We hope that people wearing those ugly Halloween costumes must be stopped. In the first place, that is not our tradition to wear and put on those scary things as part of the all saints and souls days. That is a Western tradition and we are not Westerners! The Church said these costumes attract evil spirits. We fully agree in its thought and in imitating a tradition that is not ours. Worst, these imitators would really love putting up these Halloween costumes and post it in the internet. The social media are driving many of us to narcissism. Or are they just KSP? Kulang Sa Pansin. A wrap in the song “Dili Tanan” said “bato-bato sa langit ang maigo dili mabukol”.

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The social media has given us a lot of lies, deceptions and disinformation and even ignorance. That is why we urged those in the print and broadcast media to stay away from these lies. For one, it just exposed the ignorance of the uninitiated. They kept on discussing things which are really unfamiliar to them. They refer to things like Philvocs. Are they referring to a Philippine Volcanology? There is no government agency with that name. It is the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), an agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Now that we are talking about sinkholes, they refer to an agency like the MGB. Again, it is not Magandang Gabi, Bayan! That’s why the ignoramus started looking for Noli de Castro who is fond of saying “magandang gabi, bayan!, but it is the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), a bureau under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

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This reminded us of a vicious disinformation involving yours truly almost a year ago. After we filed our certificate of candidacy for city councilor late last year, we got a 160/100 blood pressure. So, we went to Cebu City and had our executive panel. Because family members posted some of our pictures while we were at a Cebu hospital for the check up, the gossip immediately went wild. It claimed that we were already unmanageable because of a stroke. Even some radio personalities and members of the opposing political camps peddled this lie against us. That is why until now we are still confronted with questions whether we are already physically okay. The vicious attack by these doomsayers and fake prophets still did not perish until now. Sometimes, we are tempted to say that they should be the one who will suffer what they falsely peddled.

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Take this example of ignorance at the facebook. Somebody posted that the 7.2 earthquake we had was due to a new fault, now called as North Bohol Fault. Immediately, one immediately reacted and commented that no, it is not the fault, it was an accident. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Other ignorant people in the internet also mentioned about aftershots. Huh? They want to propagate things by just listening. Maybe, they have almost deaf ears in hearing about the word aftershocks. Talking about aftershocks, a monitor on the Seismological Observation and Earthquake Prediction Division of Phivolcs indicated that in Tagbilaran City, the number of aftershocks which numbered almost 2,300 and almost 40 of which are felt by local residents, has become sparse compared to several days after the killer quake. We start with last Sunday, we have seven; Monday, two; Tuesday, one; Wednesday, three; Thursday, nine; Friday, seven including the 5.2 intensity we felt at around ten o’clock in the evening.

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But the question that needs to be addressed, truly, is why do earthquakes occur in Bohol? Here’s one straight answer from Phivolcs, “Bohol Island is one of the seismically active areas in the country”. It said that instrumental monitoring of earthquakes for the past century has detected many small to moderate-magnitude earthquakes in Bohol Island. There is at least one known earthquake generator on the island, the East Bohol Fault and now, there is a new one, the so-called North Bohol Fault found in barangay Anonang, Inabanga which had no previous surface manifestation. Phivolcs concluded that in addition, there are other local faults which can be sources of small to large magnitude earthquakes. Earthquakes can also occur offshore or undersea because of local offshore faults near the island or trenches in the vicinity of the region.”

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We hope that by this time, the 20 affected families and residents in Purok 7 and 8 of Poblacion I must have left the area already due to a very high probability of a landslide according to the MGB. But the problem is the relocation or re-settlement site which cannot be simply the CPG sports complex as proposed by the present dispensation. Adding complication to this problem is the discovery of a new sinkhole in Taloto district this city, which, according to reports, is just several meters away from the city airport. We got a report while RAR Construction was trying to solve the drainage and flooding in various streets in Tagbilaran, that the caves underneath the city looks like city streets also. It is our guess that there will be more sinkholes here due to the earthquake aside from those in Poblacion 1 and Taloto.

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POSTSCRIPT: At any rate, at the height of our anxieties and stress, there is no substitute for prayers. Here’s one very good post in the internet: “When the storms of life surround us, and the fear tries to creep into our hearts. Let us come to our knees and bring our hands together. Let us open our hearts to our Heavenly Father, and put all our hope and trust in him. For His love for us will never ever fail us. For He is always with us. For He will make a way for us. No matter what happens. For His love is true and everlasting”. Amen. There’s more when we return.