"The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do."
--Joseph Stalin
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- THOSE running for public office in the May 2019 Philippine elections shouldn't allow themselves to be distracted by the results of "surveys" commissioned by legitimate or shady outfits, especially those that have sprung to life only during the election seasons.
Whether they "lagged behind" or were "leading", the results of these "surveys" do not necessarily spell doomsday or ensure a victory for any candidate during the day of reckoning.
If the results say candidate so and so is trailing by a certain percentage, it's only tantamount to a mosquito bite with no immediate life-threatening harm.
If the results show a certain candidate is "winning by a wide margin", it's only equivalent to a Shiatsu massage in a candidate's ego with no actual majestic trip to Shangri-La.
There were cases though when bogus surveys yielded positive results for narcissistic or egomaniac bets especially if the other camp doesn't do its homework and are snoring during the frenetic mind game.
This is where a mosquito bite can be fatal and deadly.
-o0o-
In fact, surveys--legit or not--are sometimes being utilized only by political spin doctors and PR wheeler dealers working for one candidate to out-psych the rivals.
In some cases, candidates who get favorable results or who stand to benefit from the lutong Macao survey had no idea or were never tipped off by their handlers who egregiously hammered out the inside job.
It's actually done as a form of mind-conditioning.
Some undecided voters would cast their lot with the "sure winners" (based on the surveys) even if they would have chosen another candidates--on the second thought--if they weren't influenced by the pesky surveys.
I've been covering local and national elections since after democracy was restored in the Philippines these past 30 years, and I could count only with my fingers candidates who emerged victorious after "topping" the surveys.
Most of these survey "winners" who had no inkling whether the surveys were meant for their self aggrandizement or really commissioned by independent professional groups, nearly suffered a heart attack when the election results showed they were waylaid by a mile.
-o0o-
The late Timoteo "Nene" Consing always made Mansueto Malabor eat the dust in various surveys during the mayoral contest in Iloilo City in 1992, but Malabor routed him in the actual election.
Former assemblyman Salvador "Buddy" Britanico clobbered the late former justice secretary Raul Gonzalez in the "surveys" for congressman in Iloilo City's lone district in 1998, but the former tanodbayan trounced him in the homestretch.
Danding Cojuangco was one of the topnotchers in as far as "winners" in the elections were concerned.
In the 1992 presidential elections, the former Marcos crony "beat" Fidel V. Ramos, the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Ramon Mitra, Jovito Salonga, and Imelda Marcos in various dizzying surveys that popped out left and right weeks before the election day.
Joe De Venecia, who never lost in "surveys" for president in 1998, lost by six million votes to Erap Estrada.
The late Fernando Poe Jr. routed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in various surveys but lost by a small margin during the 2014 presidential contest.
For the May 2019 bets, focus on your campaign and wait until after the biggest and final "survey" which is hours after all the ballots have been counted.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
Segovia's resignation is right
"I think my resignation was the only way to avoid bloodshed."
--Eduard Shevardnadze
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- After her much-publicized quarrel with Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas recently, Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI) vice president Marissa Segovia made the right decision to tender her "irrevocable" resignation.
They may say she was only carried by her emotions and made the decision to quit "on the spur of the moment" being a woman.
But it's difficult to fix a glass that has been cracked especially if the tiff was tainted with a political undertone.
Treñas reportedly lashed at the businesswoman during a meeting of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation on Feb. 14, blaming her for not inviting him to the Dinagyang Festival last month.
Treñas and Segovia are not strangers to each other.
They were good friends.
And also their respective families.
They worked together not only to achieve IDFI goals and commitment to public when Treñas was city mayor from 2001 to 2010, but also to help buttress the good standing of the Iloilo Business Club (IBC) in the Ilonggo community where Segovia was also an executive.
-o0o-
Segovia decided to quit from the IDFI but did not issue any statement to the media ostensibly after "being humiliated" by the congressman's alleged unexpected verbal assault.
If not for politics, there would have been no "heated" confrontation that hurt Segovia and forced her to call it a day.
If not for politics, no one would have raised a whimper that he was left out in the proper protocol for an important event.
Politics smeared their friendship.
Treñas is running again for city mayor versus Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III, Segovia's other friend, in the May 2019 elections.
If Treñas will win, Segovia will be in a very uncomfortable situation running the affairs of the foundation with her "tormentor" at the helm.
And if Treñas will use his power and influence to scrutinize or audit IDFI's financial records, she will have to belabor painstakingly even if they weren't hiding something.
The mental and emotional stress may not be necessary and good for Segovia, who is highly respected in the business community.
-o0o-
Meanwhile, no one has owned up to the snafu especially as to why Treñas was not officially invited.
What ensued next was finger-pointing and offensive justifications from IDFI president Ramon Cua Locsin, who made all the explanation--not particularly in defense of Segovia--but to inform the public they were running the foundation well and shouldn't be held accountable for sidestepping some VIPs during the occasion, stressing that the responsibility had already been delegated to the city mayor.
Locsin made a lengthy elucidation like he himself was involved in the fracas.
In a statement distributed to media, Locsin stressed: “We believe that we have discharged our duties fairly and judiciously for the successful conduct of the Dinagyang Festival, and we hope that this will end the controversy raised by those whose self-interest could trivialize the achievements of the Iloilo Dinagyang Festival and IDFI.”
He added: “IDFI has always acted with good faith in dealing with all partners of the festival. This is a major factor for the high trust rating of the public in IDFI. This is also the basis of Ms. Segovia’s statement during one of her interviews that Cong. Treñas was invited in the festivities. The City Mayor was also consistent in his interviews that everyone was welcome.”
--Eduard Shevardnadze
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- After her much-publicized quarrel with Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas recently, Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI) vice president Marissa Segovia made the right decision to tender her "irrevocable" resignation.
They may say she was only carried by her emotions and made the decision to quit "on the spur of the moment" being a woman.
But it's difficult to fix a glass that has been cracked especially if the tiff was tainted with a political undertone.
Treñas reportedly lashed at the businesswoman during a meeting of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation on Feb. 14, blaming her for not inviting him to the Dinagyang Festival last month.
Treñas and Segovia are not strangers to each other.
They were good friends.
And also their respective families.
They worked together not only to achieve IDFI goals and commitment to public when Treñas was city mayor from 2001 to 2010, but also to help buttress the good standing of the Iloilo Business Club (IBC) in the Ilonggo community where Segovia was also an executive.
-o0o-
Segovia decided to quit from the IDFI but did not issue any statement to the media ostensibly after "being humiliated" by the congressman's alleged unexpected verbal assault.
If not for politics, there would have been no "heated" confrontation that hurt Segovia and forced her to call it a day.
If not for politics, no one would have raised a whimper that he was left out in the proper protocol for an important event.
Politics smeared their friendship.
Treñas is running again for city mayor versus Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III, Segovia's other friend, in the May 2019 elections.
If Treñas will win, Segovia will be in a very uncomfortable situation running the affairs of the foundation with her "tormentor" at the helm.
And if Treñas will use his power and influence to scrutinize or audit IDFI's financial records, she will have to belabor painstakingly even if they weren't hiding something.
The mental and emotional stress may not be necessary and good for Segovia, who is highly respected in the business community.
-o0o-
Meanwhile, no one has owned up to the snafu especially as to why Treñas was not officially invited.
What ensued next was finger-pointing and offensive justifications from IDFI president Ramon Cua Locsin, who made all the explanation--not particularly in defense of Segovia--but to inform the public they were running the foundation well and shouldn't be held accountable for sidestepping some VIPs during the occasion, stressing that the responsibility had already been delegated to the city mayor.
