I stand by my article: 2 ‘Asian hate’ reports by RP Consulate New York dubious

“People know accuracy when they read it; they can feel it.”

—Alan Furst

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I AM sad that instead of directly answering the very valid issues I raised in an article on the two recent suspicious stories of alleged “Asian Hate” crime-related incidents involving two Filipinos, Philippine Consulate New York Consul General Elmer Cato chose to keep quiet and instead allowed those who have nothing to do with the issue—the sip-sips and the barking dogs in the Filipino community—to hit me.

In an effort to divert the issue, the sip-sips and the barking dogs were the ones who attacked me while Consul General Cato maintained his silence and has refused to answer and explain the valid issues I raised. 

I have a bad news for all of them: I stand by my article and their personal attacks will not stop me from seeking the truth in the name of public interest.

On July 19, 2022, I wrote an article entitled, “Another suspicious crime story from RP Consulate New York” where I questioned the veracity of the two stories in May and July about the two alleged cases of so-called “Asian Hate” crimes supposedly committed against 1. A Filipino health worker and 2. An “18-year-old tourist.”

 

-o0o-

 

The two stories created ripples in the Philippine media after reporters picked them from the Twitter account of the very popular Philippine Consulate General New York Consul General Elmer Cato.

In the first alleged incident Cato twitted in May, he claimed that a Filipino health worker “punched” an “attacker” for wiping her saliva on the Filipino while they were both riding on the same train.

In New York when you touched someone in an intimidating manner, you would be arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD). In this case, the Filipino health worker got away with murder? No police report. No name of both the Filipino worker and the alleged saliva wiper? No news from any media outlet in New York or anywhere in the United States. No nothing—except in Cato’s tweet. 

In the good consul general’s second tweet in July, he alleged that an “18-year-old tourist” was mauled by an “Asian hater” while walking in Manhattan. Again, he didn’t identify the “victim” and there was no story in the New York press.

A video from ABS-CBN that went viral showed a Tagalog-speaking man claiming he “rescued” the supposed 18-year-old victim and they all gave chase to the alleged assailant “and the suspect was arrested by the NYPD.”

 

-o0o-

 

If we review that ABS-CBN video again (I’m sure it is still there in the social media), no NYPD cop was interviewed in relation to the alleged mauling and the suspect’s alleged “arrest”.

I suspect, Consul General Cato picked what he had Twitted about the incident from that incomplete ABS-CBN story.

I maintain that there have been no credible sources or pieces of evidence that will support the alleged mauling incident involving that “18-year-old tourist” in Manhattan as claimed by that Tagalog-speaking Good Samaritan in the ABS-CBN video and by Consul General Cato himself in his tweet.

Also, the place where the alleged mauling incident occurred was surrounded by CCTV. It’s impossible for the alleged mauling incident not to be captured by the CCTV.  

The twin stories lacked accuracy and the most important details—the what, when, where, who, why, how—were also missing.

In my first article about the controversy, I appealed to the good Consul General to clarify these issues. Was he a victim of what we call in journalism as “kuryente?” 

Did somebody feed him with fake news or half truth? The public want to know. In the name of transparency, Consul General Cato should enlighten us.

Instead, what I got were insults, intimidation, and other forms of verbal and written abuses from characters in the Philippine community who have nothing to do whatsoever with the job of the consul general and who are not even connected with the Philippine Consulate.

Gusto lang mag palapad papel ang mga hurong nga ini. And they thought they could silence me.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

‘Patay’ Railways?

“Implementation of promises is as important as making them.”

—Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

PARDON us for being so skeptical, but we doubt if the “Patay Railways” will ever be revived under the Marcos Jr. administration. 

Not in six years, perhaps; not even under the administration of the next president—or when Mr. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has bowed out from the presidency in 2028.  

Not everything the President has announced in his recent State of the Nation Address (Sona) will turn into gold.

Sometimes those that weren’t openly mentioned are the ones on the priority list; those that were constantly mentioned aren’t even in the radar and are, therefore, not taken seriously.   

Proposals and suggestions, yes. Plans and “priorities,” maybe. Implementation and demonstration, dream on!

