incessant rambling

keep your friends close but keep your enemies even closer. Everyone in Cebu knows that Tommy Osmena and Gwen Garcia have a passionate loathing for one another.I suspect that they hardly know each other on a personal level but their differences stem from their polar beliefs on certain issues that impact Cebu City and the Province. On the other hand, I am baffled by journalists who use this as a headline to introduce events where Tomas and Gwen are seen together. I half-suspect that they are eagerly waiting for that moment when Tommy loses his cool and slugs it out with Gwen. That would be really newsworthy. heck, i would pay money to get ringside tickets if that happens. Two articles written in Cebu Daily News and Sunstar used this angle to introduce articles about Sinulog activities where the Mayor and Governor were seen together - despite the fact that when you strip down the unnecessary details, the article simply mentioned the Governor acepting an award for some performance. Gwen su...

cebu governor gwen garcia is (in)famous for being publicity hungry, people argue that she is a master manipulator of mass media, using it to her advantage to create constant awareness of her activities. we all agree that tommy can't compete with her in this category - beauty is not one of his errr... strong points. gwen garcia has cleverly manipulated media to trail around and catch her every movement (make that carefully "posed" pictures), concocting events such as "catch me if you can" contests that gives away prizes for picture perfect photos of the governor in her daily activities. why is it that margot can go around doing her charity work without having members of media trailing around? i guess that love-hate relationship between the media and tomas gets in the way. the latest gwen media salvo is her preparation for sinulog 2008. i truly can not understand why it is a news item to feature gwen and her selection of gown as a sea goddess for the grand parade....

of late, i have seen newspaper articles and people refer to the Sinulog as the "Mardi Gras". unfortunately, it just goes to show the level of ignorance some people have about Sinulog and Mardi Gras. do a search in google using "define mardi gras" and you will come up with a list of definitions for this french phrase that is more commonly referred to as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday . Mardi Gras refers to the Tuesday that falls just before Ash Wednesday, exactly 46 days before Easter and preludes the penitential season of Lent. Sinulog is a festival that is kicked off by a nine day novena to the Señor Santo Niño de Cebú of which the start date is dictated by the culminating grand parade on the tenth day of the festival. the parade happens on the 3rd Sunday of January. This festival in Cebu is relatively new (the Cebu version started early 80's) and does not have the historical roots as some of the other christian festivals that's being celebrated in the c...