better late than never?

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s another Monday. Oops, I thinks I‘ve just given you reason to feel drowsy. You know that feeling of being down and lazy at the slightest mention of the name of the first day of the week. Anyway, first things first: Calbayog is about to turn 60 years old. We are 10 days away to the 60th Calbayog City Charter Day Celebration. The celebration, dubbed as Bulawanon nga Handumanan 2008 is anchored on the theme: “CABAYOG . . . towards excellence, service and leadership”

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The much anticipated U.S. Vice Presidential debate came and went. As pundits had it, both sides scored points. It was all jabs but no knockout punches. On the other hand, Sarah Palin’s latest faux pas was in saying that she has been hearing Joe Biden say speeches since she was in 2nd grade. Well, she seemed to have forgotten that Sen. Biden has been listening to Sen. McCain’s speeches since he (Biden) was in 2nd grade. Just when I thought that U.S. election campaign was going to be boring.

Local news had it that flooding occurred in a good number of areas in Luzon. It came as a surprise considering that recent typhoon to visit (how is that different from “to hit”?) the country was kinda mellow. If there was one reaction that knocked me off, it would be that of an official (from an affected area in Luzon) who said it best, “siguro kailangan nang bigyan pansin ang illegal logging at ang pag-aalaga sa kalikasan (dito sa aming lugar)”. Oo nga naman. Well, when nature is in the mood to bring in havoc, one can never have as a motto the line which says that it’s better late than never.

And they said it when the crisis in the U.S economy hit the news; and it has been said again and again. I’m referring to the country’s economic managers saying that the fundamentals of the Philippine economy remains strong. Nice to know that. But on the other hand, let us remember that during the Asian financial crisis, our economic managers then were saying the same thing. And needless to say, it hit us. Anyway, they must have learned from the past experience. On the other hand, let’s keep our fingers crossed.

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Calbayog at 60. The final schedule of activities leading to the 60th Calbayog Charter Day Anniversary is out.

Activities will start this Wednesday, October 8, 2008. The events for that day are the following:
- 10:00 am. Opening of the Agro / Eco Fair. The said activity will be held at the Nijaga Park.
- 2:00 pm. Opening of the Art Exhibit at I’s Plant hotel
- 5:00 pm. Opening of Photo Exhibit entitled “That Man from Samar”. This is an exhibit which pays tribute to the late Senate President Jose Avelino. The event will be held at the Calbayog Museum located at the ground floor of the Old Barracks Building.
- 7:00 pm. The Grand Opening Ceremonies dubbed “Kalbayog … An Pag-Ilawod". This will be held at the Nijaga Park.

Activities for Thursday, October 9, 2008 are as follows:
- 8:00 am. Calbayog Kahi-araan Seminar Workshop
- 7:00 pm. Inter-school Competitions on Siday, Ismayling and Kuratsa at the Nijaga Park.

On October 10, 2008. two activities are slated:
- 8:00 am. Continuation of the Calbayog Kahi-araan Seminar Workshop
- 7:00 pm. Quiz Bee Finals (on Calbayog Kahi-araan) will be held at the Nijaga Park. This will be participated in by students from the public and private secondary schools of Calbayog.I will be providing you with more of the schedule of activities in my next column.

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This is it for now. Have a nice week everyone! Ciao!