THEDURIANBEAT BANTAY KANG MALAY KA! We heard that publicist Ed Malay, the discredited public relations man behind the rigged surveys that had ex-Speaker Prospero Nograles winning a lopsided battle over then Vice Mayor Sara Duterte in the mayoral race in … Continue reading DURIANBURGDAVAO SKEWERS ED MALAY, THE CENTER
THEDURIANBEAT BY ROGER M.BALANZA Holy Week is the week when the Passion—the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is remembered. On Palm Sunday Our Lord Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem, the holy city, mounted on a donkey. This event had been prophesied centuries before. The people who loved and revered him made the journey a procession. Some laid their cloaks on the road to serve as carpets. Others waved palm branches, in the way great men were honored in those days. The people knew they were in the presence of a great preacher. But the more meditative ones had … Continue reading HOLY WEEK: Are you a Judas?
EDITORIAL Christians celebrate this week the Passion of Christ. How deep is our religiosity in commemorating this holy event? In this crucial part of Jesus’ life today deep in our heart and soul retains the meaning and the reason why it has to happen to the Son of God? Is the importance of the Holy Week being robbed of its original significance? Has it become merely another outlet for contemporary Christians to show their religiosity? No matter what the state is of your religious fervor, let us pray for world peace in this universe of wars and killings. Pray … Continue reading HOLY WEEK: How serious are we in remembering?
SWITCHBOARD By Roldan Gorgonio The last words of a person are his “exit lines” in this world when death, the inevitable is impending. A person’s body and soul can be bolting in struggle upon sensing the final ticking seconds of such looming extinction. Death may come in so many forms but these last words are always expressed in “extremis” especially when recovery is already regarded as nil and hopeless. In that dreary sunset of life, those closest can only sigh but should take a good grip of the very precious parting words, in order to make them a living … Continue reading The Seven Last Words
EDITORIAL by ROGER M. BALANZA Although the next election is still far away–May 2013–politicians fond of naming government projects and property after them or their relatives better be warned and should take heed of two proposed bills in Congress banning this practice aimed at getting publicity at the expense of public money. In the House of Representatives, Bayan Muna Representatives Teddy Casino and Neri Javier Colmenares have authoredHouse Bill No. 2309 which bans the practice. “Clearly, it is immoral and unethical for any incumbent official to name government properties, services or programs, financed as these are by taxpayers’ money, … Continue reading Signboards of political debacles
BY ROGER M. BALANZA Melon at P40 per kilo; avocado, P60; pineapple, P12; singkamas, P30; mangoes, P65; dalandan, P60; pomelo at P60 per piece; mangosteen at P200 per kilo; marang, P30; rambutan, P60; guavas, P40 ; papaya at P10 … Continue reading SURVIVING NEW YEAR IN 2011 WITH MANSANITAS AND OTOT-OTOT
MY DABAW BY RAMIL JACOB CASTANEDA I had the experience with tragedy right in our backyard in Magallanes Street in Davao City. December 9th of 2011. It was an incident no one wanted to happen. Cries of panic. People running and bringing whatever they can in the rush to save their lives and their valuable things. But sadly the fire was fierce and large. Almost all of the houses near the riverside of Magallanes in Barangay 1-A were razed down. Many fled the inferno with only their clothes on. And to think it was almost Christmas! One can only commiserate … Continue reading Who’s to blame?
SWITCHBOARD Roldan G. Gorgonio Last November 28 marked my one decade stint as evaluator to the division and regional elementary and secondary schools press conferences. I had my first evaluation job in the 2001 RSSPC held at Sta. Ana National High School through the invitation of Ma’am Ursula C. Valderama, then Chief Secondary Education Division of DepEd. With that time stretch, I gathered wonderful memories with young student-journalists of this region, especially about their desires to become full-fledged members of the mainstream media someday. While my first love was writing, I also explored the world … Continue reading Lessons from young journalists
THEDURIANBEAT At the approach to Christmas last year, Mayor Inday Sara Duterte publicly invited NPA leader Leoncio “Parago” Pitao to come down from his mountain hideout in Paquibato to join the celebration of Pasko Fiesta in the city proper. The invitation was politely declined by Parago, saying that NPA rebels would rather do their own version in their camp in the farflung district. Of course there is another reason why Parago would not come down: security. Parago has a P5 million prize on his head, dead or alive, for a number of convictions on criminal charges by the courts here. … Continue reading Inviting Parago
THE DURIAN BEAT BY ROGER M. BALANZA Everybody, from economists to businessmen, from traders to housewives, from sidewalk vendors to traders at Chinatown, tourists and visitors, are talking about how Davao City’s fast-paced progress and how it is changing the face of this former hotbed of urban guerillas. Indeed, high rise buildings are breaking the skyline; former rural settings at the city’s outskirts a breathe away from downtown are transformed into mini-cities of mass housing and high-end subdivisions. In the city’s old central business districts, buildings continue to rise in just about every corner; factories and plants rise from … Continue reading THE DURIAN BEAT COLUMN: The roads to progress
THEDURIANBEAT BY ROGER M. BALANZA Reading Rody and the special people A foreigner friend, now a city resident, is quite befuddled at how Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte can be inconsistent in dealing with business. He says he can not understand Duterte warning investors about complying with regulations before starting business, and then seconds later saying that the local government should help those businesses that operate that are without or are lacking in permits. I told my friend that understanding Duterte and his conflicting statements needed a little trip back to history, to twenty years ago when he first became mayor. … Continue reading Reading Rody and the special people
