IF you happen to be in the Hall of Justice, try to check the day’s calendar of hearings of our two special “drug courts” which are Branches 25 and 36 of the Regional Trial Court. Sometimes they consist of three to four pages or about over 20 cases. How can the lone prosecutor handle that number of hearings in one court in half a day or for three hours the most?

Branch 25 is trying drug cases under the old law (R.A. 6425) while Branch 36 is handling cases under the new law, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (R.A. 9165) which amended R.A. 6425, mainly by increasing the penalties for dangerous drugs related crimes and the establishment of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

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“A PREMIER City by 2015” is the campaign line of the current city administration of Iloilo. The first time we learned about this was on a billboard and now, we read the slogan imprinted on tin license plates issued to business establishments.

We looked up the word premier in the dictionary. It is an adjective which means “first; chief; foremost.” In other words, we would like to become NUMERO UNO among all cities!

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FRIDAY’S Supreme Court hearing on the petitions seeking to declare unconstitutional the suspended memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the establishment of a Bangsamoro homeland saw the government struggling to define the creature that it sought to set up in Mindanao.

At the hearing, the MOA changed colors as quickly as a chameleon making its way through every sort of foliage in a rain forest.

During hours of grilling by the justices, Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera variously defined the MOA as a “mere codification of points of consensus” and “a process in continuum” that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had not yet seen in its final form.

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THE double-digit drop in earnings of major players in the banking industry in this year’s first semester was not unexpected. It was caused by the global credit crunch triggered by the subprime crisis in the United States. And this impact continues to be felt today.

When the subprime crisis hit, I remember the immediate reaction of these banks and local authorities was that our banking industry didn’t have substantial exposure to the US subprime housing-mortgage market. And that’s why we didn’t suffer as much as American banks, or banks in other countries that had significant participation in the US housing market, particularly the less credit- worthy segment.

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THE government is correct in trying to restrain the so-called Ilaga group in Mindanao because of the past notoriety of the vigilante group.

However, I will not begrudge these Visayan vigilantes if they will rearm in order to defend their families and homes from the deprivation of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces; after all, self-defense is the first order of nature, and as shown in the recent outbreak of hostilities in Mindanao, many homes of Christians were destroyed and civilians suffered casualties.

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CALLS for peace is drowned with the sound of blazing guns as the renewed war in Mindanao takes a heavy toll on its people, economy and probably its future. Even as both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) publicly declared they want peace, a full scale offensive is under way to make MILF commanders Bravo and Kato answer for their crimes.

As sidelight to these developments, questions were raised on the involvement and interest of foreign governments and groups on the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Arroyo regime and the MILF. The highly visible presence of the Malaysian and US governments on the matter had raised disturbing questions. What are the quid pro quos or the trade offs in the MOA-AD? What do the parties stand to gain in its realization?

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IN THE past two weeks, we’ve been bombarded by the trials and tribulations of heroes, especially of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

But in the very month when we are supposed to honor heroes, our very own kababayans have been annihilated from the face of this earth by a brewing war in the land of the Moros down south. Closer to home, two Ilonggo families mourn two men who died brutally in the hands of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

By all means, Army Lt. Col. Angel Benitez and Marine Cpl. Angelo Abeto deserve all the honors, albeit posthumously. To think of it, they both sacrificed life itself and were patriots as having served in the armed forces.

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GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Last Tuesday, August 26, The Philippine Star carried President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s declaration: “We’ll remove all obstacles to peace.” Just like her recent policy statements on the Mindanao crisis, she did so as guest in a public ceremony.

The Star reported: “President Arroyo maintained yesterday that the government is determined to remove ‘all obstacles to peace’ even as she sought the continued support of the international community and the Filipino people for the government’s military operations against members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).”

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BACOLOD CITY — In the 70s when there was fighting between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao, particularly Cotabato where most of the Ilonggos of West Visayas migrated, the dreaded group was called “Ilaga,” meaning “Rat.”

But, antagonistic Muslims called Ilaga, “Ilonggo Landgrabbers Association.” The leaders were Feliciano Luces, alias “Toothpick” and Kumander Bucay, Roberto Manero. He was convicted for killing an Italian priest.

The Ilaga were good propagandists. They made the Muslims think they had “anting anting” or amulets and the Muslims they captured they would loop off a part of their ear and make the fellow see how they ate that ear. The Muslims, I was told, believed a part of their spirit was eaten.

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IN THE early years of the Spanish occupation of the Philippines, Negros Island was put under the jurisdiction of the colonial administration in Cebu. Later, in 1590, the governance of the island was transferred to Iloilo and the first recorded Spanish official assigned to administer the few settlements in it was Gonzalo Ronquillo. It must be pointed out that Ronquillo was the same guy who founded La Villa de Arevalo earlier, the first town that was officially recognized under Spanish sovereignty in Iloilo.

At that time, Negros was sparsely populated and its inhabitants, both of the Malay stock and the Atis, did not offer resistance to the colonizers. Although the Atis or Negritos were of a significant number themselves, the Spaniards did not pay attention to them because they were limited to their nomadic existence and their primitive way.

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