By BEHN FER. HORTALEZA, JR.

“8 by 08.”

To avid followers of the Arroyo administration, this catchphrase simply represents government’s goal of achieving eight blessings of a strong economy by 2008 as tangible fruits of the administration’s commitment to bring the benefits of the fiscal momentum directly to the people.

The eight blessings are: job creation, better cost of living, strong peso, more investments, pro-poor education, pro-poor health care, housing and food.

I don’t know about the seven other “blessings” if they’re on track or being waylaid but one thing I know, the one about pro-poor health care may have just been dealt the unkindest cut of all.How else view the sickening failure of our honorable congressmen in the final session of the current Congress to attend and discuss and approve the Cheaper Medicines Bill that would have really shown, beyond all posturings, their real concern for the welfare of the poor and sick by making medicines that much more affordable to them in the Philippines.

]The Lakas, Kampi and all the other admin coalition guys at the House may profess support for GMA’s visions and programs to high heavens at every turn but until the House version of the cheaper medicines proposal is passed in that chamber (the Senate has already approved its own thru author Sen. Mar Roxas and was awaiting reconciliation of both bills in the bicameral conference) it falls guilty of paying only lip service to the “greater and nobler” goals of 8 by ’08 of keeping vital, life sustaining medicines within reach of our marginalized sectors.

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I must congratulate my relative, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, for his “impending” walkover to the foreign affairs realm as either agriculture attaché or tourism attaché to the United States or to China. When he finally crosses over from politics to career service, he’ll have followed the footsteps of his own uncle, the late former Ambassador Armando “Manding” C. Fernandez, who himself was a former vice mayor of the city. Manding (also our “ninong”) was consul to Taiwan for many years and fondly remembered by Pinoys in that territory.

Alvin’s pa, Alipio (uh, okay “Al”) also etched a record of sort in political family lineage when he became mayor of a city that his own father, Alipio, Sr. once led decades back. Fate? Coincidence?

I guess it’s just written in the stars. With an array of young Fernandezes now very much in the political scene, many Dagupenos think more political fortunes of this family will be intertwining , maybe even overlapping, in the years to come. Michael (son of Atty. Alex Fernandez), Alfie and Alvin (siblings of Al) are the new breed of Fernandezes who have the rare chance of proving themselves worthy of their fathers and forefathers illustrious names and political savvy.

And Belen Fernandez? Although cast from a different ethnic mold and not a direct relative of the city’s natural Fernandezes, (in fact she’s a Lim, perhaps more closely related to the BSL you and I know than to Alipio’s brood) the incoming vice mayor perhaps wouldn’t really mind being associated mistakenly as a blood relative.

Victory, they say, has many relatives; defeat is but an orphan)

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After Urduja House, Bolinao buddies Vir Solis, the outgoing provincial administrator and Ruel C. Camba, outgoing provincial information officer, are pooling resources to put up a new provincial weekly, we hear, to be called Weekly Inquirer. Ruel, of course, does some editing job for another local paper, (aside from a cockfight derby news) and putting up his own tabloid now certainly is par for the course for this loyal Agbayani lieutenant.
This time, probably, Boy and Ruel will take on the reversed role of Lolo Julian, to give incoming Guv Spines a dose of his own medicine?

Oh, they’ll probably observe the “mandatory” 100-day honeymoon with the press of a new incumbent but after that, everything’s fair game.

I hear, Spines is recruiting someone from Manila to take over Ruel’s role at the Urduja PIO. Whaatt, he’s got no confidence in dem local boys and girls?

Can’t blame him really though. He hates people wearing reversible jackets.