‘Let’s cultivate our own garden’

"Every man is guilty of the good he did not do." 

--Voltaire

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

ONE of Voltaire's astonishing satires, first published in 1759 that propelled the French novelist to heights during the Age of Enlightenment, is Candide.

My late friend who was a deist or believer of the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe, wanted to emphasize that “religion does not necessarily make someone moral or ethical.”

It's from this friend’s story about Candide where I first learned the deeply practical precept that says, "Let's cultivate our own garden." 

I have enormously used the admonition to refer to self-reliance and initiative.

It's actually a Leibnizian mantra popularized by Pangloss, Candide's professor, which is otherwise known as "all is for the best".

Leibniz was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a German polymath and philosopher who occupies a prominent place in the history of mathematics and the history of philosophy.

An illegitimate nephew of a German baron, Candide grew up in the baron's castle under the tutelage of Professor Pangloss.

 

BEST

 

It was from Pangloss that he learned about "the best of all possible worlds."

The baron had a young daughter, Cunegonde, and Candide fell in love with her.

Candide was expelled from the castle when the baron caught them kissing.

Having been conscripted into the army of the Bulgars, Candide wandered away from the camp for a brief walk, and was brutally flogged as a deserter.

He escaped to Holland after witnessing a horrific battle where he was taken care of by Jacques. He soon met a deformed beggar who turned out to be Pangloss.

Sick with syphilis, Pangloss told Candide that Cunegonde and her family had been brutally massacred by the Bulgars.

He brought Pangloss to Jacques and they travelled to Lisbon. On their way, the ship was whipped by a storme and Jacques was drowned. 

Candide and Pangloss survived, but when they arrrived, Lisbon was in ruins after being hit by an earthquake. It was also under the control of Inquisition.

 

HERETIC

 

Pangloss was hanged as a heretic, and Candide was flogged for listening with approval to Pangloss’s philosophy. After his beating, an old woman dressed Candide’s wounds and then, to his astonishment, took him to Cunegonde. 

Though the Bulgar army killed the rest of her family, Cunegonde narrated that she was merely raped and then captured by a captain, who sold her to a Jew named Don Isaachar. 

She became a sex slave jointly owned by Don Isaachar and the Grand Inquisitor of Lisbon. Each of Cunegonde’s two owners arrived in turn as she and Candide were talking, and Candide killed them both. 

Candide, the old woman, and Cunegonde fled and boarded a ship bound for South America. 

During their journey, the old woman shared her own story that she was born the Pope’s daughter but has suffered a litany of misfortunes that included rape, enslavement, and cannibalism.

Candide and Cunegonde planned to marry, but as soon as they arrived in Buenos Aires, the governor, Don Fernando, proposed to Cunegonde. 

She accepted Don Fernando, as she was thinking of her own financial welfare.

 

PORTUGAL

 

Authorities looking for the murderer of the Grand Inquisitor arrived from Portugal in pursuit of Candide. Along with a newly acquired valet named Cacambo, Candide fled to territory controlled by Jesuits who are revolting against the Spanish government. 

After demanding an audience with a Jesuit commander, Candide discovers that the commander was Cunegonde’s brother, the baron, who also managed to escape from the Bulgars. Candide announced that he wanted to marry Cunegonde, but the baron insisted that his sister would never marry a commoner. Enraged, Candide killed the baron with his sword and escaped into the wilderness together with Cacambo, where they narrowly avoided being eaten by a native tribe called the Biglugs.

Candide and Cacambo found themselves in the land of Eldorado, where gold and jewels litter the streets, after traveling for days. This utopian country has advanced scientific knowledge, no religious conflict, no court system, and placed no value on its plentiful gold and jewels. But Candide longed to return to Cunegonde, and after a month in Eldorado he and Cacambo departed with countless invaluable jewels loaded onto swift pack sheep. 

 

SURINAME

 

When they reached the territory of Suriname, Candide sent Cacambo to Buenos Aires with instructions to use part of the fortune to purchase Cunegonde from Don Fernando and then to meet him in Venice. An unscrupulous merchant named Vanderdendur stole much of Candide’s fortune, dampening his optimism somewhat. Candide sailed off to France with a specially chosen companion, an unrepentantly pessimistic scholar named Martin. On the way there, he recovered part of his fortune when a Spanish captain sank Vanderdendur’s ship. Candide took this as proof that there is justice in the world, but Martin staunchly disagreed.

Candide and Martin mingled with the social elite in Paris. Candide’s fortune attracted a number of hangers-on, several of whom succeeded in filching jewels from him. Candide and Martin proceeded to Venice, where, to Candide’s dismay, Cunegonde and Cacambo were nowhere to be found. 

However, they did encounter other colorful individuals there, including Paquette, the chambermaid-turned-prostitute who gave Pangloss syphilis, and Count Pococurante, a wealthy Venetian who was hopelessly bored with the cultural treasures that surrounded him. Eventually, Cacambo, now a slave of a deposed Turkish monarch, surfaced, explaining that Cunegondewas in Constantinople, having herself been enslaved along with the old woman. Martin, Cacambo, and Candide departed for Turkey, where Candide bought Cacambo’s freedom.

