SunStar
+ May 05, 2021 In five months, candidates for both local and national offices in the May 9, 2022 elections will be filing their certificates of candidacy. Next month at the latest, we should already have a clearer picture as to who are running for what office under which party. The wait will be particularly anxious for those who have political ambitions especially in Cebu City.
The tension is comparatively lesser in the BOPK where former Mayor Tommy Osmeña’s word is still law. I am not saying that he chooses the party’s candidates without consulting his allies and leaders because he does consult them, but in the end, it is his choice that matters.
SunStar
+ May 03, 2021 Vaccination against the coronavirus resumed in the city on Monday, May 3, after a one-week pause when we ran out of vaccines. It is going to be a recurring problem; the national government’s procurement has come in trickles and, as lawyers are wont to say, quoting a landmark Supreme Court decision, the spring cannot rise higher than its source.
We reportedly received 5,000 additional doses late last week. Earlier, we were told that at least 28,000 senior citizens have indicated their intention to get inoculated but only about 5,000 have so far received their first shot, meaning 23,000 remain unserved. Now do the math. How many more will be left waiting for their turn after this week’s round of “rollout”?
SunStar May 01, 2021 MANY of my friends have taken to biking to relieve stress from the pandemic. It requires skill and human endurance to pedal safely through trails and highways, sometimes for as long as two days, pausing only for some carbo-loading and for catching a few winks.
I envy them. At my age and after angioplasty, I obviously do not belong in the ranks of these iron men. Besides and this is the more important consideration, I do not know how to bike. For some strange logic that I cannot until now fathom, my mother believed that the bike was the twin brother of perdition and strictly forbade me from even touching its handlebar.
SunStar
+ April 27, 2021 RESIDENTS of Cebu City may soon have the option of settling their City Hall transactions business taxes, real property taxes, BRT credits, etc. in cryptocurrency.
This, after City Mayor Edgar Labella signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 15, 2021, to jointly explore with C Pass Inc., represented by chief executive officer (CEO) Jaewon Kim, the feasibility of the city using C Pass cryptocurrency and remittance and payment system for the city government.
Kim said C Pass will immediately comply, adding that their cryptocurrency C Peso has been issued.
He is confident that the City will see the advantages of their cryptocurrency, and sees wider commercial use of C Peso a stable coin that people can buy and load unto their digital wallets. It is based on the blockchain technology of Ethereum, and uses the same system employed in Korea.
SunStar
+ April 21, 2021 I received my first jab of the anti-Covid vaccine yesterday. Sinovac. It’s the best vaccine in town. Actually, the only one available.
I entered the vaccination center at the Robinsons Galleria at 9:15 in the morning. I was able to step out at 11:30. More than two hours but it was worth the wait.
I spotted Vice Mayor Mike Rama entering his car as I was about to go up. He is the vaccine czar, and he apparently just came from an inspection of the vaccination site. I knocked on the door of his SUV to say hello.
I was looking forward to seeing Mayor Edgar Labella, whom I had not seen for a long time. I had not planned on getting inoculated yet as I was told that the company I worked for had ordered Moderna from the US and was expecting its arrival in the third quarter of this year. But when the mayor invited us to join him for our first shot, Lester and Rhea Razo and I quickly responded. Unfortunately, the plans changed.