Locsin made a lengthy elucidation like he himself was involved in the fracas.
In a statement distributed to media, Locsin stressed: “We believe that we have discharged our duties fairly and judiciously for the successful conduct of the Dinagyang Festival, and we hope that this will end the controversy raised by those whose self-interest could trivialize the achievements of the Iloilo Dinagyang Festival and IDFI.”
He added: “IDFI has always acted with good faith in dealing with all partners of the festival. This is a major factor for the high trust rating of the public in IDFI. This is also the basis of Ms. Segovia’s statement during one of her interviews that Cong. Treñas was invited in the festivities. The City Mayor was also consistent in his interviews that everyone was welcome.”
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Shocking myths about my religion
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
--C. S. Lewis
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Like most of my friends I was born and baptized as a Christian. My basic education in religion was about Christianity, about Jesus Christ as the "Son of God" our "Savior who died for our sins."
My education further brought me to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, among other primitive religions.
Then came Gandhi, a Hindu, allegedly saying that he loved Jesus but not the Christians. There were Christians who parried Gandhi by saying they loved the famous Indian pacifist "but not Hinduism". A tit for a tat.
But the most earthshaking discovery I consider as the "shockers of all shockers" are reportedly the myths about my religion.
Do we agree or believe the following myths?
1. Christians force their morality on others.
-According to this myth, Christians are judgmental and act as society’s moral watchdogs. And they try to censor everything from the arts to sex education.
2. Christians suppress women.
-According to this myth, the church through the ages has stifled the voice and gifts of women and has treated women as second-class beings.
3. Christians caused the ecological crisis.
-According to this myth, the Christian religion is alienated from the natural world. The Bible says to subdue the earth, and Western Christian culture took that as a license to exploit nature.
4. Christians are anti-scientific.
-According to this myth, the church has historically suppressed learning in general and scientific inquiry in particular. Christians even promote pseudoscience by trying to force science to fit a literal interpretation of the Bible.
5. Christians have done terrible things in the name of Christ.
-This myth cited the wrongs that have been done in the name of Christianity—everything from the Crusades to televangelist scandals.
DESTROY
6. Christian missionaries destroy native cultures.
-According to this myth, Christian missionaries force indigenous peoples to give up their unique culture. Christians don’t respect the spiritual value in native customs and religions.
7. Christians are arrogant.
-According to this myth, all religions teach basically the same thing, but Christians insist their religion is the only one that’s right. They arrogantly claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. That may be true for Christians, but it isn’t true for everybody.
Freelance writers Dale and Sandy Larsen of Duluth, Minnesota, ask if Christianity is defensible amid these myths.
“Isn’t it a backward religion based on primitive ideas that have no place in today’s world? Isn’t the Bible hopelessly out of date? And yet Christians insist on forcing their morality on other people!” they intone.
“And worst of all, isn’t Christianity the cause of so much pain and suffering in the world—from destroying native cultures to suppressing women to causing the ecological crisis?
“How can anyone take seriously a religion that is promoted by sleazy televangelists and that once sponsored the Crusade?
QUESTIONS
“These are honest questions that deserve straightforward answers. Separating the beliefs and actions of some Christians from our Christianity can be difficult. We need to go below the surface, see how these problems developed historically and go back to the Bible for the full story.”
They believe that there is “element of truth” in the above-mentioned myths.
“Some Christians are arrogant. Some Christians have made their faith into an exclusive club. But God’s forgiveness always reaches out to be inclusive, touching everyone who acknowledges need and and responds in faith to his mercy,” the conclude. “Anyone who has been hurt by Christians’ arrogance will need to summon extra courage and open-mindedness in order to take another serious look at Christianity.”
We must examine our heart. Are we willing not only to look at Christian faith but to find it true and begin to live by it?
Let’s examine the heart of Christian belief.
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Like most of my friends I was born and baptized as a Christian. My basic education in religion was about Christianity, about Jesus Christ as the "Son of God" our "Savior who died for our sins."
My education further brought me to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, among other primitive religions.
Then came Gandhi, a Hindu, allegedly saying that he loved Jesus but not the Christians. There were Christians who parried Gandhi by saying they loved the famous Indian pacifist "but not Hinduism". A tit for a tat.
But the most earthshaking discovery I consider as the "shockers of all shockers" are reportedly the myths about my religion.
Do we agree or believe the following myths?
1. Christians force their morality on others.
-According to this myth, Christians are judgmental and act as society’s moral watchdogs. And they try to censor everything from the arts to sex education.
2. Christians suppress women.
-According to this myth, the church through the ages has stifled the voice and gifts of women and has treated women as second-class beings.
3. Christians caused the ecological crisis.
-According to this myth, the Christian religion is alienated from the natural world. The Bible says to subdue the earth, and Western Christian culture took that as a license to exploit nature.
4. Christians are anti-scientific.
-According to this myth, the church has historically suppressed learning in general and scientific inquiry in particular. Christians even promote pseudoscience by trying to force science to fit a literal interpretation of the Bible.
5. Christians have done terrible things in the name of Christ.
-This myth cited the wrongs that have been done in the name of Christianity—everything from the Crusades to televangelist scandals.
DESTROY
6. Christian missionaries destroy native cultures.
-According to this myth, Christian missionaries force indigenous peoples to give up their unique culture. Christians don’t respect the spiritual value in native customs and religions.
7. Christians are arrogant.
-According to this myth, all religions teach basically the same thing, but Christians insist their religion is the only one that’s right. They arrogantly claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. That may be true for Christians, but it isn’t true for everybody.
Freelance writers Dale and Sandy Larsen of Duluth, Minnesota, ask if Christianity is defensible amid these myths.
“Isn’t it a backward religion based on primitive ideas that have no place in today’s world? Isn’t the Bible hopelessly out of date? And yet Christians insist on forcing their morality on other people!” they intone.
“And worst of all, isn’t Christianity the cause of so much pain and suffering in the world—from destroying native cultures to suppressing women to causing the ecological crisis?
“How can anyone take seriously a religion that is promoted by sleazy televangelists and that once sponsored the Crusade?
QUESTIONS
“These are honest questions that deserve straightforward answers. Separating the beliefs and actions of some Christians from our Christianity can be difficult. We need to go below the surface, see how these problems developed historically and go back to the Bible for the full story.”
They believe that there is “element of truth” in the above-mentioned myths.
“Some Christians are arrogant. Some Christians have made their faith into an exclusive club. But God’s forgiveness always reaches out to be inclusive, touching everyone who acknowledges need and and responds in faith to his mercy,” the conclude. “Anyone who has been hurt by Christians’ arrogance will need to summon extra courage and open-mindedness in order to take another serious look at Christianity.”
We must examine our heart. Are we willing not only to look at Christian faith but to find it true and begin to live by it?
Let’s examine the heart of Christian belief.
Friday, February 22, 2019
‘Don’t make assumptions’
“We only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. We don’t perceive things the way they are. We have the habit of dreaming with no basis in reality. We literally dream things up in our imaginations. Because we don’t understand something, we make an assumption about the meaning, and when the truth comes out, the bubble of our dream pops and we find out it was not what we thought it was at all.”
-- DON MIGUEL RUIZ
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Let me share an ancient Toltec wisdom in a book that offers a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love, as it reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and creates needless suffering.
I chose the the number three of the Four Agreements as the title of this story because I notice that this is where we normally succumb when communication bogs down, and when we make a mistake of magnifying unimportant happenings into major events resulting in sadness and drama.
Author Don Miguel Ruiz warns that “we have the tendency to make assumptions about everything, and the problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth. We could swear they are real.”
We make assumptions about what others are doing and thinking--we take it personally--then we blame them and react by sending emotional poison with our word.
