When Punong Barangay Arlene Karaan of Pob. 1 this city cried foul why the basketball team chosen by her barangay council was not recognized in a basketball league sponsored by the Liga ng mga Barangay in the city, the city hall and the Liga did not draw any flak. But when Karaan decided not to join the street dancing of the Saulog festival here during the city fiesta, the Punong Barangay became the topic of a headline in the local news for drawing flak due to her alleged alibis in refusing to join the festival. Tsk, tsk, tsk. There seems to be some an injustice somewhere else. Well, Karaan's misgiving perhaps is that she is identified to the former city hall administration.

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Perhaps, Karaan will have to dance with the music. Apparently, her closeness with former Mayor Dan Lim prevented “chief” Arlene from changing her steps from “chacha” to boogie. There are five of the 15 punong barangays in Tagbilaran who are identified with the previous city hall administration. They are Manolo Blanco of Mansasa, Jun Mendez of Bool, Jun Telmo of Booy and Leda Saco of Manga and of course, Karaan of Pob. 1. Yet, only Karaan “draws” the flak according to the news. Perhaps, it was due to her attack to a paid hack during the previous city hall dispensation.

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Without necessarily offending the feelings of the local Chinese community here, we can say without further ado that China is “already here”. This means that the once sleeping giant in Asia is now arisen. It is now starting to flex its muscle in every nook and corner in Southeast Asia. Its fishermen are now gathering live sea turtles in Palawan. It reportedly harassed a coast guard boat of Vietnam and is reportedly taking a hard stance in its claims against territories belonging to the Philippines. The PNP Maritime Group reported last week that they arrested 11 Chinese fishermen caught in the act of collecting at least 500 sea turtles.

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This was done by China a week after US Pres. Barak Obama visited the country and renewed its military ties with the Philippines. In other words, China would like to make it clear that even if whoever is in our side, China is not afraid. That's one way of saying that China is really painting the entire Asia red, whatever that means. What with the world's most powerful nation, the United States of America, being indebted to China? Who would stop China from doing anything illegal as far as its neighboring countries are concerned, including the Philippines. Pres. Pnoy, with his Chinese descendants, has been pictured to be cautious in dealing with these Chinese atrocities.

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Apparently, our computer has been hit by the expiry of Windows XP series. It has slowed down its performance and is now moving like a turtle. In other words, “gakamang”. Thus, we are prevented from making an update in the semi-finals of the NBA playoffs. At any rate, it is our prediction that the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers will be facing the Eastern Conference finals. We can also say without batting any eyelash that the San Antonio Spurs will be confronting the Oklahoma City Thunders in the Western Conference finals.

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POSTSCRIPT: In Cebu City by the way, our son, Dan Blyke, informed us that there is an on-going dispute within the Southwestern University owned by the Aznars involving its college of Medicine. SWU created a corporation to run the affairs of the medical course. In turn, the corporation is the one being accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (ChED) and the Association of Philippine Medical Schools (APMS). The corporation now broke its ties with SWU…There's more when we come back.