... and that is why I am especially grateful for your presence here this morning,” she said.

Garcia directed the mayors to replicate the tourism slogan, “Love the Philippines.”

She explained that happiness may fade over time, but love is strengthened by trials.

“It’s really not just having fun, but it’s really reminding each of us Filipinos that we have a duty to love the Philippines. Love the Philippines, it will define us Filipinos and it will push us to achieve greater heights, of greater progress and development. We will own this commitment to love the Philippines... Higugmaon ta ang Pilipinas, Higugmaon ta ang Sugbo (Let us love the Philippines, let us love Cebu)," she said.

Last week, several senators, mayors, members of Congress, board members and other stakeholders signed a manifesto supporting Frasco.(ANV, PJB)

VENDORS at Carbon Public Market have expressed concerns on the proposed increase of fees, saying they might have to increase the prices of goods if it pushes through.

The Cebu City Council has proposed the increase of rental and entrance fees for vendors in line with the Carbon redevelopment project.

The market redevelopment project is about 10 percent complete, said Lydwena Eco, Cebu2World Development Inc. (C2W) deputy general manager, on April 20.

Alma Lumeria, a vendor selling bell pepper, ginger and tomatoes from Barangay Ermita, said the prices of her goods have stayed the same over the course of a few months.

"Wala ra man hinuo'y umento sa mga presyo diri. Kani, akong atsal tag P120 gihapong kilo. Mao ra jud bisa'g pila na ka buwan," she said.

(There is no increase in the prices here. For example, these bell peppers I'm selling are still priced P120 per kilo. It has stayed the same over a few months.)

Nestor Kelvin Elasco, a 58-year-old vendor selling eggplant, tomatoes, and bitter gourd, said that his goods have also stayed at the same price, but he will soon change it if rental and entrance fees increase.

"Mao ra man gihapon ron. Pero madayon gani to ilang plano nga patas'an ning bayranan namo, aw wa mi choice kung di patas'an sad namong presyo aning gulayon namo," he said.

(It's still the same now. However, that will change if their plan to increase our fees happens. We'll have no choice but to also increase the price of our goods.)

Ralph, a vendor selling Baguio beans, cucumber and garlic, was hoping the fees will not increase yet, considering their earnings are not enough to cover their payments and expenses.

"Naglisud naman gani mi ron buot huna-hunaon bisag wala pa gipatas-an among bayronon, unsaon na lang inig patas-an na jud? Gamay ra kaayo mi'g ginansya, kansi jud kaayo mi," he said.

(We're already having a hard time now when the fees haven't increased yet, so how much more when there is an increase? Our profit is too small; it's too much of a loss for us.)

Several vendors are already occupying the new Carbon Market Interim Building, one of the market redevelopment project's initiatives to cater vendors while the main public market is still under construction. (Miguel Angelu Lumen, CNU Intern)

THE Cebu City Health Department Nutrition Office said that stunting after two years old is irreversible and noted that the prevalence rate of severely stunted children increased this year compared to 2022.

City Health Nutrition officer and Nutrition Program coordinator Allan Daag said that “based on the data (Operation Timbang), at least makuha nato ang mga number of normal children, those who had issues like the underweight, stunted and the wasted nato and then so the overweight and then the obese kay we still consider that also a form of malnutrition.”

(Based on the data (Operation Timbang), at least we can get the number of normal children, those who had issues like underweight, stunted and wasted and then the overweight and then the obese because we still consider that also as a form of malnutrition.)

Operation Timbang (OPT) is an annual three-month activity conducted from January until March by barangay health workers and city nutrition scholars. It measures the height and weight of all children 0-5 months old or five years old and below to determine their nutritional status.

The activity also includes all 80 barangays from the 85 health centers in Cebu City.

The nutrition situation, according to the nutritional status of children 0-59 months this year, showed that there was an increase in prevalence of underweight (weight for age) and severely stunted (height for age) compared in 2022.

It added that severely stunted children decreased from 1.98 percent in 2021 to 1.79 percent in 2022, and then to 1.95 percent as of July 2023.

Underweight children have a prevalence rate of 2.36 percent in 2021, then it increased by two percentage points in 2022, and at 2.63 percent in 2023.

For severely wasted (weight for length/height) or children with severely acute malnourished syndrome, there was a decrease in the prevalence rate with 0.85 percent in 2021 and 0.95 percent in 2022 to 0.27 percent in 2023. It, however, is still labeled an emergency case and needs proper medical attention, said the nutrition office.

“They think that it’s not enough kuno ang breastfeeding. Actually, the truth is enough gyud siya. It’s God’s gift jud na for the children so they have to have at least six months of exclusive breastfeeding,” said Daag.

(They think that breastfeeding is not enough, but the truth is it is really enough. It's God's gift for the children so they have to have at least six months of exclusive breastfeeding.)

He added that it is considered the golden window of opportunity as all of the development of the child depends on the first 1,000 days of nutrition of the child and the mother.

Meanwhile, he said that wasting or acute malnutrition is usually caused by sudden changes in food security.

Daag said they gave out Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for children who are affected by Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), and Ready to Use Supplementary Food for Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM). He said the food is in a sachet form containing 500 calories.

“What we give to the child especially ang MAM nato is we give one sachet per day and that’s for three months and for SAM, we give two sachets of the RUTF for three months also,” he added.

He said there is a transparent improvement in the prevalence of malnutrition upon doing the RUTF intervention. (Kimberly Goc-ong, CNU Intern)