The return of Gloria Arroyo

Jobers R. Bersales 07/25/2018

I was as surprised as everyone else to see the drama unfold last Monday when the much-maligned, once-wheelchair-bound, ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was elected as the first female Speaker of the House and by an overwhelming majority at…

A heritage manual for all time

Jobers R. Bersales 07/18/2018

Nearly two decades before the earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu in 2013, the need for a kind of instruction book on how to take care of structures built during the Spanish colonial period was already felt…

Political will in the era of Build, Build, Build

Jobers R. Bersales 07/11/2018

The recent announcement of a basket of infrastructure solutions for Cebu ought to be welcomed, albeit with much anxiety; for this will spell a lot of sacrifices from all of us commuters. This is what happens when…

Still no permit from the NHCP

Jobers R. Bersales 07/04/2018

I received word from someone who late last week wrote the chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) that the NHCP has not issued any permit to allow the Cebu provincial government to proceed…

More Issues on the Capitol Building Project

Jobers R. Bersales 06/27/2018

I was emailed a four-page letter late last week in the name of a certain Archt. John Ray M. Jimenez to Gov. Hilario Davide III dated June 12, 2018. I’m not sure if the governor did indeed…

The fate of faith tourism

Jobers R. Bersales 06/20/2018

It appears that the much-awaited rolling out of faith-based tour packages by the Department of Tourism is on hold with the entry of the new Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. In last week’s Tourism Innovation Forum hosted by…

Cebu Capitol’s somber 80th birthday

Jobers R. Bersales 06/13/2018

The grand Cebu Capitol Building turns 80 today in a somber mood as plans for a 20-storey building continue. This “looming tower”, to borrow the title of Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book on the rise of Al…

20 storeys to ponder on

Jobers R. Bersales 06/06/2018

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has finally spoken on the proposed 20-storey Cebu Capitol building. In fact it apparently spoke a long while back, some 15 months ago, or March 2, 2017, to be…

Supporting heritage

Jobers R. Bersales 05/30/2018

The annual Gabii sa Kabilin last Friday, albeit dampened somewhat by the sudden downpour, showed once again that the Cebuano and tourist alike have time for local heritage and history. As we continue to celebrate the National…

Problematizing Cebu’s Chinatown

Jobers R. Bersales 05/16/2018

I have always grown up with the notion that there is no Chinatown in Cebu simply because all of Cebu is one big Chinatown. That everywhere you go there is always a “Chinese” presence, whether in residential…

The monorail of our dreams

Jobers R. Bersales 05/09/2018

A few months ago I wrote about the plans of Philtram Transport Consortium Inc. to conduct a feasibility study for a monorail system for Cebu. Well, that study has just been completed. And the results are very…

Cebu’s garbage woes, a reaction from Lou Jurika

Jobers R. Bersales 05/02/2018

I received this email recently from Lou Jurika, a friend whose father and uncle were World War II heroes. Texas-based Lou grew up in Cebu and Davao (his neighbors and very close childhood buddies include now Pres.…

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