TODAY is Christmas Eve. We will be greeting our friends again. This time, we will be mentioning a few specific names for the simple reason that in the past Christmases, they also never forgot to greet us. Also, there are some who remember us in almost every important milestone in our lives.
Allow us, therefore, to extend our Christmas greetings to the following:
Retired Lt. Gen. who was a former Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director, Michael John Dubria, his close aide in Davao City until now, Police Officer John Anthony Federiso, our favorite retired Assistant. City Prosecutor Totoy Garcia, Court of Appeals Justice Ronald Tolentino, now based in Cebu City, retired Regional State Prosecutor Tony Arellano;
Our boss at the Mindanao Times, Willie Torres, our former bosses at Davao Light, Manuel “Bobby” Orig and Art Milan, our successor also at Davao Light, Fermin Edillon, former co-employees at the same power distribution firm, Lolit Polino, Susan Penaflor, lawyer Boy Braganza, Annie Suelto, Arzy Sacamos, Dave Bacalso, Jun Gavan, Jun Po, Clovis Racho, and President and COO Enriczar Tia.
Another very close friend at Davao Light, who would have been one of those this Christmas greeting of ours is due, is Ross Luga. Unfortunately, he died some four months ago.
Our greetings also go to media friends, former Mindanao Times Editor-in-Chief Amy Bandiola, current EIC Joel Escovilla, resort owner Sisoy Rodriguez, and brother restaurant owner Vince Rodriguez, their father Dr. Julian Rodriguez, Sr., media contemporaries Nilo Claudio, Serafin “Jun” Ledesma, and Loreto Tinitigan, new breed of active media practitioners Neil Bravo, Henrylito Tacio, Eduardo “Ed” Fernandez, and Alan Afdal Nawal;
Former colleagues in the broadcast media Edgar Banzon, Zaldy Chatto, Dennis R. Lazo, Kiking Quimpan, Oyo Mitra, Edgar Candia, and dxUM station manager Roy Geonzon;
Congressman Isidro “Sid” Ungab, former broadcaster and now Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Region 6 Director Leomides Villareal, councilors Tek Ocampo, Petite Principe, Abet Ungab, Danny Dayanghirang, Al Ryan Alejandre, and Myrna Dalodo Ortiz.
There are many more personal friends whom we wish to greet this holiday season. But we could not remember them all, and we might be misunderstood for mentioning their names, especially at this time of the year.
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Davao City First District Congressman Paolo Duterte lambasted how public figures are treated by the current administration.
According to the Congressman who is himself receiving the kind of treatment he is complaining about, there is a “selective moral outrage and double standards” in the way public figures are treated. He cited what his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, is getting lambasted.
We commiserate with Davao City’s first district Congressman. But that is how it is in the Philippines. Political adversaries use every trick possible just to advance the destruction of a person who is likely a major barrier to the aspiration of one to a particular elective position, more specifically, the Presidency.
We are certain the Congressman himself is no stranger to such a scheme. Anyhow, the truth will always come out in the end.
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By way of closing this piece, again, we wish all our readers a more blessed Christmas this 2025. And since the New Year 2026 will be with us in only one week, we will also wish you the best in the coming year.
