Opinion

Sorry, COMELEC Chairman Sixto Brilliantes, but I do not have 48 hours to wait for your proclamations. My column is due at the press NOW and so I must use your unofficial transparency count as of 3:30pm of May 14 as Gospel truth. If it's not, then you have a problem, don't you?

I join the membership of the Bacolod Anti-Baha Alliance in welcoming a brighter day after the elections. We congratulate the newly elected local government officials of the country, but especially of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City. BRAVO! Our Gov. Freddie Marañon has successfully won his second term by such a commanding lead I could hear a pin drop. We welcome Vice Governor-Elect Bong Lacson who was Mayor when San Carlos City bagged the Galing Pook Award for its Solid Waste Management effort. Known as the Echo Center, it has become a benchmark for many communities nationwide wanting to establish their own SWM programs. With Gov. Freddie keen on organic farming and Vice Gov. Bong seasoned about SWM, I truly hope that SWM will finally spread like wildfire in Negros Occidental. In the two, I find a perfect fit.

Because our advocacy is based in Bacolod City, the grand central station of unsegregated trash in Negros Occidental, we stretch our hands in cooperation to the new officials of the city, led by Mayor-Elect Monico "Newks" Puentevella who gave the environment priority in his campaign agenda. It was a first. Many heard and duly took note. We also applaud the election of Bing Leonardia to the House of Representatives, for after all, it is during his term as Mayor that Bacolod's sanitary landfill was built. We ask him to use some of his pork barrel to expand the landfill when the time comes. We have a comebacker: Vice Mayor-Elect Greg Gasataya once upon a time worked with us in an attempt to mitigate the garbage problem of the city. Because of hisfluency on the matter, we are assured that any further SWM ordinance will fly through his Council uninterrupted. Of course, the Vice Mayor will enjoy lots of help, and it will come from our newly elected Councilors or SPs whose rank gives me so much reason to smile.

[ DISCLAIMER: Opinions & views posted in this section do not necessarily reflect those of NDB & NDBers. Text your opinion, reaction & feedback to 0939-9023152. - Arman Toga, moderator. ]

[7104] PLEASE HELP. A grandmother urgently needing Type A+ blood, pls. contact 09392891036

[7103] AGUISAN. Mga opisyales sang Brgy. Aguisan wala gasulod sa ila ulubrahan, paandar lang TV sa sulod office para indi mabal-an nga wala tawo. Kung amo neh permi ang gakatabo wala man dypon pulos, wala pag-uswag ang banwa. ( 0948889....)

[7102] HONTIVEROS. Kalamay gid ni Riza Hontiveros hahahaha, wala gid nag saler ang tuk-ap tuk-ap ya sang lamok paagi sa iya violet nga panyo. Team Patay kundi patay gid sya. Sobra ka ... sa simbahan kundi taktak sya. ;) (09167825395)

[7101] May 14 Negros Daily Bulletin (NDB) NEWS-INFO ALERT** (ndb-online.com) ::: (1) Trending consistently shows a Negros Occ. Governor Marañon reelection & a Vice Gov. Lacson election; Bacolod City trending shows a Congressman Leonardia - Mayor Puentevella - Vice Mayor Gasataya admin (2) Also consistent leaders in trending are 1st District Congressman Ledesma, 2nd Dist. Cong. Cueva, 3rd Dist. Cong. Benitez, 4th Dist. Cong. Ferrer, 5th Dist. Cong. Mirasol, 6th Dist. Cong. Alvarez (3) 3rd District Cong. Kako Lacson to reelected Cong. Albee Benitez: "(My message to Cong. Albee). Congratulations. The people have spoken. God bless you in your future endeavors

[ DISCLAIMER: Opinions & views posted in this section do not necessarily reflect those of NDB & NDBers. Text your opinion, reaction & feedback to 0939-9023152. - Arman Toga, moderator. ]

