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METROPOST PONCIANO LIGUTOM BOW & ARROW pligutom@yahoo.com


positions, from a contractual employee to director level. From my experience, the most difficult counterparts come from the legislative. I had a number of cases in the judiciary but all cases were decided in my favor.


I


event at City Hall reminded me of my encounters with politicians.


“I will not take this sitting down. Madam Secretary, I will file a case against Director Ligutom!,” was the blunt


statement of a Congressman from Bacolod to my boss, the Secretary of the Department I was connected with. Present in the meeting called by the legislator in his chamber at the Batasang Pambansa a day before our Department budget hearing were the Secretary, two other senior officials, and the Administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. A month before that, I was


The recent controversial


served the government for almost 40 years in the executive branch in several


Congressman xx of a District in Aklan,” I answered politely (and proudly that I knew him). He retorted, “This is the


first time I saw you. Are you a director? Why didn’t you ever visit me? Don’t you know that I can ask for your transfer anytime?” I was shocked and embarrassed at the same time. I apologized and promised that I would find time to visit him in his District office. After I went back to the I vowed


meeting room,


that was the last time that Congressman saw me. Each time he called for a meeting, I


attending a congressional meeting together with Regional Executives from our Department. While waiting for the meeting to start, I went to the comfort room where another person happened to be using. Before I could bow in his direction to show some respect, he beat me to it: “Don’t you know me?”


because I was just about to show him that I recognized him. “Oh, yes, Sir, of course, I know you. You are


Of course, I was stunned,


would request our Assistant Director to represent the Office. I did not need the stress. In a previous assignment in Mindanao before my Visayas engagement, I was informed that I was being “hunted” by a certain Congressman, a former Department Secretary, for not acceding to his request to deploy nurses solely from his District, despite the failure to fill up the quota for his own District for lack of qualified nurses. He called our Secretary to complain but I reasoned that I was just following the guidelines of the Nurses Assigned in Rural Areas (NARS) program, a training- cum-emergency employment strategy of the Department. I remember the Congressman from Aklan warning me not to fund projects of workers who did not belong to his political party.


were starting to implement the Tulong Panghanapbuhay


HANNAH MURALLA-PALUSTRE DIGITAL NATIVES hannahmuralla@gmail.com


RENO, NEVADA -- I was more than four years into my professional life, working as assistant editor for a national broadsheet in Manila, when I was granted a scholarship on nature conservation from the World Wildlife Fund.


I didn’t have to look far. Silliman University was the only school in the country that offered such a program relevant to my field. Most of all, it was located in my hometown. The move surprised some colleagues and friends, knowing that I was just a step away from being


How far can you go with a Silliman degree? Alumni of the Silliman University College of Mass Communication share their stories of how they have gone on to pursue their respective passions.


to pursue formal studies in environmental reporting. Besides, I also needed a


respite from living in the highly-urbanized capital for almost a decade then. The thought of Silliman’s tree- lined campus, sea breeze, and the University Town’s laid- back lifestyle was too good to pass up.


I reached out to Silliman’s College of Mass Communication, packed my bags, and moved back to my hometown. In November 2011, I was officially enrolled


promoted to section editor. If I had been looking for something more exciting than feature stories, they said I should have just transferred to the political beat.


interest in the environment. As a daughter of agriculturists, I was raised to be conscious of the environment, and the issues surrounding it. At work, I pursued topics like renewable energy, green architecture, and sustainable business models every time there was an opportunity. Looking back, it was probably my modest attempt to try to influence or elicit action from our paper’s main audience -- executives and decision-makers. Even if


But I’ve long had a keen


such an inclination, the environment angle was gaining ground across most sectors around that time. So when the opportunity to advance my knowledge in the field came, I knew I had


I didn’t have


as a graduate student in Silliman’s Environmental Journalism program. One of our first readings in Environmental Communication class was Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s 1962 classic that set off the American environmental movement and inspired generations of environmental advocates the world over. It particularly hit me that one woman’s writings on synthetic insecticides, particularly dichlorodiphenyl- trichloroethane or DDT, inspired a nation to take action while I, an aspiring environmental


could not even be bothered to give up insect repellants with DEET even when it has been shown to be not entirely harmless on humans. This brought me to another realization in my Ecosystems class: people are looking for more and more ways to repel mosquitoes that transmit malaria or dengue, but the insect’s increase is actually the


journalist,


result of man’s failure to act on climate change. Warmer global temperatures expand the habitats of mosquitoes, and man’s inaction will only likely contribute to the continued growth of the mosquito population and, consequently, an increase in vector-borne diseases. The semester I was


