Mayor RRD dies, 73

Wake open to public, burial on Monday

                Former City Mayor Rogelio Debulgado succumbed to sepsis (infection), March 6, Tuesday, after undergoing a supposedly successful triple-heart by-pass at the Cebu Doctors' University Hospital on February 29.

                SP Member Rommel Debulgado, son, confirmed through a phone interview that the former mayor was pronounced clinically dead at eight in the morning. He reported that the heart surgery was considered very successful and that the elder Debulgado already had a "functional" heart. The morning after his surgery, the former mayor was already conversing with wife, Victoria Debulgado. "Nagstoryahanay na man to silang Mama," the son said.

                But in the afternoon, the vital signs of Roger, as he is fondly called in the political arena, suddenly dropped including his blood pressure and he had a renal failure. He had then been undergoing dialysis until March 5.

So long. Government emploees pay their respects to former City Mayor Rogelio Debulgado on March 7, the day his remains arrived from Cebu Doctors's University Hospital where he died of infection after a triple heartby-pass.          

              SP Member Debulgado added that nothing prepared them for the death of his father, also considered the patriarch of the city for 15 years. "Wala gyud mi ga expect nga mao ni matabo. Confident man gyud mi nga ma-overcome niya ni nga obstacle (the heart surgery)."

                Only wife Vicky, and nephew Jemilou Ando was with Former Mayor Debulgado during his final moments. Mayor Debulgado's body had been unable to respond to medications and treatments early on March 6 because sepsis had spread throughout his body.

                Debulgado residence of New Era Street, Barangay IV is now open for the wake of the former mayor. The bereaved family allows public viewing. The interment will be on March 12, Monday at the San Carlos Memorial Park, Barangay Rizal.

                Mayor RRD was first appointed as city mayor in June 1986. He was elected to the office in 1992 and finished three terms, each with three years, in 2001. He is best remembered as a son of agricultural Negros because he was an agronomist who earned his BS Agriculture degree from the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

The widow. Mayor Roger is survived by wife Victoria seen here while she receives the condolences of former constituents and sympathizers at the wake in their Barangay IV residence.           

                He is survived by wife, Vicky, sons, SP Member Rommel, Roel, and grandchildren.

Installation

The new Worshipful Master. 
Most Worshipful Franklin Demonteverde-right, the Installing Officer, reminds the newly installed Master of the Lodge, Ret. BGen. Alexander Cabales-left, of his duties and responsibilities. San Carlos City Mayor Gerardo Valmayor-extreme right, witnesses the ceremonies at the Tañon College Gymnasium.

March: Women's Month

Quotes of the Week

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed.  If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn't have what it takes.’  They will say, ‘Women don't have what it takes.’”

- By Clare Boothe Luce

“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, ‘It's a girl.’”

- By Shirley Chisholm

“I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament.”

- By F. Alanis Morissette

“The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.”

- By Lucretia Mott

My Journey to the East

Soldier's Pen
BGen. Alexander Cabales, (Ret.)

                On March 3, the members of the Most Worshipful Joseph E. Schon Memorial Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines had its public Installation of officers for the year 2012. 

                 The Lodge had been in existence for the past 45 years and was originally known as the San Carlos City Lodge before it was renamed in honor of Commander Joseph Schon, a US naval pilot who served in the Pacific and eventually settled in Canlaon City in the late 1940's. Joseph Schon was the Grand Master of Masons of the Philippines in 1968 and was instrumental in the constitution of this lodge.
                As a member of this lodge for the past nine years, I had the honor of being installed as its new Worshipful Master. Vice-Mayor Dr. Edgardo Quisumbing occupied that position for the third time in the past.   Also installed were Allan Leonor, Senior Warden; Dr. Stephen Yee, Junior Warden; Dr Edgardo Quisumbing, Secretary; Nelson Tan, Treasurer; Toboso Municipal Councilor Josephus Valencia, Auditor; Councilor Hernan Antonio, Marshall; PCInsp Jose Baynosa (Ret), Chaplain; Oscar Limpio, Senior Deacon, PSInsp John Joel Batusbatusan, Junior Deacon; Atty. Samuel Lezama, Orator/Lecturer; and Dennis Tan Yu, Tyler.

The new set of officers of the Most Worshipful Joseph E. Schon Memorial Lodge Number 186 led by BGen . Alexander D. Cabales. From L-R, Standing: Dr.Stephen Yee, Atty Samuel Lezama, Dennis Tan Yu, Nelson Tan, Dr./Vice Mayor Edgardo Quisumbing, Councilor Josephus Valencia, Atty/Councilor Hernan Antonio, Alan Leonor, PSInsp John Joel Batusbatusan, Oscar Limpio and Romil Rentuaya. Also in the picture (seated from L-R) Lt Gen Arthur Tabaquero, Atty Elmer Balbin, Gen Cabales, Judge Franklin Demonteverde and Mayor Gerardo Valmayor

