A HAND extended in succor, a tear shed for the unfortunate, a prayer uttered for the lonely and helpless, a wish for peace and prosperity for others.

These are the gestures that matter most on Christmas — and throughout the year.

It is never the glistening and gay buntings on a tree, the expensively-wrapped gifts bought at a superstore or mall with the pricey tag, the gourmet, mouth-watering viands adorning the table or the crisp cash handed out in envelopes to relatives who, as so often happens, are in the same league of decadence as the perfumed givers. No, these are not what Jesus Christ taught the world to do to find peace and serenity within ourselves.
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Nen MARIO F. KARATEKA

ANGGAPOY makaamta no antoy nagawad Pilipinas no onsoblay a taon.

Wala ta o anggapoy Cha-Cha?

Wala ta o anggapoy eleksiyon?

Wala ta o anggapoy nagawaan na totoo ed say pangipasoot na labay na saray manoooley?
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By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

DAGUPAN Police Chief Ed Basbas will have a merry Christmas, after all. The suspects in the Christmas eve massacre at Floren Hotel were caught pronto and are now being grilled.

A heinous crime like this, given that it’s (as the cops love to mouth it when faced with an especially big one — an “isolated case,”) certainly challenges all the investigative skills and follow-up persistence of the authorities. In the Floren mass murder, the security guard went missing and therefore, becomes prime suspect. (Late reports coming in as we write this said the guard, Victor Dalisay, and an unnamed roomboy, have been arrested for the crime.)
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By DANNY O. SAGUN

AT LAST, law enforcers confiscated Thursday pirated discs (CDs and DVDs) being sold at the downtown area. We have long been wondering why the police, the National Bureau of Investigation, and other concerned agencies are hesitant to conduct raids at such sidewalk stores peddling pirated discs particularly rated triple XXX movies disguised as scandal tapes.

The peddlers are that bold to display their wares and yet left untouched. What happened to the so-called plain view doctrine?
An NBI operative once told us they could not just move and confiscate those illegally-sold items without word from the concerned government agency, the Optical Media Board. Besides there are many more pressing matter that the NBI is giving priority to.
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By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

ON this young girl’s frail shoulders is a weighty load to bring honor to her country in the world of chess.

But Samantha Glo Revita, 7, is oblivious to such responsibility, as the perky girl just happily plays the board game she enjoys since she was three. Samantha is the country’s representative in the Under 7 category in the 2nd Asian Schools Chess Festival on December 17-24 in Singapore.

She is one of the only two representatives of the Philippines in the festival, the other being Paulo Bersamino of Manila who will play in the Under 9 category.
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By LIWAY C. MANANTAN YPARRAGUIRRE

IT was an unforgettable and worthwhile trip. And what a great feeling seeing the happy faces of those very appreciative people of Sitio Bomboaya at Barangay San Bonifacio, in San Manuel, Pangasinan.

They expressed their profuse thanks to their visitors as for the first time, they were visited by a civic group, and more, given an early Christmas party.
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By LIWAY C. MANANTAN YPARRAGUIRRE

“MY intention really is to run for a political position like the governorship. But I have to postpone my decision while awaiting some developments which could happen in the next few weeks.”

Retired Gen. Arturo C. Lomibao, National Irrigation administrator, gave this intriguing hint last week about when he will give his reported ambition to run for governor – or any other elective position – the full and final push.

It was not made clear what he meant by “some developments” — either about the current national political impasse or his own “negotiations” with local political aspirants and power-wielder.
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THE sangguniang panlungsod finally endorsed the planned development of the Magsaysay area into a commercial-tourism complex.

The former Bugnay private market fronting the City Hall was reported up for development as a major tourism site similar to the Baywalk in Manila.

At least two city councilors earlier questioned the process in awarding the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract to a developer, one Metro Estate Realty Corp.
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THE list of missing as well as those who survived in the sea mishap that happened near Scarborough shoal off the provinces of Pangasinan and Zambales last Friday and Saturday was released Wednesday night.

The list from the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) in Infanta manned by elements of the Philippine National Police, Navy, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard and the Infanta municipal government showed that there were 96 fishermen reported missing in that disaster.

All the fishermen were on board a total of 38 motorized fishing boats, 27 of them from Infanta, five each from Bolinao and Dasol and one from Agno that capsized when hit by big waves spawned by the strong north wind from the cold front.
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