A newsboy, now Cardinal

Our new “Prince of the Church” and soon-to-be  cardinal from Mindanao, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, OMI is  a local homegrown boy, who in his early years in order to earn,  was selling newspapers   of MINDANAO CROSS, a weekly published   by  the Oblate Missionaries in Cotabato. Like Pope Francis, he is a  simple man and understands the nuances of conflicts and diversity. He knows how it is to be poor. He sees up close  how violence and sufferings and poverty devastate people’s humanity.

I had a chat with former President Fidel Ramos in his Makati office a few days ago and he recalled that “Cardinal Orly” used to play golf with him in the Polloc golf course in Parang in the old days. I worked with him when he was chair of the task force handling the Liguasan Marsh river basin issues and   trying to solve the flooding of the Cotabato river.   He was one of the pillars of the Bishop Ulama Conference  (which OPAPP now totally ignored and sidelined) doing inter-faith dialogues for peace and development by promoting understanding and social cohesion between and among  christians and Muslims. We are all mighty proud!

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            FRIENDSHIP — I cannot forget what FVR told me when we discussed the  on-going and worsening  tiff with China vis-a-vis our territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea. FRIENDSHIP is the formula to resolve matters. Be it with China or the rebels, with your neighbors or with anyone else. Maintaining friendship is a magic formula. And it is not too difficult to do, by the way.

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             GOOD GUYS, BAD GUY — The new law on firearms is now effective under RA 10591. Applicants for new license, for example, are now required to make a personal appearance at PNP for biometrics and other protocols . Unlike in the past when merely paying a “facilitator” was sufficient for the license and permits to be issued hence shady characters and the bad guys succeeded in getting theirs. And yes, let’s not forget ENFORCEMENT. Even with all the requirements and screening and all the good guys complying, if our police with will not be able to run after the bad guys, who by the way will just carry their firearms illegally and not bother get permits, then nothing is going to improve things. What is bad is that we are only making it more hard for  the good guys and still allow the bad guys to merrily do their thing.

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                TRIPLE  WHAMMY — Davao Oriental and COMVAL, both provinces hit by Typhoon Pablo are again getting a beating from the floodings and landslides of the recent weather disturbance. And to think that they are still in a trance on how to cope with Typhoon Pablo destroying their means of livelihood.

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                ZAMBOANGA CITY — The city is still being plagued with reports about deaths of Zamboanga siege evacuees, mostly children up to NOW. Evacuees are still in miserable conditions in evacuation centers. And to think that we could have avoided this tragedy.