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[av_heading heading=’ RURAL UPDATE ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JOHNNY NOVERA
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EVER SINCE we retired from active work, we have made it a habit to hear early morning mass in our church daily. The advantage of keeping our daily mass routine is that aside from its spiritual value it gives one the chance to dress up every day as if still going to work.
Then from church we would walk across the plaza and go to the public market and buy fish and vegetables for our day’s consumption. At least once a week, we also buy lean meat for variety in our food intake.
Well, following doctor’s advice, retired citizens like us should forego of fatty food especially pork to keep a low cholesterol level in the body system.
Doctors have also the habit of minding not only what you eat but also what you do. Aside from asking us to keep away from fatty food, like a Land Transportation Office agent, our doctor likewise suspended our driver’s license until further notice. We did not complain because it is always advisable to follow doctor’s orders for good health.
Now, going back to our plaza where we pass everyday to the market, we cannot understand why there is always trash strewn around every morning and our city has to hire regular cleaners to sweep the place. This is the same situation inside the market and on the streets around it.
There are empty plastic bags or wrappers, cigarette butts and other waste materials found strewn around the premises requiring regular cleaners everyday. Our market is classified as “wet market”. Is it because it is always wet and muddy even if it does not rain?
We think it might help if the anti-littering ordinance is strictly enforced by the city with priority at our public plazas and markets. Also, a good idea is to empower our street and market cleaners to apprehend violators of the anti-littering and anti-smoking ordinance where they are assigned. Can City Hall give them special authority for this purpose?
We believe that an important aspect of a truly progressive metropolis is one that can pass the test of keeping clean restrooms in public places within its jurisdiction such as hotels, lodging houses, resorts, restaurants or eateries to meet basic tourism standards.
Clean restrooms must also be required of all public buildings like schools, government offices, public markets, transport terminals, and parks or other leisure areas where people converge every day.
We have just celebrated our 80th anniversary as a city on Aug. 25, 2017. Congratulations to City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and his administration for “the significant, meaningful, beautiful, peaceful and progressive changes in the City of Iloilo,” as he was quoted saying.
But have really met the basics of a truly progressive metropolis along the criteria that we mentioned here? (For comments or re-actions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com)/PN
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