[7100] POOR COMELEC PREP. Inutil ang serbisyo sang COMELEC ilabi na gd sa Precinct #0957A asta 0959A sa area sg BCNHS TACULING AREA. Iyawan kami ka pila kay wala mayo ma plastar ang linyahanay. Ma boto na gid lang ta sang mga kawatan nga opisyales sang pungsod Pilipinas pero kita iya nga nag botar nag penetensya pa kag ga ka late sa aton regular nga mga trabaho. Tani mapa ayo pa gid ang serbisyo sang COMELEC. Para indi man mag antos ang aton mga kasimanwa nga naga botar. Sa na notice sa sini mismo nga skul ang tanan nga mga Presinto wala gid ya ma plastar mayo para indi mag crowded ang mga tawo basta may system lng. Ang ga lista sang number wala nya man na pasunod. Te ang una ulihi pa. Ang ulihi una pa. (0917720...)

[7099] BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME. Congratulations to the winners of the May 13 2013 election, you are expected to perform better in next 3 years. To those who did not get enough votes, better luck time. Accept defeat with grace. Respect the majority decision. Review where you failed. Do not blame others. (09287310950)

ONE IS CLEARLY GENUINE, THE OTHER FAKE. There has been a hullabaloo of sorts over the supposed release of NPA or New People’s Army statements the past days which needs our enlightenment, having been a journalist of many years, and in the process, becoming sharp when it comes to a determination of the genuineness or fakery of written declaration.

The first statement published in local newspapers, is one purportedly coming from the Leonardo Panaligan Command, Central Negros.

It is clear that the statement is genuine, primarily, because the words used have the earmarks of a thorough analysis. It also talks about the forthcoming election in towns and cities in Negros Oriental province referring to the campaign launched by Congresswoman Josy Limkaichong. There is also a reference to activities of the army units the 302nd Brigade and the 303rd Brigade based in the Negros Oriental side and the Negros Occidental portion of the island.

By today, the May 13 Philippine midterm election will have been held and partial voting results started to be announced on the national and local contests. In the national level, the focus of course is on the Senatorial positions where some 33 candidates competed for 12 positions in the Senate. The two main political groups were the Aquino Administration coalition of 12 candidates from 6 different parties and the UNA coalition identified with the Vice President Binay group. These coalitions of national political groups have happened in past Philippine elections, but for this election the final results remain to be known until the official proclamation of the winning candidates. One interesting historical aspect of these national level coalitions is not only their having been done in past elections, but also their similarity with parliamentary elections in other countries, especially originating mostly in European countries. These parliaments for many times had to work out coalitions among the political parties with winning candidates in order to form a majority in the parliament so that this majority could officially manage the government. This system is, however, different from the coalitions organized by the two main political groups during this Philippine election. The similarities or variations of the results of the May elections with parliamentary governments in other countries will be interesting to see in the coming years.

Clarence Locsin

I was challenged to divert my attention to column writing after two months that I was off air from media due to a near-fatal stroke last March 7, 2013.

Most of my media colleagues never expected my fast recovery because when I was brought to the Intensive Care Unit, my neurologist suggested that if possible, I be subjected to a major operation due to a mango-sized blood clot.

The neurologist told my family to prepare for this operation but if this operation is undertaken, there is no guarantee that my able body can be restored.

One possible situation might occur: that I will be clinically dead forever. But thanks to Wendy, my wife for insisting that I won’t be subjected to that complicated situation.

When I was at the ICU, no one was aware that I only kept praying to God. I remember then Tita Edith Colmo of NDB, visited and read at my bedside Psalms 23 and I think God miraculously worked for my gradual healing.

Fifty-two million registered voters are expected to vote for candidates that will fill 18,053 elective positions in the May 13 national and local elections.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said this number is higher than the 50,653,828 voters that registered in 2010.

In the run-up to Monday’s midterm polls, both national and local candidates were scrambling to woo voters that are expected to troop to the 77,829 clustered precincts on Election Day.

Candidates doubled their efforts in the final leg of their campaign, especially in areas with a big number of voters. Data from the poll body revealed that Region IV-A composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (Calabarzon) and Region IV-B composed of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan (Mimaropa) has the most number of registered voters at 8,757,587.

