By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

HE was never married and he never officiated a marriage. But Archbishop Oscar Cruz have seen so many broken marriages that he knows the reasons why husband and wife wanted the knot untied.

And the reasons could range from serious case of impotence to petty quarrels over crumpled pillowcases. It does not matter how long a couple had been married before they want out – which is from one week to years. It does not matter, too, if the couple belonged to the moneyed class or if the husband is a jeepney driver and the wife, a laundrywoman. The number of men and women filing for annulment is also about the same.

“Priestly celibacy is much easier than to live a conjugal life,” Cruz revealed.. Read more

By YOLANDA Z. SOTELO

EVERYONE knows that Kimi Cojuangco, the new mayor of Sison, is a rich-rich girl. She has everything in life and she could just be enjoying whatever material riches have to offer.

But there she is, a mayor of a fourth class town, deeply involved with the problems of marginal farmers, on women’s health, on local governance, etc.

Yet she seems to be enjoying it, too. Maybe in helping others she has found something that gives her the satisfaction that no money can buy. Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

THE provincial government of La Union has released P3 million of its calamity fund to extend emergency assistance and rehabilitate affected ricelands in the province. This, after La Union Governor Manolo Ortega declared the province under a state of calamity. Reports said more than half of La Union rice lands have been affected by drought.

A report of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council also showed that 51 percent of the riceland in Pangasinan already planted to rice, is also severely affected by drought. This is especially true in western Pangasinan which is mostly rainfed.

But I wonder why the provincial government has not declared the province under a state of calamity. Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

THE siren blared. The students ducked, covered and held on to their chairs. They did so for some minutes until the siren stopped. Then by twos they filed out of their rooms into the open space. Very calmly. Nobody ran, nor they walked faster than usual.

It was an earthquake drill last Friday at my Alma Mater — the Calasiao Comprehensive National High School. I was invited as one of the evaluators of the drill by teacher Janet Albaño, a relative and friend. Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

SOMEWHERE in this paper is a story on former Governor Victor Agbayani extending a hand of reconciliation to the present governor, Amado Espino Jr. That was a nice gesture of the former governor, who, I remember, is a really humble guy. I hope Espino takes the cue, and accepts the hand of reconciliation.

Agbayani also reacted to the claim of Espino that the P300 loan was mismanaged by the provincial government.

A week ago, somebody told me why the provincial government took a loan when there was no project to be undertaken. I did not have the answer then, and it was only when I got a copy of the press statement of Agbayani on the matter that things got clear. Read more

By YOLANDA Z. SOTELO

ALAMINOS city’s public high schools and elementary schools join the cyberspace through the wireless Internet connectivity project that the city government will provide to them for free, the first of its kind in the country.

Mayor Hernani Braganza has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Trends and Technologies, Inc. for the establishment of an infrastructure system that will provide wireless Internet connection and access for the 42 public schools in the city.

The first phase will cover the seven high schools and four elementary schools and will have a project cost of P7 million. It will have its Hub (center) at the city hall. Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

HIGH School students comprising the Ogagaw ya Malingkor 2007 (Children Who Serve), took over the Dagupan city hall today as elective officials and heads of the different departments.

The 34 high school students led by “Mayor” Frances Riel Elinzano, 14, a third year high school student of the Mother Goodse Special School Systems, Inc., took their oath before Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez during the 109th Independence Day celebration at the city plaza last Tuesday. Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

WHO is benefiting from the strong peso? Surely not the Overseas Filipino Workers.

I find it funny, if not distressing, that OFWs who are credited with keeping the economy afloat, if not robust, with their regular remittances, hardly benefit from their assistance.

Case in point: My brother works abroad, sending dollars monthly to his family here. When he went to the US some years back, the dollar to peso exchange was 55 or 56, so a dollar can go a long way. My sister in law went back to college to study nursing, a profession that can earn more in the US than other professions. Then my three beautiful nieces are all in school, too.
Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

WHILE the entire country was busy with elections, a project to protect the Lingayen Gulf’s resources was quietly launched in San Fabian town

It aims to help fishermen from Rabon village in that town so they need not stay out in the sea for long hours to catch fish.

The National Fisheries Research and Development Institute of the Department of Agriculture had designed a fish trap to be used in the sea to help the marginal fishermen earn more.
Read more

By YOLLY Z. SOTELO

WHAT is sad about changes in political leadership is that many employees in the local government lose their jobs. This is especially because most of them are casuals or emergency workers and their appointments last only up to the last day of the incumbent elective official’s tenure of office.
Then there are political appointees, too – those who handle “sensitive” positions, or whose work are political in nature.
All these people, whether they work for the politician or have transcended politics and are really doing public service, are affected every election time and there are new elected officials, who in turn, will be hiring new workers. Read more