This was the time when we


sa ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD), a community-based assistance package that provides emergency employment for a period from 10 to 30 days. That Aklan Congressman was one with the rest of his colleagues in the Region who believed that the program funds belonged to them, and that local chief executives and accredited co-partner NGOs could not avail of it without their approval.


While I disagreed with their belief, I just kept quiet, aware and confident that the role of directors is not ministerial but


The Executive vis-à-vis the Legislative


discretionary, and should be compliant with the guidelines of the government program. In my junior years in government service, we were once tasked to implement a program allegedly from a pork barrel of a Senator from Cebu. It was about P80 million rural employment and livelihood program. What happened was that it was only implemented in a particular District where he eventually ran as congressman in the next election. The case with the Bacolod District legislator was about a million peso livelihood project for one of the City barangays. This was initiated by my predecessor but was to be released during my first month stint in the Region. The Congressman accused us of providing a project to the supporters of the City Mayor that time, his political nemesis. The former filed a case with the Ombudsman against


TO PAGE 12


1972. Although written by its composer David Gates for young hearts at that time, the lyrics speak to us even today: You sheltered me from harm Kept me warm, kept me warm You gave my life to me Se t me fr e e ,


E


The finest years I ever knew, Were all the years I had with you And I would give anything I own I’d give up my life, my heart, my home I would give everything I own, Just to have you back again. In our personal everyday


lives, we take what we enjoy for granted. Children living with their parents enjoy a roof over their heads, food on the table, and clothes on their back.


They don’t work for these, the gifts simply provided for. In most cases, children won’t “see” these basic necessities. They just take them for granted, because they’re always there, predictable as the sun rises every day. They hardly remember that someone has provided for these things they enjoy. Or how about presence? Too often, we take for granted those with us and those around us. And sometimes we just assume that our parents or other significant others will be depended on for company, moral support and even advice. Presence, that comforting confidence that we are loved and cared for can also be taken for granted.


of employment and the benefit of earning a livelihood? Many


Or how about the security s e t me fr e e


JANUARY 24 - JANUARY 30, 2021 OPINION 7 ATTY. JOSE RIODIL D. MONTEBON


THE EMPEROR’S NO CLOTHES


joseriodil@yahoo.com


verything I Own is a song popularized by the group Bread in


times, we find ourselves complaining about our work situations, forgetting about the benefits of education for our children, medical health care, and social security. We take things for granted, just because they’re always there, we take even our blessings for granted. Just as God gives us the Sunrise each day, we also assume and expect that it will always be there. We often take the Sunrise for granted. Sometimes we take God for granted.


In our community life, we also take the good for granted. A case in point is the intramurals at the City Council today. T riggered by a disagreement on the treatment


of the CoViD meals issue last year, the Council has been polarized among those who chose to pursue a case with the Ombudsman, and those who opted to deal with it internally at the Council. As a result, individuals have now identified themselves as Administration and Opposition Councilors. It did not use to be this way.


delivered. Initiatives in public works and infrastructure were begun. We were even in near unanimous agreement in pursuing the City’s Master Plan. And the war against CoViD-19 was addressed with the utmost concern and cooperation. This modus vivendi in


Dumaguete leadership bore more than satisfactory results. And the people appreciated its leadership for its excellence and altruism.


Council, and presumably an Administration which must now deal with the Opposition and its partisans, we can only expect that Dumaguete, once the beneficiary of good consensus-building among


What we’ve taken for granted


its leaders, will now go the way of other ordinary local governments which get entangled in political intrigue. This is unfortunate. Instead of pursuing the public good and community interest, our leaders will get entangled in promoting only their self-political interests, and especially jockeying for the next local elections.


I recall at the start of their terms two years ago, some kind of consensus was reached among the newly-elected officials to work together for the good of Dumaguete.


