Goodbye, July

How fast time flies, and already today is the first day of the eighth month of the year, the Leo month of August.

The busy last days of July this week started last Sunday night, July 27th, which marked the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting practiced by our fellow Filipino Muslims. In the two years my family spent in Jolo, Sulu in the early 1930s, we were witnesses to this practice when our then few Muslim scholar classmates in the then 6th and 7th intermediate grades, would bring tin cans to class for their sputum during the fasting days.

The Ramadan ended with the crescent moon marking the Eid’l Fit’r, the Feast of Breaking the Fast, and the first day of the Islamic Hijrah Calendar.

July 27th had been declared an official holiday by the President, but it being a Sunday, it was observed the following Monday, or Tuesday as a college student daughter of my helpers reported her school observed.

Last Monday, July 28th, President Aquino delivered his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) during his term as Chief Executive. I watched the live TV coverage of the event held at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

The gist of the President’s SONA as summarized by the Cebu Daily News (CDN) the following day, included: rehabilitation funds released for Bohol and Cebu; a decrease in poverty incidence from 2012 through 2013; an increase in BIR tax collections from 2010 through 2013; an increase in the budget for infrastructure from 2011 through 2014; seven (7) Public-Private Partnership Projects signed which include the expansion of the Mactan Cebu International Airport; and an increase in the International Credit Ratings per Standard & Poors, and Moody’s. The President “pointed out that he only has one SONA left, and that in 2016 the peple will choose a new President … but avoided mentioning any name.” He turned emotional in the later part of his address when he said, “The Filipino is definitely worth fighting for.”

He was applauded frequently throughout his address.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of militant and noisy protesters massed outside, holding up huge signs and placards, were kept in control by soldiers and the police.

In the following days in the last days of July and as I write, media continues to report reactions to the SONA, both highly supportive and sharply critical.

There were also the varied reactions to the wives and other women who were beautifully dressed in various versions of the Filipina, as well as in ethnic Filipino, costumes. Appropriately elegant and proper, or even more attention-gathering “fashion plates”?

Then last Tuesday, we were brought down to the reality of daily life lived in faith and patient service, as we oberved the Memorial of St. Martha, disciple of the Lord. Together with her sister Mary and brother Lazarus, they lived in Bethany near Jerusalem. Martha was the prototype of the busy housewife, and was declared the Patroness of Cooks. Jesus, who loved them, was a frequent guest at their house. When Lazarus died, Martha appealed to Jesus, knowing and believing that He would raise Lazarus to life sometime in the future. But because of her deep faith, He brought Lazarus back to life.

Meanwhile, fellow CDN columnist Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, for her part, has summarized the state of affairs of the past week: “Violence, tragedies including three plane crashes, disheartening stories of corruption, greed and woeful displacements from typhoons.” Add to this the loss by still unsolved theft of relief goods and sacks of rice at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue.

In other news: the Bohol Sandugo Festival commemorating the historical Blood Compact; the Boholanos’ rising after the latest 7.2 magnitude earthquake; the birth of the 100th Million Baby last Sunday at the Jose Fabella National Medical Center; and the tragic shooting in Cebu’s Sacred Heart Hosptal of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Cris Cecil Chan Abbu by his depressed PWD patient Wilfredo Sabonsolin who then shot himself to death. My son Antonio in San Diego, California in the States informed me Dr. Abbu and he were former classmates at the University of San Carlos Boys’High School.

Add to these, the suspension of canyoneering in Cebu after the accident that killed canyoneering guide Aldrin Carba of Moalboal. I remember years ago visiting the beautiful Kawasan Falls in the neighboring town of Badian which was part of the new tourist attraction canyoneering, which, for now has been suspended after the tragedy.

In environmental news, residents in sitio Dapdap, barangay Langub, Kinatarkan Islet in Sta. Fe town, Bantayan Island, have been advised to steer clear of a widening sinkhole there and relocate to safer areas. A sinkhole forms after the coraline underground structure has been gradually eroded, resulting in the giving way of the upper soil layer. Meanwhile, floods ravaged Daanbantayan last Saturday. And debate continues regarding the cutting down and/or pruning of age-old, even decaying trees in southern Cebu towns.

To close with good news: Pope Francis has been scheduled to visit the Philippines on January 15 – 19th next year. More on this and other news developments in next week’s Bystander-ing. So until then, as always, may God continue to bless us, one an all!