Somebody must be making a lot of money in the operation of the carnival now being re-installed right at the very same place during the city fiesta celebration. By this time, its installation must have been completed in time for the Sandugo celebration in the month of July. Its operation has been the object of public criticism in the past. If reports are true, money allegedly changed hands involving some city hall officials. In fact, names were given to us linking those who made the carnival as their milking cow. According to reports reaching this corner, part of the entrance fee collection, the operation of eateries in its surroundings, rentals in the use of chairs and tables and the usual standard operating procedure (SOP) given to city hall officials are among the source of uncollected revenues due to the city.

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In the previous columns, we asked the city treasurer's office to publish the itemized collection by the city government in the operation of the carnival. It appeared that our plea fell on deaf ears. Now, here we go again. It already dawns upon us that somebody must be making money in the operation of the carnival located in front of the Island City Mall. This is not to mention the accompanying crimes that go with its operation in Dampas district. We hope that City Mayor Baba Yap should act on this aspect. If he remains silent on the operation of the carnival, people may suspect that he may be among those who may be benefitted out of the operation and not the city government.

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Talking about Mayor Baba Yap, we deeply condole with the passing of his grandfather in the maternal side, the late City Councilor Segundo Soriano Lim whom we call as “Nong Seg”. Nong Seg is the father of former Mayor Dan Neri Lim and Dr. Abe Lim, our city mayoralty candidate in the 2013 election. The remains of the late Nong Seg will be laid today in his final resting place. We consider “Nong Seg” as one of the great pillars in the development of the Tagbilaran City. Nong Seg served as a legislator in Tagbilaran. He is survived by his wife, Gloria Neri Lim, who also served as vice-mayor of Tagbilaran City.

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We had the opportunity to work with Nong Seg in his legal battle against broadcaster Choy Torralba at that time that we were not yet a lawyer. This was a series of libel cases of which BGLante was among the co-accused of “Nong Seg”. The libel case reached all the way to the Supreme Court and is now among the most sought-after jurisprudence by a lot of newspapermen. Incidentally, BGLante will also have his promulgation in another libel case tomorrow. We know a lot of stories in the life of Nong Seg. From the time that his family was still residing at their ancestral house in Mansasa then having his residence right at the heart of the city before they transferred to Dao district. Since we were a media man until we joined the government and became a lawyer, Nong Seg's name became synonymous with toughness and strength.

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We cannot also skip the fact of the demise of Dr. Virginia de Jesus Lao, wife of former City Councilor George Lao whose remains were interred yesterday. BGLante wrote last Sunday in his column on how Dr. Gie pioneered in Bohol's tourism.

One thing we may also add, Dr. Gie also pioneered on the development of the city hospital into a cooperative hospital by being the chair of its board. We know Dr. Gie , up, close and personal at the time that we served as the executive director of the first-ever Philippine Councilors League in Bohol which was led by then City Councilor George Lao who was the first councilor to sit in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as an ex-oficio member representing PCL. Our condolence to George and children, Dodin, Ayssa and Nikoy and their families.

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POSTSCRIPT: We reiterate our call to repair one of the city's God-forsaken street, the Manga to Dao road. We hope that the “operation tapak-tapak” should not be used by the city to repair the road… There's more when we come back.