Whenever we make assumptions, we are asking for problems. We make an assumption, we misunderstand, we take it personally, and we end up creating a whole big drama for nothing.
We create a lot of emotional poison just by making assumptions and taking it personally, because usually we start gossiping about our assumptions, Silva observes.
GOSSIPING
He counsels: “Remember, gossiping is the way we communicate to each other in the dream of hell and transfer poison to one another. Because we are afraid to ask clarifications, we make assumptions, and believe we are right about the assumptions; then we defend our assumptions and try to make someone else wrong.
The author warned: “It is always better to ask questions than to make an assumption, because assumptions set us up for suffering.”
All the sadness and drama we have lived in our lives was rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally. Our whole dream of hell is based on that.
The teachings in the Four Agreements, written by Don Miguel Ruiz, were based on Toltec knowledge, which arises from the same essential unity of truth as all the sacred esoteric foundations found around the world.
The Four Agreements are:
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
SPIRITUAL
“Though it is not a religion, it honors all the spiritual masters who have taught on earth,” according to Ruiz. “While it does embrace spirit, it is most accurately described as a way of life, distinguished by the ready accessibility of happiness and love.”
Anthropologists have spoken of the Toltec as a nation or race, but, in fact, Silva explains, the Toltec were scientists and artists who formed a society to explore and conserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of the ancient ones.
They came together as masters (naguals) and students at Teotihuacan, the ancient city of pyramids outside Mexico City known as the place where “Man Becomes God.”
Over the millennia, stresses Silva, the naguals were forced to conceal the ancestral wisdom and maintain its existence in obscurity.
“European conquest, coupled with rampant misuse of personal power by a few of the apprentices, made it necessary to shield the knowledge from those who were not prepared to use it wisely or who might intentionally misuse it for personal gain,” Silva points out.
-- DON MIGUEL RUIZ
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Let me share an ancient Toltec wisdom in a book that offers a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love, as it reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and creates needless suffering.
Author Don Miguel Ruiz warns that “we have the tendency to make assumptions about everything, and the problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth. We could swear they are real.”
We make assumptions about what others are doing and thinking--we take it personally--then we blame them and react by sending emotional poison with our word.
Whenever we make assumptions, we are asking for problems. We make an assumption, we misunderstand, we take it personally, and we end up creating a whole big drama for nothing.
We create a lot of emotional poison just by making assumptions and taking it personally, because usually we start gossiping about our assumptions, Silva observes.
GOSSIPING
He counsels: “Remember, gossiping is the way we communicate to each other in the dream of hell and transfer poison to one another. Because we are afraid to ask clarifications, we make assumptions, and believe we are right about the assumptions; then we defend our assumptions and try to make someone else wrong.
The author warned: “It is always better to ask questions than to make an assumption, because assumptions set us up for suffering.”
All the sadness and drama we have lived in our lives was rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally. Our whole dream of hell is based on that.
The teachings in the Four Agreements, written by Don Miguel Ruiz, were based on Toltec knowledge, which arises from the same essential unity of truth as all the sacred esoteric foundations found around the world.
The Four Agreements are:
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
SPIRITUAL
“Though it is not a religion, it honors all the spiritual masters who have taught on earth,” according to Ruiz. “While it does embrace spirit, it is most accurately described as a way of life, distinguished by the ready accessibility of happiness and love.”
Anthropologists have spoken of the Toltec as a nation or race, but, in fact, Silva explains, the Toltec were scientists and artists who formed a society to explore and conserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of the ancient ones.
They came together as masters (naguals) and students at Teotihuacan, the ancient city of pyramids outside Mexico City known as the place where “Man Becomes God.”
Over the millennia, stresses Silva, the naguals were forced to conceal the ancestral wisdom and maintain its existence in obscurity.
“European conquest, coupled with rampant misuse of personal power by a few of the apprentices, made it necessary to shield the knowledge from those who were not prepared to use it wisely or who might intentionally misuse it for personal gain,” Silva points out.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Is Mr. Leung still alive?
"The war on drugs is wrong, both tactically and morally. It assumes that people are too stupid, too reckless, and too irresponsible to decide whether and under what conditions to consume drugs. The war on drugs is morally bankrupt."
-- Larry Elder
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- When I nominated his name in the Iloilo Olympics Society (IOS) board during the lunching of the "Spirit of Olympism" at the Sarabia Manor Hotel in Iloilo City in the Philippines in 1991, Sin Leung Kim, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, did not decline. He smiled, in fact; a gesture that did not sit well with the late former Leganes, Iloilo mayor Josil Jaen, who immediately opposed the nomination. Jaen didn't hide his displeasure toward Leung, whom the mayor had suspected to be involved in illegal drugs, among other reasons. "Indi lang na siya iya 'Lex a. Sugiran ta lang ka next time kon ngaa (Don't include him here, Lex. I will tell you the reason why later)," said Jaen, who died of pneumonia on February 3, 2017.
-o0o-
Another reason why Leung was not elected--or was not accepted--aside from Jaen's opposition, was because the late former Iloilo board member Vicente "Bugoy" Molejona, then administrator of the Iloilo Sports Complex (ISC), "didn't know him from Adam."
Molejona, a protege of the late former Iloilo Vice Governor Ramon Duremdes, "unsung hero" behind Iloilo Province's hosting of the 1991 Palarong Pambansa, was among the precursors of the IOS, along with the late Iloilo 4th district Rep. Narciso Monfort, Eng. Ramon Hechanova, Jaen, among other Ilonggo sports leaders during the administration of Gov. Sim Grino. Leung, a sports patron who claimed he was close to then President Fidel V. Ramos, was in the event after being "invited" by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) commissioner Celso Dayrit, an FVR appointee. "Those politicians (referring to the Ilonggos) don't know me, but President FVR and (First Lady) Mrs. Ming Ramos know me personally," Leung boasted.
-o0o-
Leung's associates included then controversial former Philippine Track and Field Association (Patafa) president Go Teng Kok, who was also reportedly linked in illegal drugs.
Jaen didn't anymore tell this writer the other "main" reasons why they disliked Leung since Leung was already "outside the kulambo" after IOS's formal organization. Leung was disappointed but didn't show his emotion during the gathering. He gamely rose from his seat and left. But he continued to communicate with this writer especially when he and fellow sports patrons from a Filipino-Chinese group donated sports equipment and cash to Filipino athletes departing for training abroad or to compete in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. "When I help (the athletes) I don't advertise it like what the politicians are doing," said Leung, who asked me to write about his generosity to the poor athletes "for record purposes." Leung did show to me several photos where he was together with FVR and other prominent political figures in the Philippines.
-o0o-
Leung also confirmed he knew prominent Bacolod businessman Ricard "Cano" Tan, known then as "Bacolod's football godfather."
Tan, a very outspoken and active sports and political personality, became a Bacolod City councilor. On December 14, 2018 at around 5 p.m., Tan and his wife, Nita, survived an ambush staged by unknown assailants in Brgy. Alangilan in Bacolod City while on board their Nissan Patrol SUV. They did not suffer bullet injuries, according to Senior Inspector John Christopher Masangkay, Police Station 5 chief, but Tan had slight injuries caused by broken glass. President Rodrigo R. Duterte had tagged Tan as a "drug lord". Tan, a generous sports patron like Leung, has not responded to Duterte's accusation and has not spoken to the media since the ambush. Amid the furor on big time sports patrons allegedly involved in illegal drugs, Leung suddenly crossed my mind. Where is Leung now? Can or did he survive under the hard-hitting Duterte administration? Is he still alive? Was our friend, the late Mayor Jaen, right?
|
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
We suffered worst than Rappler's Maria Ressa
"When the public's right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press are at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered."