                Judge Franklin Demonteverde of Bacolod City, a former Grand Master of Masons of the Philippines installed the new set of officers.  He was assisted by Dr. Joselito Yulo and Engineer Cesar Velarde, Jr. as Master of Ceremonies and Assistant Master of Ceremonies, respectively.  Both Yulo and Velarde were past District Deputy Grand Masters in Samar Island and are members of Mt. Huraw Lodge in Catbalogan City.  The Guest of Honor and Speaker was Lt. General Arthur I. Tabaquero, the Commanding General of the Eastern Mindanao Command based in Davao City and who is a member of Marikina Lodge.   The incumbent District Deputy Grand Master in Negros Island, Atty. Elmer Balbin from Bohol and our very own Mayor Gerardo Valmayor also graced the occasion.
               Masons from other lodges in Negros Island, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Samar and Leyte came to witness the event.  To name a few were PCSupt Cecil Sandalo (Ret) and my mason classmates, PCSupt Drusillo Bolodo and BGen Alejandro Estomo.  The six widows of deceased masons from San Carlos City and the son of the late Joseph E. Schon, Ricky, also attended the occasion.
            In closing I would like to share with my readers, excerpts of my assumption speech as follows:

                "Allegorically we masons say that one's journey in the craft (masonry) is through a rough and rugged road that is always beset with trials and temptations.  Today I wonder what the path of those ahead of me was using because the road that I took was not that rough and rugged after all but rather a beautiful one.  I took a leisurely path, discovering the beauties of freemasonry along the way, feeling the warmth of the brotherhood everywhere my soldiery tasks brought me, partaking of the master masons wages (the enjoyment and rewards) that I did not expect but were voluntary shared by the brethren, having an instant family even in places that I've never been to in the past, and watching with amazement the masonic magic slowly unfolding before my very eyes.  I enjoyed every moment of it; I cannot ask for more from my masonic travels. 

                Today, almost nine years after I first passed through the two brazen pillars of Boaz and Jachin (the names of the symbolic pillars in the doorway of lodges), I pretend to be like an old experienced mason sitting on a chair reserved only for the likes of King Solomon, the first known grandmaster in masonic tradition. His wisdom was widely known and most masters of a lodge strive to emulate him and endeavor to display the highest virtues of a mason as exemplified by the Most Excellent King Solomon.  Looking at this as the backdrop, I hope that I could dispose of my responsibilities within the expected standards to the satisfaction of the brethren particularly those from my mother lodge.  I am confident though, that whatever my short comings would be, they will always be there to support me as they have always done with the other masters before me. 

                For a year I occupied that seat in the west as the Senior Warden.  It was there that I have become very familiar and comfortable with the usual question posed on me by the master during the ceremonial opening of the lodge for our regular meeting.  Before we buckle down to discuss our business, he asks me, "What is your duty in the West Brother Senior Warden?  My answer, which was rather a long one, would include this phrase, "…that none may go away dissatisfied, harmony being the strength and support of all societies especially of ours".   Those words didn't have so much meaning the first time I said them.  I was more concerned with speaking the lines precisely without any deviation as we are required to.  Later on, my answer became spontaneous and second nature to me.  Its meaning and significance became clear and I begun to internalize and accept it.  Harmony is indeed the strength and support of all societies especially of ours!

                The importance of harmony not only among masons but with their fellowmen as well, is further emphasized in the short but meaningful opening prayer during a masonic meeting.  Here we implore God to subdue every discordant passion within us and to harmonize and enrich our hearts with his goodness so that we may humbly reflect the beauty and order that reigns forever in his throne."

                Today, I share this reflection [in] harmony with the brethren as well as to the friends of masons who are with us today as I mark my first step in a "continuous travel towards the East in search of that which was lost - the elusive and hidden secrets of Freemasonry."

                These are allegorical statements of course.  A mason does not literally travel towards the east.  The travel actually alludes to a mason's continuous quest for truth and knowledge, of morality and rectitude of life in order to make a better person out of himself. It is allegorical in the sense that masonry no longer keep secrets except for the harmless signs of recognition between brothers, the sometimes meaningless words we mumble in each other's ears during the opening and closing ceremonies in our meetings and the signs of distress that many of us have even forgotten due to non-use because we are only allowed to use it as a last recourse and only when we are in actual physical danger. 

                Whatever these meant in the eyes of each one of us, it is only through harmony with our fellowmen that the magic of masonry can best work.  As the new master of the Most Worshipful Joseph E. Schon Memorial Lodge Number 186, I enjoin everyone to internalize and practice this great moral principle and together we will travel not the rough and rugged road but the beautiful path that leads to the East."

Woman of the plaza

No Baby Talk
By Georgene Rhena P. Quilaton-Tambiga

                There is this woman I often see at the plaza. Daily San Carlos sun burned her skin. She looks like she has come straight from anybody's muddy floor. Almost every time I pass by the plaza, she sits there protected only by the roof of the Kiwanis Club waiting shed. What breaks my heart is the sight of her children running on the street within her view and she is just there sitting calmly a lighted cigarette on her pursed lips and a thin baby sucking at her sagging breast.

