By: Villamor C. Visaya Jr.
(Published in its print edition on July 12 – 18, 2025)
The social decay is apparently caused by the ubiquitous nature of online gambling advertisements and promotions. The societal impact is enormous as gambling-ridden people hardly resist the temptation.
The moral crisis must be curbed and it needs a collective response, as the Catholic Bishops’ Conference believed.
Mounting economic woes, personal problems, and other issues. These are just some of the people’s maladies that drive them to take the game of change.
But is it worth the risk? A big NO.
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While Typhoon ‘Crising’ spared Cagayan Valley and other Northern Luzon provinces, it still displaced 2,410 people or 769 families in Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya provinces due to floods and threats of landslide since Friday.
In the Cagayan Valley Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and media briefing on Saturday, Cagayan recorded 762 families or 2,399 people while Nueva Vizcaya has seven families or 11 people. A house was totally toppled while two other houses were partially damaged, all in Baua, Gonzaga, Cagayan due to heavy rains and floods. At least 263 families or 816 people were recorded to have been preemptively evacuated.
What is perplexing is only Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya have immediate reports while Isabela, Quirino and Batanes did not submit on time to the RDRRMC.
This does not mean that Cagayan responders are not doing their jobs. They are ever ready. It is just that other provinces hardly submit reports on time in Cagayan Valley and the damage is minimal in their areas.
Yet, reporting is the essence of preparedness. Why the delay?
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