We even doubt if the storied but “dead” railway system will be able to rise again like Lazarus post Marcos Jr. administration thereafter. Since its engines “conked out” or were silenced in 1983, efforts to bring it back to life proved futile.  

We always have serious misgivings each time the government announces the construction or rehabilitation of mega-million worth of public works projects ahead of securing the funds needed to start the engine.

It’s like pushing the cart ahead of the horse. There’s no joyride in the locomotive.

Let’s take a cue from the recent announcement from the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which unceremoniously doused a cold water to the railways’ proposed revival: 1.“There are no funds yet…” and 2. “Its revival is not a priority of the agency.” Loud and clear.

 

-o0o-

 

It’s always been the grand plans, the big dreams, the excitement and shockwaves attributed to the grand plans and big dreams, but not the implementation—especially if funds are scarce and may not be immediately available. 

Mega-projects of such magnitude may need billions of pesos for immediate implementation and the limited public funds might not be able to sustain their grandeur unless the government can secure fresh loans from foreign sources and hack out a partnership with the private developers without prejudice to the interest of the government. 

Like what happened to the Iloilo-Guimaras bridge project which was prematurely announced to romp off during the Duterte administration under the ambitious and expensive “build, build, build” program even without the sufficient budget and logistical preparations.

The proposed revival of the 117-kilometer “Patay Railways” might remain as cold skeletons in the cemetery unless the cash-anemic government can set aside or look for the funds and prioritize it over the other “more urgent” infrastructure projects in Luzon and Mindanao.

Through the combined forces of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Budget, and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), anything can still be possible, but probably not in the timeline of the present administration. 

 

-o0o-

 

“He knows too much!” We often hear this in debates and public fora. 

President Marcos Jr. "knew too much," his fans cheered when he recently delivered his Sona.

Many politicians and sales executives are impressive because "they know too much."

But nobody knows too much. Nobody ever yet knew enough. We cannot have too much knowledge, any more than we can have too much health.

What we really mean when we say a person knows too much is that he knows too little, and is too positive about it.

An ignorant man’s mind is just as full of ideas as a wise man’s mind. But his ideas are wrong. 

There are just as many plants growing in his garden as in the wise man’s garden, but they are weeds.

Enemies to knowledge are egotism, sensitiveness and pride. These things keep us from being teachable. They build a wall around us, so that knowledge cannot get in.

The surest way to get knowledge is not to advertise that we have it. About the wisest man that ever lived was Socrates, and he was fond of saying of himself that he knew nothing at all.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

We feel what Dr. Yumol felt, but we didn’t resort to murder

“Peace does not include a vendetta; there will be neither winners nor losers.”

—Ahmed Ben Bella

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IN Hiligyanon (the dialect of Ilonggos), they call it “nag dulom ang panulok” (he lost his temper or self-control) or “nangita or nag pangita patas” (he wanted to get even).

This could have what happened to multiple murder suspect Chao-Tiao Yumol, a known humanitarian doctor in his community and whistle-blower in the drug trade in his hometown, according to the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Governance-Maharlika (FLAG-Maharlika).

Dr. Yumol is now in police custody after being arrested for allegedly gunning down former Lamitan City, Basilan mayor Rose Farugay, her assistant Victor George Capistrana, and Ateneo de Manila University security guard Jeneven Bandiala inside the Ateneo campus on July 24.

FLAG-Maharlika released the statement below dated July 24, 2022:

We, the members of the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Governance-Maharlika (FLAG-Maharlika) would like to express our sympathy to the families of those who died and were injured in today’s shooting incident at the Ateneo de Manila University.

It is sad and sudden that we learned the suspected shooter, Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumul, a known humanitarian doctor in his community and whistle-blower in the drug trade in his hometown, approached our organization to help expose the alleged drug trade and corruption in Lamitan City.

Our organization assisted in providing free legal advice in his filing of charges against certain government officials for alleged corrupt practices.

WE strongly denounce the use of extra-judicial actions and violence. As FLAG-Maharlika advocates against malpractices in government, we also advocate peace and abhor the use of violence in the pursuit for a better Philippines. This is why we advocate strongly for judicial reforms so justice may be served swiftly.

We pray for the families of all those concerned and that justice may be swift so lives can move forward in peace.

