Digest Rhee-ports by RHEE Fer HORTALEZA

MALACAÑANG has appealed to Catholic bishops critical of the administration to focus first on family problems and other social concerns in theri respective communities before dabbling in politics. Catholicism, not Catholics, eh?

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‘Only God can judge me - Gloria’ — newshead. But that’s precisely the problem! Most of her critics think or act as though they were gods or demigods or almighty gods or goddamits!

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Martial arts superstar Jackie Chan has launched his own Jackie Chan Java Coffee Shop chain in the Philippines. Put up one in Pozorrubio, Jackie — Mayor Art Chan is there!

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‘Puno against arming civilians’ — newshead. Maybe he beleives that their role should be confined to continuously being hapless victims!

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Anyway, maybe we can be relieved in the thought that ‘kung ano ang  Puno ay hindi laging siya ring bunga,’ eh?

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‘Arroyos claim saints for allies’ — newshead. Many wonder if they actually meant ’sins for allies’…

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As the Australia-based Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) declared that the Philippine crocodile is the most endangered species of crocodile in the world, a news writer asked: “Will the Philippines soon lose all its crocodiles?” How can that be? Aren’t they found in abundance in most of the country’s executive, legislative and judicial branches of government and even in private entities?

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‘GMA brings home $380-M projects’ — newshead. In the eyes of certain crooked politicians and public officials, however, that is a most welcome and fertile source of GMA or ‘Government Money for Anomalies’.

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Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member Nestor ‘Nikiboy’ D. Reyes of the second distr4ict of Pangasinan — who is chairman of the SP’s Committee on Education — wants to emphasize that his committee was not sitting on the issue of the alleged ‘questionable’ collection of fees from students for the diagnostic test or achievement test or summative test or whatever test there may still be for public school students.

The issue cropped up a couple of weeks ago when parents started to ventilate their complaints via the very willing but at times too over-eager media elements — some of whom have the tendency to shoot first and ask questions later!

Eventually, SP Member Von Mark Mendoza introduced their gripes in the halls of the august body and it naturally landed in the laps of the Reyes-led committee. Nikiboy was quick to respond to the issue; but any further or early actin was thwarted last week by the inability of the SP to  hold its regular session due to the lack of quorum as only seven SP members showed up.

The issue concerned the money given by the provincial government to the two Pangasinan schools divisions at P1 million per division. How come fees still have to be charged each student or pupil when the government of Governor Victor E. Agbayani had extended financial help already via the total of P2 million?

The explanations given by both division heads — Atty. Armando M. Aquino, superintendent of Pangasinan II and Alma Caronongan Torio, officer-in-charge of Pangasinan I — were similar, of course. The diagnostic tests have been there for decades already and parent-teacher-community associations had been tasked to spend for these. But the provincial government’s help was allegedly spent for the pupils’ summative test for those in Grades 4, 5 and 6. The two tests are different from each other.

Curiously, the two superintendents stated that they never received the money from the provincial government; what they got was already the test materials.

Torio, of course, gave her answers before the SP Committee under Nikiboy. On the other hand, Aquino was personally interviewed by Aksyon Radyo - Pangasinan (more widely known as DZRH-Dagupan) via its afternoon news-commentary program, ‘Balitang Bayan - Afternoon Edition’.

There’s more to the issue, of course, and the committee of Nikiboy has assured the public that it will dig deeper and more thoroughly into the issue when the SP finally masters a quorum during its next session

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata!