Thanking Cardinal Vidal for serving Cebu
For our special presentation on our talkshow Straight from the Sky we are proud to have someone I used to feature regularly on this show, but since she has moved to Manila, I rarely see or meet her. Yes, I'm referring to former Cebu governor and now Deputy Speaker of the House Rep. Gwen F. Garcia who accepted my invitation since the 17th Congress is now on recess. The last time I had Rep. Garcia on this show was when she was still governor.
But what made this interview more exciting and perfectly timed is that right before Congress went on recess on October 11 and exactly a day before her birthday on October 12, Rep. Garcia and congressmen Robert Barbers and Harry Roque figured in the House Plenary Session and overturned the result of the House Committee on Justice that earlier had 26 Congressmen reject the impeachment complaint filed against Commission on Elections Chief Andres Bautista for corruption as charged by no less than his wife Patricia.
In my book, this was the most serious charge ever filed against a sitting Comelec Chairman that he had a billion pesos in his bank accounts. As pointed out by his wife, Bautista had 34 bankbooks, which means different bank accounts from the same but unheard of Luzon Development Bank which was owned by a DOTC Undersecretary during the presidency of PNoy Aquino, III and therefore is clearly a yellow crony.
Normal people would use big banks, but a small bank where hundreds of millions are deposited is a red flag in any language. Hence, Rep. Garcia's move to have the Comelec Chairman impeached was a class act and makes us Cebuanos proud that we have a champion in the 17th Congress that would never tolerate corruption in the highest levels. How this impeachment process would play out will depend on whether Bautista will resign immediately.
Thanks Rep. Garcia for restoring my trust and confidence in the 17th Congress. Please watch this very interesting interview with Rep. Garcia on SkyCable's channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV's channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.
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There is a call to declare a special holiday on October 26, Thursday, on the occasion of the burial or our beloved Ricardo Cardinal Vidal as initiated by my good friend, Michael Lloyd Dino of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas. Another good friend, Rep. Raul del Mar also agreed to the proposal and I'm sure that they represent the sentiment of the ordinary Cebuano in the street.
I'm pretty sure that a throng of sympathizers not just from Cebu but from neighboring islands as well will elbow their way to the funeral mass for Cardinal Vidal. After all, he is the only Cardinal that most Cebuanos have ever known. The last time Cebu buried a cardinal was when Julio Cardinal Rosales died on June 2, 1983, that's 34 years ago.
Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera said some members of the City Council sent a letter to Dino asking the latter to initiate a move to have October 26 declared a holiday. He pointed out, "It's the perfect way to honor a Holy Man who had given his entire life for the betterment of Cebu. On a private note, we just have to convince ourselves that this coming Christmas, we'll no longer be able to hear his voice and see him officiating one of those 9 early dawn mass."
Former Cebu City vice mayor Joy Augustus Young said that Cardinal Vidal contributed to the success of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) in 1983. Joy said, "He was still Archbishop at that time and that's how I became close with him so we owe him. The nation owes him. Without NAMFREL, there wouldn't have been free and honest elections."
Indeed, even in death, Cardinal Vidal caused politicians from both sides of the political fence to drop their political differences to honor and respect the man who has been Cebu's spiritual leader for nearly 30 years. Declaring a holiday for his funeral is the nation's way of thanking Cardinal Vidal for his personal service to Cebu and the rest of the nation.