 

-o0o-

 

Dr. Yumol may have committed the horrendous crime as an act of vendetta probably for being exasperated after receiving about 74 counts of cyberlibel from the ex-mayor’s family for lambasting them in his social media posts and accusing them of corruption and alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

Dr. Yumol’s allegations made during a brief media presentation by the Quezon City police on July 25 have already been debunked by the family’s lawyer.

Fellow elected officials in Basilan described the slain ex-mayor as “good public servant.”

His spat with the Farugay family reportedly resulted in the closure of his clinic. As the saying goes, “You can’t fight City Hall.”

The cyberlibel cases themselves were cruel and a heavy burden to him as a doctor or to anyone who has lost a livelihood and be made to post a bail and become fugitive as a result. 

If it was a retaliatory attack, Dr. Yumol’s method was wrong and grossly irrational brought by an extremely irrational anger. 

We are not in his shoes when he faced all the troubles and inconveniences brought by the closure of his clinic and the cyberlibel cases he had to tackle in multiple courts in Basilan, but we could have advised him to cool down and let the wheel of justice move since the cases were already “in the proper forum” so to speak.

Violence and murder shouldn’t be the best options if he only wanted to get even no matter how Dr. Yumol justified what he did. 

 

-o0o-

 

In 1999, dirty and abusive local politicians, abetted by corrupt and inept rattlesnakes in the prosecution office, ribbed us with ridiculous libel cases that reached a gut-wrenching 38 counts.

The intention was really to bring us down on all four if we based the amount of bail for each count our publication had to fork out.

There was no personal war like in the Yumol-Farugay l’affaire. It was plain and simple harassment and persecution to boot anywhere you would scrutinize it.

Instead of doing a Dr. Yumol, we let the wheel of both KARMIC and human justices to take their courses. We won and history became cruel for all those dirty politicians and corrupt and inept PERsecutors.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)   

 

 

Facebook photos of couple caught having sex used in news

“I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good.”

—Elon Musk

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF someone commits a crime or public scandal and is charged in court after being identified by witnesses or CCTV, his photo posted in the social media can now be used by any news outlet when they report the story without his permission.

I learned this recently when the New York Post used in their story the Facebook photos of a young couple caught having sex in a courtroom in June in Australia after charges have been formally filed against the couple.

This can only be possible, I think, if our Facebook posts are public.

If we edit the “privacy” of our posts, including the photos, to “friends only”, any news outlet “not on our friends list” may not be able to have access on them. 

The Post reported on July 22, 2022 that Shamela Julie Leeding, 19, and Jake James Quinn, 20, who had public sex three times in a courtroom foyer have been sentenced for their “outrageous behavior” after a court heard it was simply a matter of “exuberance of youth.”

The separate photos, taken from their respective Facebook accounts as shown in the caption, appeared on the news.

Quoting a story from The Chronicle, the Post reported that

Leeding was due to appear in Toowoomba Magistrates Court in Toowoomba City, Australia on June 28, 2022 for an unrelated matter, supported by her partner Quinn.

 

-o0o-

 

At about 9.40 a.m., the couple was captured on CCTV moving to seating in the eastern end of the courthouse public waiting area where Leeding straddled Quinn and the pair began to kiss “vigorously,” police prosecutor Cameron Francis said.

The story continued that :the pair then began to have sexual intercourse, with Leeding caught on camera lifting her skirt, sitting on her partner and moving up and down on Quinn’s lap.”

Leeding’s solicitor Ryan McCullough said the only explanation for the couple’s behavior was they had been overcome with the “exuberance of youth”.

Mr. McCullough said the couple’s “stupid and inappropriate mistake” was a hard learnt lesson in what was appropriate behavior.

Magistrate Clare Kelly said she had never heard of such an incident happening at a courthouse, describing the offending as “outrageous behavior”.

“In a disrespectful manner you’ve taken into the public arena a very private act,” Ms. Kelly said to the pair, according to the news.

 

-o0o-

 

The court was told the couple stopped what they were doing after they were approached by security, and Leeding got off Quinn who attempted to cover himself, added the story.