The result was a smooth running City government which dispensed quality legislation and laudable public service for the community’s benefit. Delivery of essential services from the City were also effectively and efficiently


MARISSA NGAN-DAMES


FOOD FOR THOUGHT


MAKATI CITY -- National Hugging Day, which started in the US on January 21, 1986 by Kevin Zaborney, had become a global celebration that encourages others to hug everyone, no matter who they are: family, friends or strangers.


A different storyline


taking Environmental Communication Campaigns coincided with the passage of a local ordinance that sought to ban single-use plastics in Dumaguete. I recall our class submitting a compilation of recommendations to the City


Environment and Natural Resources Office, complete with a photo op that was published in a local paper. While I pored over the assigned readings for my Environmental Laws & Policies class, I was shocked to find that a proclamation by former President Marcos required high school seniors to plant a tree to be able to graduate. He signed a few more environmental measures which led to me think that the late dictator, notwithstanding his corruption and other crimes during the Martial Law years, was actually quite the environmental advocate. There were several other memorable moments and realizations over the two semesters I spent as an EJ student in Silliman. I came out of the program with more knowledge on the complexity of climate change impacts, and a deeper understanding of environmental and social issues.


TO PAGE 8


The movement has grown enormously in worldwide popularity to include countries like the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Guam, Australia, Georgia (the country), England, South Africa, and Russia.


Hugging has many benefits for our health.


But COVID-19 has changed that.


How did we get here? Again, we, the public, can only speculate. Perhaps, the Administration and the Council became too familiar and comfortable with each other.


Such familiarity could have led to a presumptuousness that everything and anything was okay without question. Such hubris, however, often leads to folly. A simple


TO PAGE 17 With a polarized


marissa.dames@dtcpromos.com.ph


Students who once played and interacted with teachers, classmates and friends now contend with on-line classes made even more difficult by spotty internet. Gone are the physical and social interaction in and out of the classroom. The horseplay, friendly competition and ribbing during recess, convocations and intra-murals have become mere memories. Mentoring and coaching of


hugging in the future,” said Gail Saltz, an associate professor of psychiatry at New York- Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical College. We are aware of the


“We’re going to see a lot less


Managing the risks of infection


students who need a little extra help, intervention and support by guidance counselors and home room teachers are no possible.


We prefer to stay home because there are very few


Different studies have proven that hugging helps build a good immune system and decreases the risk of heart disease, lowers blood pressure and triggers the release of healthy hormones. NOW hugging can be hazardous, carrying with it the risk of transmitting a virus that travels through close contact. So will we abandon hugging? With the mandated social and physical distancing protocols, hugging is now anathema! Shaking hands and


“making beso” are now things of the past.


of stress among different age groups in possibly one of loneliest of times of our lives and people have become more isolated, fearful and depressed.


We read of escalated levels


places where we can safely go to and thrive in as community. We are paranoid and look at others with trepidation and wonder how we, our loved ones and friends can remain safe.


benefits of risk management in this pandemic. Seniors like me and “those with underlying medical conditions who are at high risk for COVID-19, hugging should mostly be off the table, at least until a vaccine is found,” said William Li, a physician studying COVID-19 and president and founder of the nonprofit Angiogenesis Foundation.


Jan. 21 is Hugging Day but…


How do we comfort and help those who are hurting? Many times declarations like “Our rhoughts and prayers are with you” seem hollow or devoid of faith and hope because we do not have something tangible with which to connect with others. Throughout this pandemic, I had managed to attend only a couple of wakes despite the passing of both family and friends who were dear to me. And what was usually a venue to comfort the bereaved through hugs, wakes have become a distant waving of hands and “Smizing” (Smiling with your eyes.)


be reluctant to hug parents or grandparents out of fear they might transmit the coronavirus. The decision not to hug can actually be a demonstration of caring,” Saltz said.


“Younger people also may


“There’s concern about putting the older person at risk,” she said. “The person who loves them would feel horrendous if they were the source of the virus.”


condemn hard-nosed people who threw caution to the wind, broke protocols and spread the disease like a harbinger of pestilence from Hades! And Negros Oriental,


That is why I strongly


particularly Dumaguete, is now registering alarming all- time high in Covid statistics after months of having 0 cases --- no thanks to some cretin


TO PAGE 12


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