DID YOU HEAR WHAT WE HEARD?

LESS THAN NEWS, MORE THAN RUMOR

HOW DO THEY PICK WHICH TO SHUT DOWN?

Cebu City Hall has identified 14,413 establishments operating business in the city without the mayor’s permit.

Obviously, they know who and where these business owners are. Not a guess since the number is so exact: 14,413. With all those “illegally-operated” business sites, which should be padlocked within a mayor’s term?

And how did they choose which to shut down first? By lottery, random pick, a citizen’s complaint?

Rico Dionson of Rico’s Lechon must be so unlucky as to be the first to go down. And, yes, that owner of a spa in Mabolo too.

A bank and a mall have been repeatedly threatened of closure by the mayor. Not a random selection, those two firms, entirely intentional. Out of more than 14,000 other possible targets.

WHO'RE TO BLAME

If so many business firms have been getting away with it--that is, without paying fees and taxes-who are to blame? The mayor: Tomas, since 2016, and Mike Rama, the years before that?

Apparently, the number has been rising through the years. Which of the non-paying business owners are being protected by City Hall, with the inspectors not looking or looking the other way?

KOKO ON KILLINGS

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, long a compliant ally of the president, finally spoke out against the killings in the drug war.

He didn’t mention Duterte’s name though and limited himself to saying that the killings are “alarming.” “Not because a young man was killed,” Koko said, “but because people are getting killed.” Not strong but would do as a starter. A few other politicians had long found alarming the rash of deaths in police hands. But they don’t include any leader from the House.

UNUSUAL REASON

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV wants Sen. Richard Gordon replaced as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee for a reason not usually used against a sitting leader: Gordon allegedly hogs the discussion.

On the hearings inquiring into the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that sailed through customs, Trillanes said Gordon did most of the talking and shut out other senators. Senate chief Pimentel looked at it differently. Gordon was just being diligent. Or, as others point out, he merely wanted the probe to go the way he wanted it to go.