“The security officer left the area, and Quinn then exposed his penis again and Leeding adjusted his penis under her skirt, she then sat on his lap, facing away and again started moving up and down on his lap, appearing to again engage in sexual intercourse,” Mr. Francis said.

The pair continued until they were again interrupted by a volunteer court staff member but continued once the staff member left the area.

“For a third time the couple were approached, again by security, and Leeding quickly stood up and held her arms out in an attempt to block the view of the security guard while Quinn attempted to cover himself up,” Mr. Francis said.

The couple left the waiting area, which was full ahead of a busy court day, with members of the public less than 16 feet away.

The court was told they were easily identified by CCTV cameras, and on June 30 the couple was issued with notices to appear by police. On Friday the pair pleaded guilty to indecent act in any place to which the public are permitted access.

Solicitor Nathan Bouchier said Quinn’s actions “weren’t planned” and that the unemployed laborer simply “wasn’t thinking” of how inappropriate their actions were.

Mr. Bouchier said his client was looking for full-time employment, after previously completing a construction traineeship, and had two job interviews next week.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

   

State of the Filipinos’ life

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." 

—John F. Kennedy

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE true “state of our nation” mirrors the way the people think and  live—their economic well-being, health, employment opportunities or livelihood, and quality of life in general.

If people are satisfied and happy it’s a reflection of the true state of the nation where they live.

An urban developer from Iloilo City in the Philippines once argued that the best barometer whether the economy is “alive and kicking” or in a tailspin is the number of carinderia, a food stall with a small seating area, typically in a market or at a roadside, in the villages.

“Kon naga damu ang carinderia buot silingon pigado mga tawo kay halos tanan gusto na lang mag baligya sud-an (If carinderias mushroom in the villages that means many people are in dire straits because most of them think they can survive by selling viands),” said the Ilonggo urban planner, who unsuccessfully ran for city councilor four times in as many attempts. 

 

-o0o-

 

Sad to say, the realities in the Philippines’ state of the nation are the following:

1. Most of those who are in power -- president, vice president, senators, congressmen, governors, mayors (and even some barangay captains) are now billionaires and millionaires who don't live a frugal life and aren’t role models for the hoi polloi;

2. Graft and corruption has depleted our resources and we have become the object of derision and unsavory spiels by observers from other countries. No corrupt public official has been jailed or literally shot in public (the most abused campaign promise of politicians);

3. Poverty, unemployment, overpopulation, ignorance have spawned more social maladies such as squatter, child and adult prostitution, criminality, drug addiction, suicide, insanity, cult fanaticism, religious dogmatism, poor sanitation and garbage disposal, among other serious health and environmental problems;  

4. "Pork barrel" will not be eliminated. Politicians, who will swim and sink with this budgetary cellulite, will only change its name but it will continue to be inserted in the budget by corrupt legislators and their padrino in the executive branch. This is the biggest source of extra moolah to sustain their extra-curricular activities outside the marital bed and after office hours;

5. Women and children are still being exploited in labor, whorehouses, film industry, Internet through cybersex, and in other salacious and prurient activities in the name of livelihood and economic buildup.

 

-o0o-

 

6. Criminal elements and organized syndicates--those involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping-for-ransom, human trafficking for prostitution and labor, holdup and hulidup, illegal gambling, akyat bahay, gangsterism, street mugging and mulcting, begging syndicates—continue to make a pile and have not been neutralized. Many of them enjoy protection from corrupt politicians and policemen.

7. There is still a culture of impunity. This is like a cancer in every administration. Killing of activists, labor leaders, and crusading journalists has continued unabated owing to the failure of authorities to solve one murder after another. There have been no strong efforts from higher authority to run after and prosecute the perpetrators or the hired killers and their masterminds;

8. We are still being bullied by China and other neighboring countries that are numerically and militarily superior, and our unguarded islets and territorial waters are being invaded and “seized” one after the other;

10. Our overseas Filipino workers (OFW) continued to be enslaved by exploitative and heartless employers in cahoots with unscrupulous agencies that hired them. Many of them live under sub-human conditions; they receive paltry sum for salary and are treated shabbily if not raped and maltreated by sadistic bosses and unscrupulous embassy consuls.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

Saliva attack: ‘hate wave’ to heat wave

“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.”

