Earning a congratulatory post on social media from the provincial government is Jeralyn Rodriguez of Bagamanoc after winning gold in the women’s 400-meter sprint at the Malaysia Open Athletics Championships in Perlis, Malaysia.
She set the meet record of 56.16 seconds, beating two Malaysian runners, in her first international competition.
Her time, however, is still several seconds off the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) record of 51.83 seconds set by Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tinh in 2003 and the 50.09-second run of Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser at Jakarta 2018.
A nearer target is Fil-Am Kayla Richardson’s Philippine record of 53.81 seconds set in the United States,
Dubbed as the sprint queen of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa in Ilocos Sur, Rodriguez ruled the secondary girls’ 100-meter dash, 200-meter and 400-meter runs.
According to the post of the Sangguniang Kabataan Municipal Federation headed by PBM Alvin Rodriguez, Jeralyn’s birthplace is barangay Bugao where she was born on May 17, 2007.
Her family is apparently based in Las Piñas City and she is a student athlete of University of the East (UE), for which she won three golds in athletics during the UAAP Season 87.
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Last week, while the alleged subcontractor of the delayed DPWH road rehabilitation project stretching from the Virac airport to Bigaa area was pouring concrete on the excavated road by installment, a local contractor showed motorists and pedestrians how such a project should be done.
On Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, heavy equipment excavated the 15-meter by two-meter damaged road in front of the EBMC compound and by late afternoon, the blocks of shattered concrete were already being hauled away.
The following morning, Friday, workers began preparing the exposed ground and a small road roller compacted properly. Before the day was over, the pouring of concrete was done.
The local contractor of this speedy road work, reportedly part of a contract, happens to be Al-Jon Construction Development, Inc. (ACDI).
Incidentally, the firm is said to be one of those whose quarry and aggregate business has been impacted by the new administration’s suspension of quarry operations last July. It has not been issued permits although unconfirmed reports claim it has not been informed of its violations.
Blame it all on local politics, observers say.
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Another suspension of government work and classes by DILG, another day wasted.
Aside from the learning loss suffered by the education sector, the one-day suspension of government work meant thousands of civil servants received pay without a sweat.
Clearly, the national government’s new policy of allowing the DILG to suspend work and classes should be tempered or even done away with.
It should stick with the previous protocol of basing such suspensions on storm warning signals issued by PAGASA with regards to typhoons.
The decision on whether to issue class suspensions with regard to heavy rains caused by low pressure areas or thunderstorms should remain with local government units affected by the weather, as long as it is based on official advisories of PAGASA.
This is precisely the purpose of the resolution recently filed by PBM Fred Benedict Gianan, which was criticized by some netizens who wanted such suspensions based on advice from trained meteorologists.
Fortunately, for Viga town, the municipal government headed by Mayor Jennifer Tuplano pushed back against the DILG order and ordered a resumption of work and classes, based on the PAGASA rainfall advisory and the assessment of the MDRRMO.
Let us hope the other LGUs chief executives would have the ‘balls’ to defy wanton suspension of work and classes, especially when there’s no rain and the sun is shining.
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WHAT TO TAKE OFF. A businessman is at the office.
He was confused about a bill he had received, so he asked his secretary for some mathematical help. “If I were to give you $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?” he asked her.
The secretary replied, “Everything but my earrings.”