BY ALEX ALAGON
AT THE outset, we beg for the indulgence of our readers for this column’s failure to come out in yesterday’s online edition of this paper.
While we were halfway to finishing our write-up, the screen of our monitor went dark. When we took a look at our study room and the sala, there was not a single electric bulb lighting. The sound of the ice crusher in our little cold snack center went silent. Then we were told by our son that a power outage had just started.
We were hoping that the power interruption would be only for a shorter period than we normally experienced in the past. The outage started at 1:36 p.m. In the back of our mind, we still entertained the thought that if electricity would be back by, say 2 or 2:30 p.m., we still could catch up with the deadline of submission set by our editorial office for columns.
Then 2 o’clock p.m. came, 2:30, 3:00 o’clock, 4 p.m. The power still did not come back. We were already apprehensive that we were about to miss another issue for our column. And yes, 6 o’clock came, then 7 p.m.
Adding to our misfortune is that, in our place, while we have mobile phones, there is also no signal. We have a landline courtesy of PLDT. But we could not make a call since the landline plan we have is Internet-dependent. Meaning, when the Internet is off, we cannot make any contact. Adding to this is the fact that the Internet is also power-dependent. That was why when the power went off the other day for nearly six long hours, a large chunk of our available means of communication was cut off in the house.
Worst, our landline has not been functioning for weeks already, and PLDT seems unmindful of our request despite our up-to-date bill payments.
The electric outage incident – no thanks to a broken power line, according to Davao Light – actually gave us triple whammies.
First, we were unable to complete writing our column and failed to send the same to this paper. Second, we saw the death of three of our Koi freshwater fish that we have nurtured for over ten years already, and estimated to weigh over one kilo each. And third, the little cold snack center we have beside our house missed meeting an order of 70 glasses of “halo-halo” by a nearby barangay that was celebrating the culmination program of the Nutrition Month. Well, that was one experience we hope will not happen again.
By the way, whatever happened to that much-ballyhooed system that the power firm claims to have set up in its main substation that will reflect the location of a fault in any of its distribution lines and the areas covered? Gone with the wind? Or, set aside for a more sophisticated power distribution improvement?
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Several rabidly pro-Duterte Senators, all Duterte congressmen, and several other lawmakers, and of course Vice President Sara Duterte did not attend the 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Well, we strongly believe that they did the right thing. After all, why would they bother attending and hearing what the President will report? They do not believe in all that he said. The non-attending lawmakers have their own idea of their own state of the nation.
Of course, we know that they lost one good opportunity to find a basis in disproving the President and making their “true state of the nation” even more credible.
Or, would they rather continue lambasting the administration of President Marcos Jr., with their own bias and politics-dictated observations of the things happening in the country?
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It is our take that the President should better take out from his close circle of appointed advisers men who are giving him more problems or causing the push down of his administration.
One such guy is Presidential Adviser Larry Gadon. He is the one who doesn’t seem to know how to hold his tongue in chastising those who are on the other side of the political fence, or rulings even by the courts that seem to favor the nemesis of the Marcos administration.
The latest of Gadon’s vile language is his calling the Supreme Court “Tuta ni Duterte.” It was his comment on the ruling of the Highest Court of the land, virtually stopping the impeachment trial of VP Sara for the House’s violation of the one-year bar in filing of impeachment cases.
If indeed the SC is “tuta ni Duterte,” is Gadon, and the administration for that matter, admitting that the former President still wields a huge influence that can sway the Justices? Then, it is the reason why the administration’s attack dogs are doing everything to diminish the Duterte mystique if its supported candidates in the 2028 polls are to survive.
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This imbroglio generated by the Supreme Court ruling on the VP’s petition to stop her impeachment trial has added one important stock knowledge in our mind. And ironically, this came from a lawyer who questions the High Court’s resolution – one Atty. Jesus Falcis, when he was interviewed by broadcast journalist Christian Esguerra.
The 2-word term he used to describe the ruling? It is a “Judicial legislation.”