-- Christopher Dodd
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Rappler's Maria Ressa and her writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. have posted a bail of P100,000 each before the Manila Regional Trial Court for their temporary liberty in a cyber libel case the Department of Justice (DOJ) had "revived" for an on-line article written in 2012 that "maligned" businessman Wilfredo Keng.
In Iloilo City in the Philippines in 1999 or 20 years ago, I posted a total bail of P380,000 for the incredible 38 counts of libel cases filed by former Councilor Ramon Cua Locsin and the late Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) revenue district officer Godofredo San Jose Jr.
Our late publisher Marcos "Mark" Villalon and columnist Wenceslao Mateo Jr., my co-accused, posted the same amount each.
The libel cases first stemmed from an article written by Mr. Mateo in Sun.Star Iloilo Daily about Locsin's purported "conflict of interest" in relation to the purchase of a lot for the relocation of several displaced squatters in Brgy. So-oc, Molo district.
In Mr. Mateo's analysis, Locsin's firm appeared to gain benefit once the purchase would materialize.
Instead of disputing Mr. Mateo or writing a "letter-to-the editor" like what other forlorn public officials normally do in a similar situation, Locsin filed a libel case.
-o0o-
Like Ressa, who did not write the story about Keng, publisher Villalon and this writer were included in the charge sheet as publisher and editor-in-chief, respectively.
Reporters Ednalyn Belonio, Ruby Silubrico, and Lorelie Panes were initially included in the first wave of the case, but they were dropped in the succeeding cases, which arrived like a torrent of hurricane in an unprecedented volume.
Mr. San Jose entered the picture after Silubrico wrote a story about an incident in the jampacked SM City food court, where he was accused of tossing a P500 bill on a table occupied by several reporters, including this writer, who were there to cover the BIR's official receipts raffle promo.
I ordered two of the reporters, Fernando "Kapid" Gabio and Francis Terania, to immediately return the money to Mr. San Jose. We also reported the incident in the Mandurriao Police Station.
Mr. San Jose, who was frequently visited by reporters in his BIR office, according to him, was infuriated. He insisted one of the reporters who sat on the table was the one who demanded money from him earlier. When ribbed, he couldn't identify the reporter.
-o0o-
Then Bombo Radyo "Zona Libre" anchor and now Aksyon Radyo station manager John Paul Tia arranged a one-on-one joust between Mr. San Jose and this writer in his night program, where I politely reminded Mr. San Jose the SM City food court incident was the first time I ever met him personally; I went there to honor his invitation in a letter sent to our office a week earlier.
Mr. San Jose's libel case had been knocked out in the prosecutor's office.
Interestingy--and scandalously, all of the libel cases filed by Councilor Locsin had been "whisked" with mind-boggling alacrity and dispatch by the prosecutor's office to the trial court!
To add insult and mystery, most of the "libelous" articles were blind items written by different authors. Could malice, a main ingredient in a libel case, be proven in blind items? Whoa.
While the cases were in progress, we endured the hate and insult from our adversaries and their allies who couldn't bring us down to our knees.
It took five years since the cases were raffled off for trial to the different branches in the Hall of Justice from 1999 to 2004 when all the cases were finally dismissed: 38-0!
More than the triumph for press freedom, the episode exposed the inherent incompetence and corruption behind the characters responsible for elevating the cases to the trial court when they should have been dismissed in the prosecution level for being insubstantial and infirm in nature.
-o0o-
Ressa and Santos will be arraigned next month. They both have received tremendous moral support and otherwise from various media organizations in the Philippines and abroad.
Their supporters think Ressa and Santos, especially Rappler, are being "persecuted" owing to their rift with President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Most of their colleagues and sympathizers view DOJ's filing of the case and the subsequent NBI arrest to be an act to stifle the freedom of the press and expression.
There were those who argue, especially President Duterte's allies, that the president had nothing to do with the case filed by Keng, who is a private businessman
As long as democracy is alive and won't be raped by a despotic rule, Ressa, Santos, and the Rappler will be able to surmount this crisis.
-- Christopher Dodd
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Rappler's Maria Ressa and her writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. have posted a bail of P100,000 each before the Manila Regional Trial Court for their temporary liberty in a cyber libel case the Department of Justice (DOJ) had "revived" for an on-line article written in 2012 that "maligned" businessman Wilfredo Keng.
In Iloilo City in the Philippines in 1999 or 20 years ago, I posted a total bail of P380,000 for the incredible 38 counts of libel cases filed by former Councilor Ramon Cua Locsin and the late Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) revenue district officer Godofredo San Jose Jr.
Our late publisher Marcos "Mark" Villalon and columnist Wenceslao Mateo Jr., my co-accused, posted the same amount each.
The libel cases first stemmed from an article written by Mr. Mateo in Sun.Star Iloilo Daily about Locsin's purported "conflict of interest" in relation to the purchase of a lot for the relocation of several displaced squatters in Brgy. So-oc, Molo district.
In Mr. Mateo's analysis, Locsin's firm appeared to gain benefit once the purchase would materialize.
Instead of disputing Mr. Mateo or writing a "letter-to-the editor" like what other forlorn public officials normally do in a similar situation, Locsin filed a libel case.
-o0o-
Like Ressa, who did not write the story about Keng, publisher Villalon and this writer were included in the charge sheet as publisher and editor-in-chief, respectively.
Reporters Ednalyn Belonio, Ruby Silubrico, and Lorelie Panes were initially included in the first wave of the case, but they were dropped in the succeeding cases, which arrived like a torrent of hurricane in an unprecedented volume.
Mr. San Jose entered the picture after Silubrico wrote a story about an incident in the jampacked SM City food court, where he was accused of tossing a P500 bill on a table occupied by several reporters, including this writer, who were there to cover the BIR's official receipts raffle promo.
I ordered two of the reporters, Fernando "Kapid" Gabio and Francis Terania, to immediately return the money to Mr. San Jose. We also reported the incident in the Mandurriao Police Station.
Mr. San Jose, who was frequently visited by reporters in his BIR office, according to him, was infuriated. He insisted one of the reporters who sat on the table was the one who demanded money from him earlier. When ribbed, he couldn't identify the reporter.
-o0o-
Then Bombo Radyo "Zona Libre" anchor and now Aksyon Radyo station manager John Paul Tia arranged a one-on-one joust between Mr. San Jose and this writer in his night program, where I politely reminded Mr. San Jose the SM City food court incident was the first time I ever met him personally; I went there to honor his invitation in a letter sent to our office a week earlier.
Mr. San Jose's libel case had been knocked out in the prosecutor's office.
Interestingy--and scandalously, all of the libel cases filed by Councilor Locsin had been "whisked" with mind-boggling alacrity and dispatch by the prosecutor's office to the trial court!
To add insult and mystery, most of the "libelous" articles were blind items written by different authors. Could malice, a main ingredient in a libel case, be proven in blind items? Whoa.
While the cases were in progress, we endured the hate and insult from our adversaries and their allies who couldn't bring us down to our knees.
It took five years since the cases were raffled off for trial to the different branches in the Hall of Justice from 1999 to 2004 when all the cases were finally dismissed: 38-0!
More than the triumph for press freedom, the episode exposed the inherent incompetence and corruption behind the characters responsible for elevating the cases to the trial court when they should have been dismissed in the prosecution level for being insubstantial and infirm in nature.
-o0o-
Ressa and Santos will be arraigned next month. They both have received tremendous moral support and otherwise from various media organizations in the Philippines and abroad.
