Helping one business to boom?

TODAY is the first day of March, the so-called Fire Prevention Month where activities of government agencies concerned are aimed at ensuring that prevention of the occurrence of fire should be at the top of the mind of every person.

We can only hope that not a single fire incident in Davao City will usher in the month and nothing more such destructive disaster will happen in the remaining days of March. Of course there were several disastrous fire incidents that hit Davao City in the month just ended, the last one was at Fr. Gomez st. that rendered several families homeless.

We also encourage the company providing the service often attributed, rightly or wrongly, as the usual cause of conflagrations to focus its information, education and communications (IEC) drive on the aspect of safety precautions that will obviate any possibility of its merchandise igniting fires.

We refer to Davao City’s electricity provider Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC). We know it is active in its safety education program with radio and social media as vehicles.

Again we push for the company’s communication unit to realign its IEC programs on the subject that makes the month of March significant to the people in all parts of the country.

**************************** When former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (FPRRD) finally decided to run for the highest position of the land in the May 2016 national elections his major campaign promise was to change the Constitution of the Philippines with the intention to have the system of government converted into a Federal form.

The campaign promise carried him to victory with a large majority. He defeated candidates who were long politically well-entrenched and financially “blessed.” During his initial months in Malacanang, Duterte went as far as organizing a consultative group headed by retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno to help him on making good his promised Charter change and Federalization of the government.

Apparently the former President’s push for a Constitution revision somehow slackened. He did not even urge Congress, almost all of its members were then aligned with him, to step strong its pedal to pass an enabling law to make good his Charter change promise. Moving forward to the assumption of his successor and the lawmakers who were elected in the 2022 elections, the New Congress revived the Duterte proposal with the People’s Initiative (PI) as the scheme. This time FPRRD reverses his position. He is now against it because according to him he found out that the 1987 Constitution is still relevant for the country and the government. To give emphasis to his opposition to the move of the Lower House FPRRD spearheaded the launching of the “Davaoenos are not for Sale” drive in response to the reported use of government funds to secure the people’s signature approving the procedure of changing the Philippine Charter.

Believing, perhaps correctly, that the President is behind the move the former chief executive launched a series of scathing verbal attacks on the former. The most vicious was when he called President Marcos, Jr. during his speech in a prayer-rally (What a sacrilege of a phrase?) last January 28, 2024 that “Mr. Marcos was a drug addict.” “Si Bongbong Marcos, bangag nuon. Ngayon Presidente na, bangag ang ating Presidente.”

In a press conference last Tuesday, FPRRD seemed to have a 360 degrees turn. He denied having said all of those. “Wala akong sinabi na ganuon, even if you kill me a thousand times.”

He also clarified that what he meant was Marcos, Jr. was taking “anti-biotics and aspirin, as they are all drugs.” FPRRD also denied during the same press conference that he challenged the President for them to both take a “drug test” at the Luneta adding that