In fact, Cavite is the second vote-rich province with 1,789,438, next to Cebu’s more than 2 million voters.

Next to Cavite is Pangasinan with 1,651,814; Negros Occidental, 1,574,784; Laguna, 1,525,522; Bulacan, 1,497,873; Davao del Sur, 1,491,806; Batangas, 1,444,249; Rizal, 1,382,825; and Nueva Ecija, 1,363,633. All in all, these 10 provinces account for 16 million voters.

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[ DISCLAIMER: Opinions & views posted in this section do not necessarily reflect those of NDB & NDBers. Text your opinion, reaction & feedback to 0939-9023152. - Arman Toga, moderator. ]

[7093] SAN VICENTE BAKE SHOP. Ka honest sang mga tawo dira sa San Vicente Bake Shop sa Moises Padilla (Magallon). May makita sila nga anuman nabilin o lipatan ka customer nila indi gid madula kay ila amligan. Saludo gid kami sa inyo, especially kay Marlon Nilles kag mga kaupod sini. God bless you. (0939222...)

[7092] 3-MONTH MARTIAL LAW. Kung maari lang sana na mag-declare ng 3-month Martiall Law si P-Noy para tanggalan niya ng mga pork barrel ang mambabatas na sanhi ng katiwalian sa pamahalaan. Alisin ng Pangulo ang Writ of Habeas Corpus, Human Rights at ipa-firing squad ang mga drug lord, mga corrupt politician, mga plunderer, mga politikong katulad ng mga Ampatuan at mga kriminal. (09169950399)

[7091] DOERS... I always believe in this saying: What they say about you is actually WHAT THEY ARE. (09072115359)

[7090] FEW POSTERS. Diutay lang poster ni Mayor Monico, ara pa sa poster area, gina operate pa kakas, hoy huya-huya man bi kamo hehe. (09174612459)

[7089] LORNA T. OF VILLAMONTE. Kun indi pa guid pag - untatan ni LT sg Purok Bayanihan, VILLAMONTE ang pag falsificate sg mga important documents kag pirma, ako mismo ang MATAPNA sa iya. Kun wala ka sg sala nga a ginkulba-an ka? Amo pa lang to gani ang ginsugid ko kay KALAW ga SALASET ka na? Nnga a karakangkag ka gid? Kay tood ang mga aligasyon sg mga readers sa imo? To Sir KALAW, ara na lang na sir sa inyo kun mapati kamo o indi kay isa pa lang ka side nabatian nyo. (0915557...)

OR THEY COULD ROT IN JAIL. The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) headed by its Secretary-General Edre Olalia, has wisely advised the military and the police, primarily its members, to disobey illegal orders of officers of their unit, citing many instances in which ordinary soldiers, in the process of complying with the orders take the rap. So, they suffer terribly, look at former Gen. Jovito Palparan and company.

Take the cases of retired superior officer, Gen. Jovito Palparan, those who disobeyed his orders specifically abducting or killing activists when he was commander of units in Central Luzon are now included in murder charges against him.

Take the case of Joseph Jonas Burgos, son of former newspaper Publisher, Jose Burgos Jr. Ordinary soldiers have now taken the rap for his disappearance and while he was missing in 2007, concrete analysis of his disappearance, more than five years ago now indicates that those who abducted him, have killed him.

Political campaigns were over. We have seen enough. We have heard enough. There are so many candidates, so many issues. We see both sides and it’s hard to know how best to vote. For sure, we learned about these candidates and the issues that bind them. Definitely today we are going to vote. And we need one thing - we need to pray that God’s will for this country be done in this election.

Now many ask. How would Jesus pray for today? Marilyn Morgan Helleberg, following the prayer pattern of Jesus, shared this prayer for us: "Our Father, You are the heavenly Head of this country. May Your name always be hallowed here. May we choose leaders who will further the coming of Your kingdom. May Your will be done in this election and throughout the earth, as it is in heaven.