Their supporters think Ressa and Santos, especially Rappler, are being "persecuted" owing to their rift with President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Most of their colleagues and sympathizers view DOJ's filing of the case and the subsequent NBI arrest to be an act to stifle the freedom of the press and expression.
There were those who argue, especially President Duterte's allies, that the president had nothing to do with the case filed by Keng, who is a private businessman
As long as democracy is alive and won't be raped by a despotic rule, Ressa, Santos, and the Rappler will be able to surmount this crisis.
Monday, February 18, 2019
Ilonggos’ hospitality is tourism’s No. 1 promoter
“We didn't invent anything new. Hospitality has been around forever.”
-- Joe Gebbia
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We can hold the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City in the Philippines multiple times in one year to attract tourists from all corners of the globe, but if we have a lousy hospitality, tourism will stagnate if not nosedive.
As an annual cultural and religious event held in the fourth week of January each year, the Dinagyang Festival has already captured the world’s imagination what with the digital media technology aside from the Dinagyang ati tribe’s consistent international rendezvous these past seven years, helping provide a colossal publicity and massive promotional tableau.
Dinagyang Festival has reached its peak in as far as universal recognition is concerned.
It is primarily well-advertised there in the Youtube, lionized and chronicled heavily in international journals and flight magazines, and is known all over the social media.
What the stakeholders, led by our officials from the Iloilo City Government, the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Provincial Government of Negros, Guimaras, Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, and Capiz should do now is strengthen the infrastructure and the backbones of Iloilo City and the Western Visayas’ tourism programs.
-o0o-
This can be done by encouraging investors to build more hotels and resorts, and other entertainment hubs all over Panay Island and Western Visayas, or within the tourism belts where tourism spots are located like in Carles, Iloilo; Anini-y, Antique; Caticlan, Aklan; Pan-ay, Capiz; the island province of Guimaras; Talisay City, Cadiz City, Mambukal, among other known tourist spots in Negros Occidental.
There should be regular trade missions abroad to be participated by the regional provincial governments akin to the trade and economic mission undertaken by the Iloilo City Government in the East Coast in the United States in June 2018.
We should also invest more on the manpower and hospitality by recruiting tourism personnel and train them to become effective tourism ambassadors.
These tourism emissaries must see to it that each year when tourists from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Europe arrive for the Dinagyang Festival as well as other similar festivals and events in Iloilo City and in other parts of Western Visayas, these tourists must have the reason to come back or invite, motivate, and bring their fellow nationals.
-o0o-
It has been proven that tourists are encouraged to come back when they feel a certain extraordinary warmth and peaceful climate even if they are not so head-over-heels by the local festivals and events.
When they see amiable and smiling faces and local folks who can easily and effectively communicate in English, the tourism destination becomes a second priority.
In a sustained tourism promotion, there is no substitute for hospitality.
And we have abundance of it.
When the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), led by Governor Thawatchai Arunyik, conceptualized the “Amazing Thailand” and promoted it internationally in 2015, it was supplemented by a "Discover Thainess" campaign.
The campaign incorporated the "twelve values" that Thai junta leader and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wanted all Thais to practice.
Due to the "Discover Thainess" campaign, Thai tourism officials foresee a large increase in tourist numbers even as Ms Somrudi Chanchai, director of the TAT Northeastern Office, has forecast that tourists to her Isan region will increase by 27.9 million visitors and thus generate an expected 65 billion baht in revenue.
We can generate more funds in tourism, and with our vast resources and God-given natural wonders and sparkling destinations, the sky is the limit.
-- Joe Gebbia
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We can hold the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City in the Philippines multiple times in one year to attract tourists from all corners of the globe, but if we have a lousy hospitality, tourism will stagnate if not nosedive.
As an annual cultural and religious event held in the fourth week of January each year, the Dinagyang Festival has already captured the world’s imagination what with the digital media technology aside from the Dinagyang ati tribe’s consistent international rendezvous these past seven years, helping provide a colossal publicity and massive promotional tableau.
Dinagyang Festival has reached its peak in as far as universal recognition is concerned.
It is primarily well-advertised there in the Youtube, lionized and chronicled heavily in international journals and flight magazines, and is known all over the social media.
What the stakeholders, led by our officials from the Iloilo City Government, the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Provincial Government of Negros, Guimaras, Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, and Capiz should do now is strengthen the infrastructure and the backbones of Iloilo City and the Western Visayas’ tourism programs.
-o0o-
This can be done by encouraging investors to build more hotels and resorts, and other entertainment hubs all over Panay Island and Western Visayas, or within the tourism belts where tourism spots are located like in Carles, Iloilo; Anini-y, Antique; Caticlan, Aklan; Pan-ay, Capiz; the island province of Guimaras; Talisay City, Cadiz City, Mambukal, among other known tourist spots in Negros Occidental.
There should be regular trade missions abroad to be participated by the regional provincial governments akin to the trade and economic mission undertaken by the Iloilo City Government in the East Coast in the United States in June 2018.
We should also invest more on the manpower and hospitality by recruiting tourism personnel and train them to become effective tourism ambassadors.
These tourism emissaries must see to it that each year when tourists from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Europe arrive for the Dinagyang Festival as well as other similar festivals and events in Iloilo City and in other parts of Western Visayas, these tourists must have the reason to come back or invite, motivate, and bring their fellow nationals.
-o0o-
It has been proven that tourists are encouraged to come back when they feel a certain extraordinary warmth and peaceful climate even if they are not so head-over-heels by the local festivals and events.
When they see amiable and smiling faces and local folks who can easily and effectively communicate in English, the tourism destination becomes a second priority.
In a sustained tourism promotion, there is no substitute for hospitality.
And we have abundance of it.
When the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), led by Governor Thawatchai Arunyik, conceptualized the “Amazing Thailand” and promoted it internationally in 2015, it was supplemented by a "Discover Thainess" campaign.
The campaign incorporated the "twelve values" that Thai junta leader and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wanted all Thais to practice.
Due to the "Discover Thainess" campaign, Thai tourism officials foresee a large increase in tourist numbers even as Ms Somrudi Chanchai, director of the TAT Northeastern Office, has forecast that tourists to her Isan region will increase by 27.9 million visitors and thus generate an expected 65 billion baht in revenue.
We can generate more funds in tourism, and with our vast resources and God-given natural wonders and sparkling destinations, the sky is the limit.
Ilonggo journalists fight hard to decriminalize libel
“If you call your opponent a politician, it's grounds for libel.”
--Mark Russell
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- In a democratic state like the Philippines, onion-skinned politicians and other known enemies of press freedom use the libel case to harass and intimidate practicing journalists.
They are aware that libel is a criminal offense, thus punishable by fine and imprisonment under the Philippine jurisprudence.
They aren’t actually after the fine.
Most of them want to see the journalists who have “offended” or “defamed” them go to jail.
That’s the bone of their contention; that’s what they want to happen.
Most of them think sending a journalist to jail via the libel case is already tantamount to “avenging” against the journalist’s critical newspaper articles and commentaries.
No normal human being, including a journalist, would want to go to jail.
However, we prefer being charged in court (which they refer to as “the proper forum”) than being murdered.
The Philippines, after all, is the most dangerous country in Asia for journalists, according to the media watchdogs.
It’s actually the biggest cemetery in the world for members of the Fourth Estate based on statistics on media killings.
-o0o-
Going to jail for a libel case filed by a public official, so far, hasn’t caused any iota of fear and embarrassment to any journalist who is merely doing his job.
When we are arrested and manacled, it’s not because we committed a heinous crime or stole a neighbor’s wallet.
It’s because we made somebody, who has very poor understanding and appreciation of the nature of our profession, mad.
