Good Morning Judge: Another milestone for USI

THE recent administrative decision of the Duterte administration to accept the “resignation” of DOJ Secretary Vitallano Aguire II is a welcome news. The way he ran the Office since his appointment by the President who is his fraternity brother and batchmate is far from satisfactory. The President should be emulated for having the guts to sack Secretary Aguirre. Another welcome news is the recent reported order of the Sandiganbayan which denied a motion by the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles to be released from detention and transferred to the custody of the witness protection program (WPP). As we stated in our earlier column in this paper, Napoles cannot qualify under the WPP after having earlier made an open admission to her participation in the pork barrel scam. Justifying the denial of the motion, the Sandiganbayan correctly cited the provisions of Article XI, Section 1 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act which provides that the “WPP shall not take into protective custody a witness who is under detention for a lawful cause.” It is our suspicion that the attempt of former DOJ Secretary Aguirre to place Napoles under the WPP caused his head to roll. The Universidad de Sta. Isabel has reached another milestone as it celebrates its l50 years of “Vincentian Mission and Service” particularly in the field of education. Starting as an exclusive school for girls, the former Colegio de Sta. Isabel has metamorphosed into Universidad de Sta. Isabel with the grant by the Department of Education of its university status. Dubbed as “The Heritage and Historical University of Bicol”, the school is now offering various curricula, including masteral degrees. This column therefore, congratulates the USI on the occasion of its 150th founding anniversary. TRIVIA: Congratulations Ex-Presidentas of the Alumni Association of the USI who were bestowed the Alumni Service Awards. Among those who received the award is my spouse Luzviminda Cruz-Maristela who was past Alumni president. Belated condolence to the family of the late Judge Joseph Abante who recently passed away after a lingering illness. Likewise, belated condolence to the spouse and family of the late Chito Villegas who also crossed the Great Beyond recently. I am sure they are now in the warm embrace of our Lord. Reminding all ICP Eucharistic Lay Ministers of our especial meeting this coming Saturday at 5:30pm at the Aura Magna Hall, ICP. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: “YOU CAN CHAIN ME, YOU CAN TORTURE ME, YOU CAN EVEN DESTROY THIS BODY, BUT YOU WILL NEVER IMPRISON MY MIND.” MOHANDAS GANDHI FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE: ‘BE CAREFUL NOT TO MAKE A SHOW OF YOUR RIGHTEOUNESS BEFORE PEOPLE. IF YOU DO SO, YOU DO NOT GAIN ANYTHING FROM HEAVEN.” MATHEW 6:1