—Marcel Proust

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

AT around past nine o’clock in the morning on July 4 (Monday), an Independence Day in America, a suspected homeless tall black man spat at my back head multiple times while I was sitting on the edge of a concrete garden outside the Grand Central Station on Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

It was a delayed reaction—or I noticed I was being abused only when I felt something wet landing on my left ear. I thought a gardener’s hose had accidentally sprinkled a water on my back.

By the time I saw the ill-mannered person’s face when I suddenly turned to my left, he must have already released a ton of saliva at my direction; luckily, some particles of the rude man’s sulfuric acid missed their target.  

I gave him a dagger look (a natural reaction of anybody on a similar situation). 

He pretended he didn’t see a Mohican; he was no Will Smith, therefore I didn’t end up as a Chris Rock.

Before walking away pretending he was a transient at the Smokey Mountain garbage colony, he unleashed one last deadly chemical assault while I was facing him—within, again, a spitting distance. 

 

-o0o-

 

I would have spent that Independence Day morning spraying Clorox on my face to remove the stain of that naughty man’s poison gas if my alert body and quick feet betrayed me. 

I was still lucky it’s only a mouth microbe spraying attack and not a football kick, or a Tyson sucker punch.

A fellow Asian man standing a few meters away, who witnessed the unfortunate germs spewing session along with the area’s sprawling CCTV cameras, must have thought I would turn violent. 

Of course, I didn’t. I wouldn’t: he was big and tall, most probably unhinged, and, what’s new? Aren’t we now in the “hate wave” outbreak—the so-called Asian Hate Crime? 

I was a victim once, and shame on my assailant inside the Brooklyn-bound subway train in March 2021, the incident I recorded in my cellphone and which became viral. Shame on me if I land in the news anew for the same ridiculous but annoying reason. 

I have vowed there would be no more part two—with or without the pandemic.

 

-o0o-

 

From “hate wave”, we are now being bedeviled by the record-breaking heat waves which have been sweeping the U.S., Europe and Asia, reminding us to make it even more important to stay hydrated, stay cool and stay calm.

Of the 28 states affected, New York was not actually feared to be one of those hardest hit.

The heat will bleed toward the East Coast. Heat advisories span from Delaware through parts of interior New York into southern New Hampshire on July 20 (Wednesday), where the combination of heat and humidity would make it feel like 95 to 100 degrees in the north and 100 to 105 degrees in the south.

Some of the hottest weather along the East Coast is forecast this weekend, according to the Washington Post.

On July 24 (Sunday), highs could touch the century mark from Washington to New York for the first time in at least several years.

The U.S. heat, according to the Washington Post, coincided with a historically extreme European weather event, which so far has killed more than 1,000 people and fueled wildfires that have prompted 40,000 to evacuate. 

A staggering 34 weather stations broke the 101.7 degrees threshold in Britain, logging temperatures higher than anything Britain has ever observed.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Another suspicious crime story from RP Consulate New York

 

“The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.”

—Antisthenes

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

PHILIPPINE Consulate New York Consul General Elmer Cato should explain why the recent news on alleged harassment and violence committed against two Pinoys in New York didn’t have complete details.

First, Cato Twitted in May 2022 that an unidentified train passenger “wiped her saliva” on the Filipino health worker riding on the same train.

In retaliation, the Filipino health worker supposedly “punched” the alleged assailant of unknown nationality.

Cato offered no further details. He didn’t identify both the train protagonists other than warning the Filipino community to “be careful.”

As a community journalist, I immediately noticed a red flag in the way Cato narrated the alleged incident. 

It’s too amusing to be true. I can recount a more believable version if I fabricate one, modesty aside.

Was it only a kuwentong barbershop meant to entertain your Twitter followers, Consul General Cato? 

 

-o0o-

 

And most recently, Cato’s second Twit about violence victimizing our kababayans was about an “18-year-old tourist from Cebu” who was allegedly attacked while walking along Manhattan’s 36^th Street.

Again, it was treated as gospel truth and picked by enthusiastic Philippine TV networks and newspapers.

The “news” even became viral despite lacking in substance to qualify as news.

Like in Cato’s first Twit, there’s no identity of the “victim” and no further details were given whatsoever.