It’s because somebody doesn’t have the delicadeza misusing the public funds, using public office for advancement of his whims and caprices, and for engaging in transactions and activities inimical to public interest.
After being charged for libel and spending a few hours or days in jail, a Filipino journalist, in many cases, becomes a celebrity and hailed as a hero of press freedom; he gets invitations left and right to speak about the hazards of his profession in universities and other gatherings.
The politicians who filed the libel case become the objects of derision and public contempt.
If a public official’s attention is being called over a possible impropriety while in public office, he must submit to the critical news or commentary however bombastic may be the method used by the press, as long as it doesn’t breach the public official’s private life.
This hinges on the principle that a public office is a public trust.
-o0o-
It’s because of the libel case’s imprisonment clause why we, the Ilonggo community journalists, as well as our colleagues in other parts of the Philippines, have been in the front-line campaigning since after the EDSA Revolution or during the time of President Corazon Aquino to decriminalize libel.
Our campaign in the period between 1989 until 1998 and most recently, included regularly pressing during chance “ambush” interviews and press conferences former senators Joey Lina, the late Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Nikki Coseteng, the late Raul Roco, among other national legislators to pass a bill in congress to make a drastic change for libel law in the Philippine penal code.
No political figure has publicly said no and they all promised to initiate steps to decriminalize libel.
Until now, however, their promises have remained a promise.
Until our colleague, Maria Ressa, chief executive officer of the confrontational Rappler, was recently arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila for cyber libel case, another libel dog with a different collar.
We are confident Ms Ressa will be able to survive this latest attempt to gag and muzzle the press in the Philippines.
No matter how they try to camouflage the issue, it’s a clear case of harassment and intimidation.
We shall continue to advocate for the change of the libel law in the Philippines, and to vigorously fight for press freedom even under a despotic regime with low regard for freedom of the press and expression.
--Mark Russell
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- In a democratic state like the Philippines, onion-skinned politicians and other known enemies of press freedom use the libel case to harass and intimidate practicing journalists.
They are aware that libel is a criminal offense, thus punishable by fine and imprisonment under the Philippine jurisprudence.
They aren’t actually after the fine.
Most of them want to see the journalists who have “offended” or “defamed” them go to jail.
That’s the bone of their contention; that’s what they want to happen.
Most of them think sending a journalist to jail via the libel case is already tantamount to “avenging” against the journalist’s critical newspaper articles and commentaries.
No normal human being, including a journalist, would want to go to jail.
However, we prefer being charged in court (which they refer to as “the proper forum”) than being murdered.
The Philippines, after all, is the most dangerous country in Asia for journalists, according to the media watchdogs.
It’s actually the biggest cemetery in the world for members of the Fourth Estate based on statistics on media killings.
-o0o-
Going to jail for a libel case filed by a public official, so far, hasn’t caused any iota of fear and embarrassment to any journalist who is merely doing his job.
When we are arrested and manacled, it’s not because we committed a heinous crime or stole a neighbor’s wallet.
It’s because we made somebody, who has very poor understanding and appreciation of the nature of our profession, mad.
It’s because somebody doesn’t have the delicadeza misusing the public funds, using public office for advancement of his whims and caprices, and for engaging in transactions and activities inimical to public interest.
After being charged for libel and spending a few hours or days in jail, a Filipino journalist, in many cases, becomes a celebrity and hailed as a hero of press freedom; he gets invitations left and right to speak about the hazards of his profession in universities and other gatherings.
The politicians who filed the libel case become the objects of derision and public contempt.
If a public official’s attention is being called over a possible impropriety while in public office, he must submit to the critical news or commentary however bombastic may be the method used by the press, as long as it doesn’t breach the public official’s private life.
This hinges on the principle that a public office is a public trust.
-o0o-
It’s because of the libel case’s imprisonment clause why we, the Ilonggo community journalists, as well as our colleagues in other parts of the Philippines, have been in the front-line campaigning since after the EDSA Revolution or during the time of President Corazon Aquino to decriminalize libel.
Our campaign in the period between 1989 until 1998 and most recently, included regularly pressing during chance “ambush” interviews and press conferences former senators Joey Lina, the late Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Nikki Coseteng, the late Raul Roco, among other national legislators to pass a bill in congress to make a drastic change for libel law in the Philippine penal code.
No political figure has publicly said no and they all promised to initiate steps to decriminalize libel.
Until now, however, their promises have remained a promise.
Until our colleague, Maria Ressa, chief executive officer of the confrontational Rappler, was recently arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila for cyber libel case, another libel dog with a different collar.
We are confident Ms Ressa will be able to survive this latest attempt to gag and muzzle the press in the Philippines.
No matter how they try to camouflage the issue, it’s a clear case of harassment and intimidation.
We shall continue to advocate for the change of the libel law in the Philippines, and to vigorously fight for press freedom even under a despotic regime with low regard for freedom of the press and expression.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Poison politics
"In politics stupidity is not a handicap."
--Napoleon Bonaparte
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The best season to lose friends and shatter a relationship with some relatives in the Philippines is during the election season.
During the elections, forget about kinship, fraternal affinity, pinagsamahan or past and present camaraderie; never mind the investment on utang na loob or debt of gratitude.
Don't look back at memorable events and circumstances that helped shape a good relationship and expect them to grow in the garden of politics.
Don't brag about kumare and kumpare ties shored up in the wedding and christening ceremonies as if they can be translated into a political commitment and loyalty.
What happens there will remain and even end there and should never be invoked when politics enters the picture.
Politics is a poison.
Politics will altogether eviscerate all that have been built fraternally by human virtues and goodwill.
In politics, as the old saying always reminds us, there is no permanent friends, only permanent self interests.
-o0o-
Haven't we noticed that some of the protagonists in the race for governor, congressman, mayor, and other local government executive positions in the coming Philippine elections are not strangers to each other?
If they are not classmates in the elementary and high school, they are relatives in consanguinity and affinity; kumpare and kumare (fellow godfathers and godmothers) in the wedding and bunyag (christening) ceremonies.
Some are neighbors and playmates since childhood; others "brothers" and "sisters" in fraternity and church; former business partners, former political allies and party mates, former "colleagues" in ideological, spiritual, and ethnic comradeship, former mentors and proteges, etcetera.
All of these relationships will have no weight and bearing once politics takes the center stage.
It has been proven in the past and it is about to be proven once again as the official campaign for the national seats kicked off; the local candidates are, as well, hell-bent to square off and unravel the cannonballs.
-o0o-
We also caution the Philippine National Police (PNP) not to allow the organization to be wittingly and unwittingly used as a tool in a political partisanship and persecution especially during the election season.
All the raids and arrests involving political personalities will always be greeted with utmost suspicion and skepticism especially if the involved parties are not known violators of law, or have no previous criminal records in the community.
If a political personality has been arrested because of the crime he had ostensibly committed even before he decided to run for a public office, throw all the books on him and haul him to jail.
But if he was arrested mainly because someone had tipped off the authorities that he may be concealing something that is unlawful in his possession, it may spark a red alarm in the area of politicking and may not be good for the image of authorities, especially if the arrest turns out to be a dud.
Ditto for the police raids involving allegations of illegal possession of firearms, illegal drugs, child pornography, investment scam, etcetera.
If they are legitimate raids, go get the bonkers and dregs of society.
If they are tainted with politics, abort, abandon, and stop it.
--Napoleon Bonaparte
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The best season to lose friends and shatter a relationship with some relatives in the Philippines is during the election season.
During the elections, forget about kinship, fraternal affinity, pinagsamahan or past and present camaraderie; never mind the investment on utang na loob or debt of gratitude.
