Wanderlust-stung Tarseeto has this brain teaser: Which Southern Tagalog province has creeks, rivers, and waterways so silted the entire province is submerged in murky waters at the first sign of rain?

The problem is not as tough as it seems since many proposals were forwarded to the provincial office but nothing came out of it.

The grapevine is now rife with whispers that no proposal has materialized for one thing and one thing alone — the magic 90. The asking share of the government official is 90 percent share or ownership of a project involved to allow it to proceed.

Hence, those in the know claim that until someone agrees to share, the locals have to endure the persistent floods which go up through the roof.

Tarseeto learned that the official has a penchant for the number 9 as one of his kababayans swears that while working on the release of a land title in the Southern Tagalog province, 99 original transfer certificates of title or TCTs were released on behalf of this public official. From 90 to 99 sounds like summarizes his ‘leadership style, says the source.

Health check

Then there is this development in a long-delayed posting that Tarseeto had just dug up:

Sources close to the Palace confirm that only three names have been shortlisted for the Department of Health Secretary post and Maria Rosario Vergeire, allegedly, is not one of them.

One strong contender according to the source is a party-list representative who is a secretary during Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term and got embroiled in a romantic controversy with the wife of a senator.