GOOD GROOMING AND RIGHT CONDUCT. Some people may be harsh in their comments but subjects should take these in a positive way. For instance, local media guys talk about this lady information officer who used to look very regale and sosyal, from the tip of her toes to the top of her hair during her prime, but she has since transformed into a shabby-looking professional. Aken kasi?

She no longer seems to care about her appearance and I am told she attends events in her workplace as if she has just gotten out from her bedroom. True enough, I saw her several times and I was shocked. Anyare atchie?

Twenty years ago, popular actress Eula Valdez would pale in comparison with her beauty. She could easily wow the crowd each time she spoke. In fact, I admired her then.

But fast forward. Some newsmen, especially the men, already make fun of her hairdo. Could combs nowadays cost a million that she could not afford to buy one for her use? They ask themselves about her. “Singa agla mansasagaysay,” some fellow workers end up wondering… Aliwan say panbalaw pero tuwa met, they say in chorus behind her back.

There were times kuno when she went to her office still smelling from last night’s alcohol intake. The consolation to taxpayers is, at least she still goes to her office.

Perhaps, aside from teaching government workers about excellence in performance and punctuality, there ought to be lessons in good grooming. I don’t mean having to wear expensive perfume, clothes, glittering jewelry or heavy make-up, but a simple daily personal hygiene with appropriate office clothes would do.

Apparently, her laziness reflected in her personal grooming has also affected her performance in her work place. Instead of writing press releases as expected of her, the lady would just send schedule of activities mostly via text to media practitioners.—Tita Roces
BAYBAYIN BUHAYIN. So there was this movement that sought to revive Baybayin (not Alibata), the original Filipino script or form of writing. Personally, I have been interested in the subject since I entered UP (The script written on our ‘sablay’ -the garb we wear during graduation- are Baybayin scripts), I have been trying since then to learn writing Baybayin once in a while.

So, I felt really fortunate for the chance given to attend the summit “Baybayin Buhayin” on April 9-11 at the Sison Auditorium. It wasn’t until that summit that I got the a true grasp of the value reviving, preserving and promoting Baybayin. It is not merely another form of calligraphy, Baybayin is our identity. Other countries have their own forms of writing that they have preserved through time, and which are still being used in their respective territories up to this day. Ours may have been preserved but sadly, only in museums and by a few tribes. Baybayin is so beautiful and uniquely Filipino that deserves attention. It is something we, Filipinos, should be very proud of. I, therefore, commend the move at the House of Representatives and at the Senate to revive it.

In the meantime, I wish school officials, perhaps, the universities, offer a Baybayin course even as an elective course to students. I’m sure a lot of students will be interested in learning this Filipino culture! – Johanne R. Macob

 

OPENING THE RED-ORA’S BOX. The call of Councilor Redford Mejia to probe the baratillo in last year’s Bangus Festival finally went pfft when it dawned on other members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod that being the minority floor leader and member of all committees he (Erfe Mejia) can not call by himself any investigation in the city council in aid of legislation without the chairman of the committee calling for it based on the rules in the Sanggunian.

Based on the same rules, he can only call the passage of a resolution calling for the investigation but he can not do anything if the members of the majority, comprising nine against only two in the minority, thumbs down his resolution.

But even in the event his proposal reaches first base, he cannot also limit the discussion to the present baratillo under the present administration. Inevitably, the past baratillos managed by some of members of the minority and allies in the past who also used funds will have to be probed as well. Ooops. The past baratillos used public funds to bankroll the operations unlike under the Fernandez administration where only private donations were used and have been fully accounted for. – Leonardo Micua

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