To compound the matter, the two alleged incidents, which supposedly happened in the capital New York City, didn’t have a blotter report from the New York Police Department (NYPD).

There was zero running or follow up story from the major TV networks and newspapers in the Big Apple.

 

-o0o-

 

How can the well-entrenched and well-organized NYPD miss the two incidents Cato had ostensibly linked to the so-called Asian Hate Crime with all the police organization’s resources and intelligence apparatuses?

Again, there was no report from the normally alert and vigilant New York TV networks and the American media as a whole.

No crime or violence of such magnitude as Twitted by Cato can escape the very sophisticated CCTV monitors scattered around the Big Apple.

Were the alleged incidents a hoax?

But why would Cato, the highest Philippine Consulate official, Twit about the two incidents that allegedly happened, respectively, in May and July if they didn’t happen in the first place?

Cato might claim the twin incidents may have only been “reported” to his office now that cases of violence related to Asian Hate Crime has increased since the pandemic, but why withhold the names of the “victims?”

In order to properly document cases of harassment and violence against Asians living in the United States, it’s been advised that the victims’ identity must first and foremost be established so that proper measures are undertaken to immediately address the problem.

We are calling Cato’s attention on this controversy through this article.  Kindly enlighten us, Mr. Consul General.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

   

City council should stop ‘isolating’ Nava

“It's always fun to be the underdog and surprise people. It certainly puts less pressure on you.”

—Derek Drouin

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT’S not healthy for the Iloilo City Council to deny lone opposition stalwart Plaridel Nava a committee chairmanship while throwing all the delicious meat to those allied with the City Hall administration.

The move was tantamount to intentionally isolating the firebrand councilor from Lapuz district ostensibly for being a bone in the throat of Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas.

An attempt to isolate the opposition can be otherwise interpreted as a callous move to stifle the check and balance, which is a vital cog in democracy.

When the opposition is in the receiving end, those in power and in the majority will always be viewed as bullies and heartless. 

History has been cruel for those in the higher echelon that are unkind to those in the lower ground. 

Anyway, we are tackling only the issue on committee chairmanship, not about silencing the opposition per se.

But silencing Nava may be technically the principal propositum of any move to prevent him from using the major access roads in the legislative mainstream, where he can best express his stentorian ability to right the wrong and showcase his own elements of surprise. 

There are many ways to skin the cat, as the saying goes.

 

-o0o-

 

Awarding two chairmanships to the other councilors though and shutting the door on Nava was handwriting on the wall. 

Nava looked bullied and underdog. 

It was like the case of a group of musical thugs, using their superior number, conspired to deny Beethoven entry to his piano room.   

As a sign of goodwill and magnanimity, the City Council should have played fair and square with the city’s most prominent opposition figure and allowed him to chair a committee of his choice, or where Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon and the other council members see Nava fit and able to govern and excel as committee presiding officer.

Although he belongs in the other co-equal branch of government, Treñas certainly knew what was going on in the legislative body’s game of musical chairs and “could have done” something, in one way or the other, to ensure Nava wasn’t treated as unwanted child or outcast.

The City Hall administration would have looked good if Alexander’s empire was divided equally among all the aldermen—allies or not.

 

-o0o-

 

HALL of Fame boxing trainer Freddie Roach doesn’t want Senator Manny Pacquiao to fight again even only in exhibition. 

The defeated presidential aspirant, who terrorized the lightflyweight, flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight divisions during his heydays, does not have anything to prove, insisted Roach.

Even his wife, Jinkee, nixed any possible comeback for the 43-year-old old former eight-time world champion.

If Pacquiao wants to fight again let him do it. It’s his own body and he knows what he is doing as adult.

Roach will never prevent him from going up the ring again as long as the color of money won’t change.  

He definitely needs more money after reportedly spending and wasting more or less P500 million in his recent failed bid to become president.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

  

 

   

 

 

    

Iloilo clan member ‘lobbying for DOH post’

“Access is vital in lobbying. If you can't get in your door, you can't make your case.”

—Jack Abramoff

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

A MEMBER of a not-so-powerful political clan in Iloilo has been reportedly “moving heaven and earth” to get the Department of Health portfolio currently held by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire as officer-in-charge.

