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On February the fourteenth

by Alex M. Eduque

IT’S THE SMALL THINGS

This coming Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, we celebrate Feb. 14th – or as hallmark and Hollywood culture supposedly dictate – with a significant other. This is perhaps why Valentine’s Day has also given rise to the notion of Single Awareness Day when really, it need not be the case. Of course, as a high school student, the girls who received grams and roses were always the “cool girls,” and Feb. 14th was yet another excuse to highlight that invisible crown they sported. It was not until I got to college in the most cosmopolitan city of New York when my eyes were opened to the reality – Valentine’s Day celebrates all sorts of love and relationships. Not only the types we knew and were accustomed to, but even the most mundane – if one can even dare label a relationship as such. From friendship, to romantic love; sisterly love, parental love, the list goes on – my opinion of Valentine’s Day since transformed to becoming one that is yet another excuse to make those special ones in your life feel loved. After all, love wins. It always has, and always will.

For many, the path towards finding true love – regardless of the type – is not a linear one. After all, it would not be as exciting if it were. It is more of an adventure of trial and error. For many, it takes a lot of heartbreaks and earthshaking moments that question reality before finding the one. But in the end, it is how we transform this pain that we have lived through and endured into bettering ourselves as individuals that matters. The trials and hardships we go through shape us. Pain, in no way, is pleasant or pretty, but if we choose to turn it into growth, then it can become one of the most beautiful experiences and life-changing lessons we will ever know. 

And then there is the strong bond of friendship which ultimately, is cemented by love. In our lives, just like finding “the one,” we also go through a lot of betrayals until we find our tribe – our people who will stick it through with us, and by us, through hell and high water, come what may. In this day and age, friends like that are not easy to find, and I have learned that you will know once you have found them. And when you do, hold on to them, and never let them go. These are the friends who will be tone deaf to the rest of the world on instances when they may go against you, and will unquestionably blindly fight for you even when you are not around. These are the friends that give you the happiness and contentment that numbers will not. The ones that remind you that as we grow older, though our circles may grow smaller, the ones that remain are the keepers – the truest of gems that add only sparkle to our lives. The diamonds, whose love will just grow stronger through the test of heat, time and pressure.

Of course, there will always be familial love – the kind that should be, and is forever. These are the people who know you at times perhaps more than you know yourself. Who have seen you through all your phases and changes, yet accept you regardless of how you look in the morning. These are the people you can be most openly yourself around, yet, can also sometimes be the ones you tend to mind the least. If there is something I have discovered in the recent years, it is that we must give utmost importance to those who will stand in front of a bus for us in any situation, and these people, you will most likely find first (and in some cases only) within your family.

So as Valentine’s Day rolls around this year, do not think twice about those who you love. Show them, tell them, and let it be known. There is no better time than now.

Governor welcomes bill expanding power utility firm to 8 additional areas in Davao del Norte

by Antonio Colina IV, MB

DAVAO CITY – The filing of House Bill 6740 seeking to expand the franchise area of Aboitiz-owned Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) to eight additional areas is a necessary piece of legislation.

No less than Davao del Norte governor Edwin Jubahib issued the statement, saying this new effort to file the bill in Congress would lead to a more sustainable and productive environment, drive economic growth and development in the province.

He said residents in the province continue to suffer from perennial problems of power supply and exorbitant power rates. 

“HB 6740, if enacted into law, is a major milestone for the province of Davao del Norte as the expansion of the energy services provided by Davao Light will bring about a positive change to the lives of our constituents, providing them with reliable and efficient power supply,” he said.

The bill, authored by Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Partylist representative Margarita Ignacia B. Nograles, was filed in January or just six months after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed HB 10554, which sought to amend Republic Act 11515, extending for another 25 years the franchise granted to DLPC.

HB 10554 would have placed Tagum City, Island Garden City of Samal, and the municipalities of Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro, and Talaingod under the franchise area of DLPC.

These areas are being serviced by the North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc. (NORDECO), which has an existing franchise for the mainland until 2028 and Samal until 2033.

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In her explanatory note, Nograles said HB 6740 seeks to expand the franchise of DLPC by including those same areas mentioned in the vetoed bill, and the municipality of Maco in the Davao de Oro in the jurisdiction of DLPC.

DLPC currently services Davao City, Panabo City, and the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.

“Over the years, NORDECO has suffered from losses and conflicting factions within the cooperative which have led to inadequate infrastructure, piling debts to service providers including power suppliers, cancelled power supply contracts, excessive systems losses, and failure to energize parts of its franchise area even up to this time,” she said.

She said NORDECO failed to address the problems and improve services within its franchise, resulting in ‘frequent power outages, thereby impeding economic development.’

“The local officials acted on their constituents’ expressed desire to be liberated from NORDECO’s long-standing poor and unreliable electric service,” she said.

Nograles believed that expanding the DLPC’s franchise ‘will redound to the greater good of the residents’ and ensure a ‘stable and reliable supply, and, ultimately, economic progress.’ 

Jubahib added that expansion of the energy services provided by DLPC will address the power supply problem of the province.

Marcos, in his veto message, cited some constitutional and legal challenges that led him to reject HB 10554.

He said that the bill would run counter to the provisions of Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), mandating that ‘all existing franchises shall be allowed to their full term.’

He said that the resulting repeal of NORDECO’s franchise over expanded franchise area is violative of the non-impairment clause under Section 10 of Article III of the 1987 Constitution.