The rain didn’t dampen the fervor of the faithful who attended the Mass officiated by Pope Francis at the Tacloban airport.
The January visit by Pope Francis, the death of two Cebuano police troopers in the Mamasapano bloodbath, the death of a street child grabbed headlines in Cebu in the first five months of 2015.
The year 2015 or Year of the Wood Sheep in Chinese astrology started well enough with the visit of Pope Francis, who kept his promise to visit families of those hardest hit by supertyphoon Yolanda in early November, two years ago.
Cebu Daily News was there when the Pontiff’s visit in Leyte province drew hundreds of thousands of the Filipino faithful who braved typhoon weather to attend the Masses he officiated.
But just as Filipinos basked in the afterglow of Pope Francis’s visit, the country also witnessed a day of infamy with Oplan Exodus by Special Action Forces (SAF) troopers in a remote patch of green field in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province which resulted in the deaths of 44 men includ Cebuano troopers PO1 Romeo Cempron and PO2 Windel Candano.
Police officers salute the coffins bearing the remains of Special Action Force (SAF) troopers PO2 Windel Candano and PO1 Romeo Cempron that arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
The Mamasapano massacre was considered the single biggest loss of government troopers in the country’s history and triggered a crisis in the Aquino administration last year. Cebuano officials joined the rest of the country in honoring the lives of the Fallen 44 with a heroes’ welcome at the airport for the remains of the two soldiers as Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia pleded cash assistance to Candano’s family.
Other stories that impacted on the lives of Cebuanos in the first five months include the P10 reduction in the flagdown rate of taxi fares.
The resentment of taxi drivers surfaced in a nasty encounter between cab driver Joel Ramos and call center agent Dave Say Horca last March.
There were headline stories on the Sergio Osmeña road closure and cutting of trees in February as preparation for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in October; and the rebidding of the Cebu Memorial Medical Center (CCMC) project also in February several months after it stalled due to the disqualification of previous bidders.
Traffic congestion along S. Osmena St. due to road construction by DPWH-7
The threat of a preventive suspension for Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama surfaced with a Commission on Audit (COA) ruling that declared the P20,000 calamity cash aid given to City Hall employees and officials as illegal in January.
Foreigners were not immune to violence in Cebu.
German national Henry Haffner was killed and companions Frenchman Julian Millard and Indian Cheten Saparaiya were wounded in a shooting at a fastfood outlet in Talisay City last February.
The suicide of Australian inmate Hilton Reece Munro, accused of child trafficking, raised questions about rehabilitation in the Cebu provincial jail.
Chastity Mirabiles, 11, died after she was allegedly mauled by police officers of Fuente station.
As Cebuanos grapple with the onset of the El Niño dry spell and Inayawan residents were moved out of their homes due to mounting garbage, Cebu City police were also held accountable for the death of 11-year-old street child Chastity Mirables after Easter Sunday all in April last year.
In May, Cebu City Hall officials grappled with the problem of quake-proofing old structures as well as scholars of Asian College of Technology who complained over the non-payment of their tuition by the city government.
Former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña raised hopes of a revived call for “Ceboom” when he signified his interest to run for governor that month.