In the mood

Whenever I am pressed for time with deadlines, like now, I am tempted to wish that my newspaper would adopt the slogan of the newspaper of the Tanjay organization of the USA, found in www.tanjay.org. This group has a newspaper, called Ang Tanjayanon, which is "published when in the mood." Apparently, the last time they were in the mood was in July of last year because that was the last time they updated their website. I do hope the Tanjay organization of the US is all right. The DAILY STAR counts the members of this group among its steadfast readers. Last year, some members of this group responded to a call for help and contributed money for the welfare of baby sea turtles at the Silliman Marine Laboratory.

But if you are viewing the website for the first time, you won't notice the time difference because in this issue, they invite us to the Tanjay fiesta, which is next month! Also, the stories which they feature are timeless. I like that one about the search for a monicker of the new city of Tanjay. I guess up to now, they have yet to find an appropriate monicker.

The name of the writer escapes me, but this one said "I write only when I'm in the mood. And I make it a point to be in the mood every 9 o' clock!" That might be a friendly advice for our Tanjayanon friends in the US.

There is also what I would call a "more serious" website of a group in the US which has close links to home. This is the www.siquijor.com. I say serious because they try, even with the physical distance, to get involved in the progress and state of affairs of their beloved province.

Like now, the hottest thing in their website is an exchange of letters between California-based Siquijodnon, Carmenia Miraflor, and Rep. Orlando Fua Jr. regarding the purchase of guns for the barangay captains of Lazi town.

Miraflor first wrote that the report of barangay captains being given guns was disturbing. Instead of guns, the people could benefit from seeds, plows or books. Miraflor said there was no need, whatsoever, to give guns to barangay captains to enable them to carry out their jobs because Siquijor is a very peaceful province.

Well, Rep. Fua was not pleased. He wrote a reply ridiculing Miraflor for her grammar and accusing Siquijor.com of being nothing but a tool for political propaganda. Fua also justified the need for the guns. He said it was perfectly safe to give guns to the barangay captains because they had not terrorized their constituents in the past. Ergo, they will not do so in the future. Fua said with the very few policemen in the province, there was a need to complement their strength with the barangay captains, who can assist in looking over the peace and order in their town.

Fua also made many more utterances in his letter that I would rather not mention in this column because they seemed to deviate from the main argument. But that should not prevent you from going over to that website and read all about it. And you can judge who among the two protagonists is talking sense.

But I find this exchange between Fua and his critics through this website as a healthy sign. I doubt if any other provincial website in the Philippines is as controversial as this one. If taken in the light of professionalism and transparency in local governance, Siquijor.com is doing a great service for the people of Siquijor.

I hope the webmasters of Siquijor.com are in the mood all the time.*