                This woman is the antithesis of the kind of woman I dream myself of becoming. She is probably not the kind of woman most girls today dream of becoming. But as this is March, the Women's Month, I reflect on her image and start asking what made her become the woman that she is now.

                Evelyn Cunningham, an American civil-rights-era journalist, wrote that "Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors." And just when we think oppression takes only the form of physical abuse we are entirely wrong. I have seen young girls deprived of their dreams of going to school because they are sent to work in someone else's household instead. I have heard the lament of a promising girl who dreamed of going to a university but because her parents thought she couldn't make it because she is a girl she is forced to take a course she is not interested in and consequently lost the opportunity to develop her potentials.

Evelyn Cunningham, 1916-2010, civil rights journalist
"Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives
in intimate association with their oppressors."

                Everyday I meet girls in the neighborhood forced into marriage because their parents wanted to get rid of one mouth to feed. And who can deny the rising number of Westerners (not all of them are Americans) now in the city in search of that one lucky, Filipina whose fortune the dollars, or Euro, will change forever? How many of these "lucky ones" were actually prodded by their own mothers to go and chat with a foreigner in an Internet café?

                Many other forms of oppression that exist in our society only seem like any other person's pain in the neck. Collectively, these pains become the ill that turn us, Filipino women, into hapless, paralyzed victims of the society we all think is warm, loving and sheltering.

                The moment a single opportunity is denied to a woman of any age, economic status, and skin color oppression takes place. The moment a woman is forced to do what she loathes to do, there is psychological abuse. The moment parents, siblings, husbands or partners fail to give a woman the respect she deserves they are starting the vicious cycle of treating us all the lesser degree of humans.

                Since our government continues to tarry on passing into law a proposed bill that will give women, girl-mothers and their children the one shot chance to quality life, many more women will continue to be the oppressors of their own selves and that of their children. Their ignorance of their potentials and the inavailability of the means to harness them through good health and education becomes their primary tool in this unconscious abuse.

                I wonder: In what milieu did the woman in plaza grew up in? Who were her first oppressors before the whole San Carlos community started oppressing her and she, in turn abused her children?

               

Law Enforcement? Not here!

Friendly Observer
By Arthur Keefe

                Another Sunday spoiled by the constant sound of a Karaoke playing at full volume all day. This is despite a city ruling that such businesses can only be allowed at the terminal and at the reclamation area.

                On Saturday, a dark blue new Honda car was parked near PNB. It was parked on the sidewalk and the (nearly invisible now) pedestrian crossing. A motorbike parked next to it forcing pedestrians into the busy road.

             I stopped a policeman in a patrol vehicle parked nearby and asked him who was responsible for apprehending the drivers for such dangerous and unlawful behavior. He told me it was the job of the traffic enforcers and that he would contact them. I wonder if he did. In any event, the police should deal immediately with dangerous traffic violations, not merely pass the buck.

                A few weeks ago, the sugar fields just harvested beside Gaisano were ablaze and the smoke reduced visibility on that busy road to almost zero. As so often, the powerful landowners ignore the laws on pollution with impunity.

                I don't know if the Chief of Police was shamed into back-tracking on his announcement that his force will not apply the law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets in the City. A week later, a joint LTO-PNP action took place stopping helmetless riders. None the less, very few still bother to wear a helmet.

            Many motorcyclists also continue to ride with no lights, as do trucks, tricycles and, of course, pedicabs. Do they realize that when driving along, a car coming the other way with headlights up so badly adjusted (as so many are), means the driver cannot see an unlighted vehicle until nearly upon it? The law of course requires lights front and back, and for very good reasons.

               One helpful initiative has been the issue of reflective tape to pedicabs, but many have either missed out or chose not to use it.

                I recently had to quickly step out of the way of a motorcycle riding along the sidewalk. I asked the rider why they were there. They replied they were only riding a short way, as they had parked on sidewalk. Why? No prospects of apprehension of course.

                I could go on, and indeed I have written many times about these matters and the absence of law enforcement. It is not rocket science! In most countries law enforcement is routine. Even here in the Philippines, there are many places where there is at least a serious attempt to enforce laws.

                These laws (like those governing environmental protection on land and at sea) are for the benefit of the majority. They are for public health and safety; they protect the environment for this and future generations; they are to ensure people can live together in peace and security. Those who chose to ignore them are putting their own convenience before the safety or comfort of others. Law enforcement punishes a personal lack of consideration for others and eventually compliance becomes the norm. Here non-compliance is the norm. Of course, all enforcement needs to be tempered. Warnings for first offences instead of immediate fines, public education explaining the purpose behind the laws, allowance of exceptions where good reasons exist. An honest police/ LTO/ City Council can easily apply the law with humanity and even-headedness. Corruption practices of course cannot be allowed where discretion is exercised for a price I have no desire to see thousands of vehicles impounded, or many paying fines they can ill-afford. What is needed is a culture change, where infringements become exceptional and are dealt with and compliance becomes the norm. A determined effort by all the bodies concerned could help San Carlos really warrant its title as the second most livable city of its size anywhere.

                At present, its title is hardly justifiable.