The clan member reportedly felt “relieved” when the Health portfolio was handed to Vergeire only as OIC until July 31.

In fairness, the clan of this DoH aspirant went all-out for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in the recent election. 

When it comes to access to Mr. Marcos, the clan member is shoo-in since their political tentacles also have strongholds in other Visayas regions.   

“As a matter of fact,” our A-1 source informed us, “the clan member has been making a noise these past weeks, spending some bucks for press releases by suggesting to the government to use a certain pill to fight a disease that is not even alarming.”

The source said the clan member “was hoping that by making a noise in the press releases (it) is one way of getting the President’s attention. Kanya kanyang style lang.”

The clan member has been lobbying for the Health portfolio even before Mr. Marcos took his oath last month, revealed the A-1 Source.

The clan member “wants to be vindicated,” added the A-1 source, who was among those tapped to “accommodate” the clan member’s series of press releases. The source did not elaborate.

We’re not against the clan member’s attempt to vault back to the DoH especially if the clan member is very much qualified. 

We’re just amused by the method the clan member has been using to get the President’s attention. 

The source was right: Kanya kanyang stlye or gimmick lang. Good luck.

 

-o0o-

 

Our Pennsylvania-based Ilonggo friend, lawyer William Demaisip, who is now on vacation in Iloilo, has been warning us that New York is a dangerous place with all sorts of crimes happening from time to time.

Even before the upsurge of the so-called Asian Hate Crime in America immediately after the spread of pandemic in 2020, Atty. Demaisip was already skeptical about choosing New York as residence. 

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings,” Atty. Demaisip would always tell me in  messages, referring to my choice of New York as my official residence. 

The irony is that it was the mayor of Philadelphia in Atty. Demaisip’s state of Pennsylvania who expressed shock and sorrow over the killing of a fellow Filipino lawyer, John Albert Laylo, who was shot while on vacation together with his mother in Atty. Demaisip’s state city last month.

Mayor Jim Kenney has also reportedly offered a $20,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the shooter, who remained unidentified as of this writing.

Laylo, 35, had last worked for a private company in Manila and had also served as a legislative staffer for jailed opposition Sen. Leila de Lima from 2016 to 2018 before leaving to take up graduate studies. De Lima had expressed hope a suspect would immediately be held to account “for the brutal and senseless act.”

 

-o0o-

 

Violence and killings happen even in the most peaceful places anywhere in the world, especially in big metropolis like the Big Apple, Los Angeles, Chicago and, yes, Philadelphia.

Not to be out-publicized, the gun violence epidemic in New York City took its toll again Sunday night (July 17, with seven people shot in two hours in three separate incidents around the city that never sleeps.

After an out-of-control surge at the start of the year, shootings abated somewhat as the NYPD and City Hall reacted with a variety of new measures. 

But the last couple of weeks have seen a resurgence of gun violence, with the week ending July 10 being by far the worst of the last year for shooting incidents.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

Best version of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

“The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.”  

— Aristotle

By Alex P. Vidal

Martin Ostwald has the best version of Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics.

I found Oswald's book in a mini-bookstore maintained by Hispanic librarians on 80th St. Roosevelt Ave in Queens.

The philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human being is Nicomachean Ethics. 

Aristotle begins the work by positing that there exists some ultimate good toward which, in the final analysis, all human actions ultimately aim. 

The necessary characteristics of the ultimate good are that it is complete, final, self-sufficient and continuous.

This good toward which all human actions implicity or explicitly aim is happiness in Greek, "eudaimonia," which can also be translated as blessedness or living well, and which is not a static state of being but a type of activity.

Of Aristotle's works, few have had as lasting an influence on subsequent Western thought as The Nicomachean Ethics. 

‘ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL’

In it, he argues that happiness consists in “activity of the soul in accordance with virtue,” defining “virtue” as both moral (courage, generosity, and justice) and intellectual (knowledge, wisdom, and insight). 

Aristotle also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue and the state. 

Featuring a lucid translation, a new introduction, updated suggestions for further reading, and a chronology of Aristotle's life and works, this is the authoritative edition of a seminal intellectual masterpiece.