TIME & TIDE/Rhodora M. Palinar
THE SUMMER HEAT is undoubtedly here. For a while we enjoyed chilly nights and mornings during the first weeks of March. But unfailingly as it always does every year – the heat started to creep in at the onset of the Holy Week.

The months of March and April are commonly associated with summer and yes – graduation. As early as the second week of March, some private schools already held their graduation exercises, perhaps to enable them to start enjoying an uninterrupted summer vacation beginning on the Holy Week. However I heard some students in the college level complain – that the Holy Week will be hell week for them as they have to review and finish their final papers since their finals week is set later on the last week of this month. Well, not a bad idea for penance, I suppose. Hehe.

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Now that the school year is at its close, I can only heave a sigh of relief. Temporary relief, that is, because while my daughter (the youngest in the family) has already successfully hurdled her first year in college, there are still the three remaining years to go. Yet the thought that one academic year is over, is indeed exhilarating. One year over, one step closer. Three years, I’m sure will be a breeze because as we all observe – days go by so fast. Wasn’t it like only yesterday when we celebrated Christmas? But look now – it’s almost the middle of the year! Whoa! There’s no stopping the clock, really.
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I am not a boxing fan but my husband is one great enthusiast for the sport. Last Sunday the famed Pacquiao-Marquez match once again glued him to his seat as he watched the blow by blow live coverage over USATV. And as usual, when there’s a Pacquiao fight, the whole nation keeps at standstill while people are holed in their respective homes watching, cheering, perhaps praying for the victory of Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao.

It’s truly amazing how Pacquiao can put the nation to a halt during his fights. I’m pretty sure that on that Sunday when he fought to claim the featherweight title from Marquez, many of the so called militants or rallyists from both camps (pro and anti administration) became one as they witnessed how the famed boxer once again performed in the ring. Oh well, that’s what the Pacman can do – unite this ever divided nation even just for a few minutes. Lest we be disillusioned however, we should bear in mind that all Manny can do is unite the Filipinos’ cheering spirits when he is in the boxing ring, but not and never will be - in the political ring.

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I salute Manila Mayor Fred Lim for staying firm and unshaken when his 44-year old son Manny was arrested in a drug sting operation in Sta. Cruz, Manila last weekend. And I salute him even more when he said he’s ready anytime to spray paint the house of his son, in consonance to the shame campaign he used to conduct during his 1990s mayoral years.

As a parent, I can just imagine how painful it is for the mayor to prosecute his own son. Although he sounds quite indifferent to the possible consequences that his son’s arrest may lead to, Mayor Lim’s heart, I’m sure, deep inside him, is bleeding.

Some may say that this stand of the mayor on his son’s case is just a show, and that soon or late, Manny will be getting special treatment like the other celebrity convicts in the Bilibid Prison. We can’t actually blame these people from thinking so, because of these precedent cases. But then again, let’s give the mayor the benefit of the doubt. As a law enforcer during his time as NBI director, the mayor remained steadfast in his fight against criminality. His dedication to such conviction, has evidently become his way of life. Therefore to break his own rule would be tantamount to breaking his own word; to breaking his own person; to ruining his career. It’s like selling his soul to the very devil that he fought.

Mayor Lim is in his 70s. Perhaps he may serve another term as mayor. With the kind of character he has been known for, he is bound to abide by his principle up to the time he gets to his grave.