Let it not be said we have nothing good to say about President Rodrigo Duterte. Last week, the President signed into law two landmark legislations that extended the validity of Philippine passports from five to 10 years and driver’s licenses from three to five years.
Certified by the Palace to Congress as priority bills, the extension of the passport and driver’s licenses would save Filipinos expenses and time in renewing these two vital documents under the old setup. The daily long lines at the consular section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Land Transportation Office is a source of grief to applicants. Too often, there are also complaints that some DFA and LTO personnel are being paid under the table to facilitate application papers.
I do not know the extent of corruption at the LTO in Quezon City and its other branches in the Metro Manila Area. But applicants at the DFA’s consular section on Macapagal Avenue say this is no longer the case. The backlog is mainly caused by the sheer number of applicants, particularly Overseas Filipino Workers who are renewing their passports or going out for the first time to seek better fortune and life for their families here.
Another bill is the free education in state universities and colleges. The abolition of tuition for the proposed Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act is a boon to many bright and deserving students who should be earning a college degree but cannot do so because of the high cost of education.
Businessmen know education is big business which is why many of them have bought colleges and universities. And hospitals. A quick look at who owns which school or hospital would show that they are the same people.
On another sticky subject, we fully support the President for suspending the peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front in Oslo, Norway. I subscribe to the often-asked question by impartial observers. How can there be meaningful peace talks when there is fighting on the ground?
CPP founder Joma Sison and his cohorts, it seems, do have control over its armed wing—the New People’s Army who continue to waylay government troops on patrol in the rural areas. So why not talk to the rebels on the ground instead of Sison’s exiled cabal in Utrecht, The Netherlands?
Another newsman writes ‘30’
Rosauro G. Acosta, former managing editor of Manila Standard, passed away last Friday at the age of 76. Known as Roy in the newsroom and among his classmates at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas, he was in the Philets batch that included Joe Burgos, Jullie Yap Daza, Jaime Maidan Flores, Kit Tatad and this columnist.
Roy’s sharp wit and editor’s pen made him a class act by himself. I recall one joke that he made when I saw him the last time several months ago. Roy told the story of one senator who went on a religious pilgrimage after being included in Janet Lim Napoles’ infamous list. The young senator, Roy said, went to the Holy Land where he visited Jerusalem and the Garden of Gethsamane where Roman soldiers took away Jesus Christ.
But why Gethsamane, I asked to which he chuckled at his own joke. “To get some money,” was the punch line Roy delivered. Now don’t go looking it up in Wikepedia whether there are banks in the Garden of Gethsamane. Only Roy Acosta could have thought of that one.
Roy Acosta, may he rest in peace, joins other Manila Standard newsmen taken by the Grim Reaper. Among them are publisher/editor-in-chief Rod Reyes, editor Cip Roxas, business editor Butch del Castillo and sports editor Bert Cuevas.