Shibboleth

“Hope springs eternal in human breasts.”––Pope, Essay on Man

IN my teens, the catchword was known as shibboleth. But now, in the twilight of my borrowed life, social media prefers to call a slogan as a niche. Be that as it may, our Cagayan de Oro has withstood the test of time the niche or shibboleth: The City of Golden Friendship.

However, the residents in the residential areas of barangays Macasandig and Indahag are afraid that unless our city council comes to their rescue and stood their ground as co-equal to the mayor, our city may soon be known as the City of Cemeteries and Memorial Parks because our mayor, Oscar Moreno, issued a certificate of social acceptability to an Imperial Manila business known as Forest Lake Corp..

How about you, which shibboleth or niche do you prefer? As legal counsel of the poor homeowners of Arroville Subdivision and Melecia Homes as well as the adjacent Moloy Poloy residents, yours truly raised the following legal issues to oppose the application of Forest Lake Corp. of putting up a cemetery right at the heart of the two poor men’s subdivisions, as a matter of saying, thus:

• Forest Lake Corp. has not actually secured valid clearances from the required government agencies;

• the procedure implemented by the City Executive Department is violative of the law and spirit of the Local Government Code, R.A. 7160, the HLURB –Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, R.A. 7279, in relations to its Resolution No. 798, series of 2006, approving the CLUP (Comprehensive Land Use Plan) and the City 2006 Zoning Ordinance of the City of Cagayan de Oro; and,

• the city council, a co-equal branch of government with the city mayor, is made to appear as a mere “rubber stamp” in violation of the recently passed ordinance on CLUP in relation to the Zoning Ordinance of 2006, No. 10384-2006, dated 20 November 2006.

Briefly and for the record, the Forest Lake Corp. has already filed in vain the same application in 2010. But despite the social acceptability issued by both barangay councils of Macasandig and Indahag, then mayor Vicente Emano refused to act favorably on the application for the simple reason that the area chosen by Forest Lake is within the residential area of “those of who have less in life” and should “have more in law.”

But giving the incumbent mayor the benefit of the doubt, it could very well be said that in truth and fact, the certificate of social acceptability issued by Mayor Moreno, dated Feb. 9. 2015, was really an advanced Valentine’s gift rather than a valid certificate.
The certificate issued by the mayor was not really a violation of the existing ordinance because it was “subject to the conditions stipulated in its implementation including those prescribed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENR) and other government agencies.”
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“Hope is the poor man’s bread.”–Thales

Imperial Manila, the trapos and the filthy rich, never expect their worst nightmare to happen on May 9, 2016. But because the presidency in our country is made in heaven, it is now almost a certainty that the paradise-like islands of Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi are headed for The Poor People’s Summit a few days before or during the filing of the certificates of candidacy for the presidential and local elections of 2016.

And it is going to be the first-ever summit of the poor, for the poor and by the poor. Everything will come from us, the poor. Nothing from Imperial Manila, the trapos and the filthy rich. However, the genuine rich––the haves who are blessed because they have always voluntarily shared their blessing with “those who have less in life,” the deprived and the abused––people from Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi––and the mighty Visayans will join us.

Undoubtedly, our PACmen, the Zubiris, the Fortiches and the Tabioses of Bukidnon, the Pacquiaos and the Antoninos of Sarangani, the Climacos of Zamboanga, the Barbers, the Pimentels and the Plazas of the Caraga, the Muslims and the Lumads shall, without fail, put up a formidable lineup from the presidency down to the last municipal and barangay councilors in all of Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi and the Visayas group of islands. By doing so, we will win a landslide victory to capture Malacañang on May 9, 2016, or the inauguration of the Independent Republics of Mindanao and the Visayas, with Rodrigo “Super Digong” Duterte as president and down the line will become a reality.
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“In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can to do me.”–Psalms LVI. 11

Thank you Lord for everything. And Lord God, kindly implant in our leaders honesty, humility and transparency in their solemn task as our servants-leaders because those who have less in life are the sovereign and very source of their borrowed power and wealth. Finally, Lord, enlighten our leaders to see the light that greed is a flawed way of life. For truly, there is more profit in giving than in taking. For it is in giving that we receive. Truly, love begets love. Amen!

(Call or text 09188030197, e-mail to bagabuyos@yahoo.com, and check out iluvmindanao.net.)