Don't look back at memorable events and circumstances that helped shape a good relationship and expect them to grow in the garden of politics.
Don't brag about kumare and kumpare ties shored up in the wedding and christening ceremonies as if they can be translated into a political commitment and loyalty.
What happens there will remain and even end there and should never be invoked when politics enters the picture.
Politics is a poison.
Politics will altogether eviscerate all that have been built fraternally by human virtues and goodwill.
In politics, as the old saying always reminds us, there is no permanent friends, only permanent self interests.
-o0o-
Haven't we noticed that some of the protagonists in the race for governor, congressman, mayor, and other local government executive positions in the coming Philippine elections are not strangers to each other?
If they are not classmates in the elementary and high school, they are relatives in consanguinity and affinity; kumpare and kumare (fellow godfathers and godmothers) in the wedding and bunyag (christening) ceremonies.
Some are neighbors and playmates since childhood; others "brothers" and "sisters" in fraternity and church; former business partners, former political allies and party mates, former "colleagues" in ideological, spiritual, and ethnic comradeship, former mentors and proteges, etcetera.
All of these relationships will have no weight and bearing once politics takes the center stage.
It has been proven in the past and it is about to be proven once again as the official campaign for the national seats kicked off; the local candidates are, as well, hell-bent to square off and unravel the cannonballs.
-o0o-
We also caution the Philippine National Police (PNP) not to allow the organization to be wittingly and unwittingly used as a tool in a political partisanship and persecution especially during the election season.
All the raids and arrests involving political personalities will always be greeted with utmost suspicion and skepticism especially if the involved parties are not known violators of law, or have no previous criminal records in the community.
If a political personality has been arrested because of the crime he had ostensibly committed even before he decided to run for a public office, throw all the books on him and haul him to jail.
But if he was arrested mainly because someone had tipped off the authorities that he may be concealing something that is unlawful in his possession, it may spark a red alarm in the area of politicking and may not be good for the image of authorities, especially if the arrest turns out to be a dud.
Ditto for the police raids involving allegations of illegal possession of firearms, illegal drugs, child pornography, investment scam, etcetera.
If they are legitimate raids, go get the bonkers and dregs of society.
If they are tainted with politics, abort, abandon, and stop it.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Ignorance is the only evil
“Vaccines don't cause autism. Vaccines, instead, prevent disease. Vaccines have wiped out a score of formerly deadly childhood diseases. Vaccine skepticism has helped to bring some of those diseases back from near extinction.”
--Alex Pareene
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Ignorance will kill more children than the measles outbreak.
If Hippocrates were alive today, he would have spanked idiotic parents whose skepticism has caused them to falsify the true essence of the modern medicine’s immunization program.
Filipino children denied of immunization only because their parents are ignorant or misinformed are still protected by law, thus they can still be saved from parental stupidity.
The Philippines has the Republic Act 10152 or the Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011.
Under this law, government hospitals and health centers are mandated to provide immunization for free to infants and children up to five years old.
Some Filipino parents refuse to immunize their kids for fear that the vaccine might harm the tots, a jittery caused by the Dengvaxia imbroglio.
Other parents are still influenced by a debunked study that claims certain vaccines could lead to autism and a theory that claims vaccines were linked to brain damage.
Because of these fears, thousands of Filipino kids who have not been immunized were in danger of being seriously infected with diseases like the measles, rubella, mumps and hepatitis.
In fact, the Department of Health (DOH) has already declared a measles outbreak over the week.
No less than the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) along with Filipino pediatricians as well as experts on infectious diseases have expressed alarm over the measles outbreak in the Philippines that has affected some 20,000 children since December 2018.
Children’s disease is evil, but the biggest evil is that which has created a monster in the minds of some nervous parents.
In fact, there is no evil in this world, according to Socrates, but ignorance.
-o0o-
If “mama” or “papa” are adamant, do it yourself--if you can.
Take the case of a brave 18-year-old teen from Norfolk, Ohio who recently made the decision to receive his first-ever vaccines for a number of diseases despite his parents’ beliefs.
The Hill reported that Ethan Lindenberger admitted he had gone without vaccines for diseases like the measles, rubella, mumps and hepatitis for his entire life due to his mother’s anti-vaccine beliefs.
He told the publication that his mother, Jill Wheeler, was influenced by online misinformation, including a debunked study that claims certain vaccines could lead to autism and a theory that claims vaccines were linked to brain damage.
Throughout his childhood, Lindenberger said his mother would tell him about the negative side effects of vaccines and how they were bad. He also said he thought it was normal for children not to receive vaccines. But after he realized his other friends and classmates had all been vaccinated, Lindenberger said that’s when he began to do his own research into the matter, reported The Hill.
-o0o-
“When I started looking into it myself, it became very apparent that there was a lot more evidence in defense of vaccinations, in their favor,” Lindenberger said.
Lindenberger said he later approached his mother with research that debunked some of her claims, including a report from the CDC that explained how vaccines did not cause autism.
"Her response was simply 'that's what they want you to think,'" Lindenberger said. "I was just blown away that you know, the largest health organization in the entire world would be written off with a kind of conspiracy theory-like statement like that."
After failing to change his mother’s thinking on the matter, Lindenberger decided to get vaccinated on his own after turning 18 years old.
As the publication also notes, the story comes at a time when more measles outbreaks have been reported in the Pacific Northwest, prompting more concern among minors about whether they are able to use their own consent to obtain vaccines.
In the month of January alone, measles were confirmed in ten states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, according to the CDC.
Washington officials also declared a public health emergency as an outbreak of measles spread across an anti-vaccination "hot spot" near Portland, Oregon, late last month.
--Alex Pareene
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Ignorance will kill more children than the measles outbreak.
If Hippocrates were alive today, he would have spanked idiotic parents whose skepticism has caused them to falsify the true essence of the modern medicine’s immunization program.
Filipino children denied of immunization only because their parents are ignorant or misinformed are still protected by law, thus they can still be saved from parental stupidity.
The Philippines has the Republic Act 10152 or the Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011.
Under this law, government hospitals and health centers are mandated to provide immunization for free to infants and children up to five years old.
Some Filipino parents refuse to immunize their kids for fear that the vaccine might harm the tots, a jittery caused by the Dengvaxia imbroglio.
Other parents are still influenced by a debunked study that claims certain vaccines could lead to autism and a theory that claims vaccines were linked to brain damage.
Because of these fears, thousands of Filipino kids who have not been immunized were in danger of being seriously infected with diseases like the measles, rubella, mumps and hepatitis.
In fact, the Department of Health (DOH) has already declared a measles outbreak over the week.
No less than the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) along with Filipino pediatricians as well as experts on infectious diseases have expressed alarm over the measles outbreak in the Philippines that has affected some 20,000 children since December 2018.
Children’s disease is evil, but the biggest evil is that which has created a monster in the minds of some nervous parents.
In fact, there is no evil in this world, according to Socrates, but ignorance.
-o0o-
If “mama” or “papa” are adamant, do it yourself--if you can.
Take the case of a brave 18-year-old teen from Norfolk, Ohio who recently made the decision to receive his first-ever vaccines for a number of diseases despite his parents’ beliefs.
The Hill reported that Ethan Lindenberger admitted he had gone without vaccines for diseases like the measles, rubella, mumps and hepatitis for his entire life due to his mother’s anti-vaccine beliefs.
He told the publication that his mother, Jill Wheeler, was influenced by online misinformation, including a debunked study that claims certain vaccines could lead to autism and a theory that claims vaccines were linked to brain damage.
Throughout his childhood, Lindenberger said his mother would tell him about the negative side effects of vaccines and how they were bad. He also said he thought it was normal for children not to receive vaccines. But after he realized his other friends and classmates had all been vaccinated, Lindenberger said that’s when he began to do his own research into the matter, reported The Hill.
-o0o-
“When I started looking into it myself, it became very apparent that there was a lot more evidence in defense of vaccinations, in their favor,” Lindenberger said.
Lindenberger said he later approached his mother with research that debunked some of her claims, including a report from the CDC that explained how vaccines did not cause autism.
"Her response was simply 'that's what they want you to think,'" Lindenberger said. "I was just blown away that you know, the largest health organization in the entire world would be written off with a kind of conspiracy theory-like statement like that."
After failing to change his mother’s thinking on the matter, Lindenberger decided to get vaccinated on his own after turning 18 years old.
As the publication also notes, the story comes at a time when more measles outbreaks have been reported in the Pacific Northwest, prompting more concern among minors about whether they are able to use their own consent to obtain vaccines.
In the month of January alone, measles were confirmed in ten states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, according to the CDC.
Washington officials also declared a public health emergency as an outbreak of measles spread across an anti-vaccination "hot spot" near Portland, Oregon, late last month.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Iloilo ‘Tsinoy’ community now safe from extortion, blackmail?
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people.”
--Steve Jobs
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We are elated to observe that the Filipino-Chinese community is no longer aghast at the peace and order situation in Iloilo City in the Philippines and appears to be “at home” with the present dispensation under the current local government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership.
The situation has changed dramatically ever since Iloilo City Hall and the Tsinoy community were at odds more than 30 years ago; when the Tsinoy community and the PNP had a stormy relationship over allegations of extortion, harassment, blackmail, and “shabby” treatment accorded those who refused to toe the line with the powers that be.
Gone were the years when most members of the mestizo de sangley (sons and daughters of Filipino and Chinese parents) would never trust anyone in the City Hall and the PNP.
I was a City Hall beat reporter in 1989 when Mayor Roding Ganzon blasted Gen. Romeo Zulueta, Regional Command (Recom 6) director, for being allegedly involved in a kidnapping-for-ransom syndicate operating in Western Visayas.
When we asked Zulueta of his reaction, he could only mutter, “Naniniwala pa ba kayo kay Ganzon (Do you still believe Ganzon)?”
Zulueta neither denied nor challenged the late hard-hitting city mayor’s accusation that the police official was involved in the abduction of a prominent Filipino-Chinese millionaire and an Ilonggo media and jewelry magnate who were both released after reportedly paying millions of ransom.
Recom 6 is now the Regional Police Office 6 (RPO-6) headed by Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, a highly touted PNP official with a solid reputation and professionalism.
-o0o-
If Ganzon’s charges against Zulueta were true (they weren’t substantiated and no formal cases were filed against the police general), it would be a perfect reason for the Tsinoy traders to abandon Iloilo City and put up their businesses somewhere else.
For any dyed-in-the-wool Tsinoy trader, putting up a business and staying put to manage that business in a squalid and unpredictable atmosphere, was like participating in a scary reality film.
The distrust and animosity was exacerbated by reports that some extortionists and blackmailers, introducing themselves as “City Hall employees” and “cops”, victimized business establishments in the Downtown, City Proper ran mostly by Tsinoy businessmen.
These were the years when bank robberies and other heists victimizing downtown establishments were rampant; and most of the perpetrators had direct or indirect linked with rogue cops.
The years when social media like Skype and Facebook didn’t exist yet.
The Filipino-Chinese community in Iloilo City was and is still one of the most well-organized and well oiled in the Philippines.
It is also very accessible and one of the country’s grandest and where some of the most prominent officials of the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII) in the national and local chapters belong.
-o0o-
The entire physical structure or the Calle Real’s skeletal body is already part of the Filipino-Chinese business empire, where shoppers can buy all kinds of household, school, grocery, electrical, medical, and other industrial supplies.
This was the period when giant malls like SM City, Robinson’s, Gaisano City, etcetera, weren’t yet conceptualized and didn’t yet mushroom in the metropolis.
We are happy that there is now an atmosphere of bliss, cooperation, and prosperity among local officials, the PNP, and the Tsinoy community especially when they all recently combined their resources and talents in welcoming the Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival or Lunar New Year.
No less than Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII) Iloilo Chapter president Ramon Cua Locsin has confirmed that Tsinoy businessmen are now comfortable doing business and living in Iloilo City because they now feel safe and the environment is better compared in other cities, provinces, and municipalities in the Philippines.
--Steve Jobs
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We are elated to observe that the Filipino-Chinese community is no longer aghast at the peace and order situation in Iloilo City in the Philippines and appears to be “at home” with the present dispensation under the current local government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership.
The situation has changed dramatically ever since Iloilo City Hall and the Tsinoy community were at odds more than 30 years ago; when the Tsinoy community and the PNP had a stormy relationship over allegations of extortion, harassment, blackmail, and “shabby” treatment accorded those who refused to toe the line with the powers that be.
Gone were the years when most members of the mestizo de sangley (sons and daughters of Filipino and Chinese parents) would never trust anyone in the City Hall and the PNP.
I was a City Hall beat reporter in 1989 when Mayor Roding Ganzon blasted Gen. Romeo Zulueta, Regional Command (Recom 6) director, for being allegedly involved in a kidnapping-for-ransom syndicate operating in Western Visayas.
When we asked Zulueta of his reaction, he could only mutter, “Naniniwala pa ba kayo kay Ganzon (Do you still believe Ganzon)?”
Zulueta neither denied nor challenged the late hard-hitting city mayor’s accusation that the police official was involved in the abduction of a prominent Filipino-Chinese millionaire and an Ilonggo media and jewelry magnate who were both released after reportedly paying millions of ransom.
Recom 6 is now the Regional Police Office 6 (RPO-6) headed by Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, a highly touted PNP official with a solid reputation and professionalism.
-o0o-
If Ganzon’s charges against Zulueta were true (they weren’t substantiated and no formal cases were filed against the police general), it would be a perfect reason for the Tsinoy traders to abandon Iloilo City and put up their businesses somewhere else.
For any dyed-in-the-wool Tsinoy trader, putting up a business and staying put to manage that business in a squalid and unpredictable atmosphere, was like participating in a scary reality film.
The distrust and animosity was exacerbated by reports that some extortionists and blackmailers, introducing themselves as “City Hall employees” and “cops”, victimized business establishments in the Downtown, City Proper ran mostly by Tsinoy businessmen.
These were the years when bank robberies and other heists victimizing downtown establishments were rampant; and most of the perpetrators had direct or indirect linked with rogue cops.
The years when social media like Skype and Facebook didn’t exist yet.
The Filipino-Chinese community in Iloilo City was and is still one of the most well-organized and well oiled in the Philippines.
It is also very accessible and one of the country’s grandest and where some of the most prominent officials of the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII) in the national and local chapters belong.
-o0o-
The entire physical structure or the Calle Real’s skeletal body is already part of the Filipino-Chinese business empire, where shoppers can buy all kinds of household, school, grocery, electrical, medical, and other industrial supplies.
This was the period when giant malls like SM City, Robinson’s, Gaisano City, etcetera, weren’t yet conceptualized and didn’t yet mushroom in the metropolis.
We are happy that there is now an atmosphere of bliss, cooperation, and prosperity among local officials, the PNP, and the Tsinoy community especially when they all recently combined their resources and talents in welcoming the Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival or Lunar New Year.
No less than Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII) Iloilo Chapter president Ramon Cua Locsin has confirmed that Tsinoy businessmen are now comfortable doing business and living in Iloilo City because they now feel safe and the environment is better compared in other cities, provinces, and municipalities in the Philippines.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)