 

SURVIVE

 

Candide discovered Pangloss and the baron in a Turkish chain gang. Both have actually survived their apparent deaths and, after suffering various misfortunes, arrived in Turkey. Despite everything, Pangloss remained an optimist. 

An overjoyed Candide bought their freedom, and he and his growing retinue went on to find Cunegonde and the old woman. 

Cunegonde has grown ugly since Candide last saw her, but he bought her freedom anyway. He also purchased the old woman’s freedom and purchased a farm outside of Constantinople. 

He kept his longstanding promise to marry Cunegonde, but only after being forced to send the baron, who still cannot abide his sister marrying a commoner, back to the chain gang. 

Candide, Cunegonde, Cacambo, Pangloss, and the old woman settled into a comfortable life on the farm but soon find themselves growing bored and quarrelsome. 

Candide finally encountered a farmer who lived a simple life, worked hard, and avoided vice and leisure who inspired them. 

Candide and his friends took to cultivating a garden in earnest. All their time and energy went into the work, and none was left over for philosophical speculation. 

At last everyone was fulfilled and happy.

After 7 years, ‘drug lord’s’ murder remains unsolved

“When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.”

—Winston Churchill

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WERE they really murdered by the state police, or by their protectors or cohorts?

The question continues to linger seven years since Western Visayas’ alleged drug lord, Melvin “Boyet” Odicta Sr. alyas “Dragon” and his wife, Merriam, were murdered in Caticlan, Aklan on their way home from Manila to Iloilo.

The assailants have not been identified until now.

Also, some of the main characters identified with the controversial couple have not been seen or heard these past years. 

Some of them were believed to have been also “silenced” after the couple’s murder; others have permanently disappeared from Western Visayas and could no longer be traced.

Interestingly, no one from among Dragon’s living lawyers (some of them have also “disappeared” while the most prominent one, Edel Julio Romero, was also murdered) and family has demanded for reopening of the case or for further investigation.

Like in the previous years, not a single relative or associate has come forward to demand “justice” for the sensational double murders that, for a while, sent shockwaves to major drug dealers and their minions in Panay Island and the entire Western Visayas for that matter.

Have they accepted the couple’s bizarre fate in silence without throwing a single punch in the arena of the justice system?

 

-o0o-

If they believed the couple was innocent and among the most prominent personalities victimized by extra-judicial killing (EJK) or summary execution when the Duterte administration was still on infant stage, they should be making a noise and demanding for justice.

But they didn’t. 

Their total silence meant the murders would be forever part of the statistics in the past administration’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs.

It may be recalled that a lone gunman reportedly shot the Odicta couple as they alighted from a roll-on roll-off vessel at around 1:30 a.m. in Caticlan, Aklan on August 28, 2016.

Aside from the unidentified triggerman, several “back up” gunmen were believed to be on board the vessel following the couple since the vessel left the Batangas port.

It was Merriam who was reportedly first fatally hit in the back and believed to have died before being rushed to the hospital.

Dragon, wounded on the leg, reportedly managed to call his lawyer Gualberto Cataluna over mobile phone.

Before being escorted to the hospital, policemen who arrived reportedly handcuffed Dragon.

Dragon was supposed to be brought to a Malay hospital but witnesses, including Cataluna, had claimed policemen handcuffed the alleged rug lord.

Minutes later, the man considered as “the most powerful and well-connected drug lord” in Western Visayas, was dead.

He had bullet wounds in the body and head, it was reported.

Before he died, Dragon witnessed how Merriam was peppered with bullets in the back.

 

-o0o-

 

The Odictas were officially declared dead on arrival in a Malay town hospital.

The couple was on the way to Iloilo from Manila where they were reported earlier to have “surrendered” to then Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael Sueno.

Some Ilonggos have “credited” former President Rodrigo Duterte and his then PNP chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” De la Rosa for “putting away” a “big fish.”

However, there were those who believed the Odictas were “silenced” by powerful people who have been protecting them and who reportedly “panicked” when they learned the Odictas had submitted a “list” to Sueno.

It was not known if Sueno, who resigned in 2017, gave the list to then President Duterte.

Some of those who protected Dragon were allegedly politicians and police officials.

They haven’t been named until today.

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

 

Mike Enriquez and Iloilo’s radioman Mike

 “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.”

—Don Miguel Ruiz

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

MIKE Enriquez, the late GMA Network Inc. executive, was the major reason why Iloilo broadcaster Mike Estaniel “surrendered” his media accreditation to the Magna Media International in Las Vegas before the 12-round historic bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2, 2015.

“I will prove to Sir Mike (Enriquez) that I will honor what I had promised to him and my colleagues (in DYSI Super Radyo Iloilo). I will return my media accreditation, go back to the Philippines immediately, and visit him in his office (in Quezon City, Philippines) to say sorry,” radioman Mike told me before he handed over his “Temporary Media Accreditation” in the MGM Grand Garden Arena Media Center a week before the boxing match.

I was against radioman Mike’s decision to return the priceless media accreditation since we had to move heaven and earth before Mike was able to obtain it. 

Besides, not all journalists in the world who applied for media accreditations in world boxing championships in Las Vegas, especially the Mayweather Jr. vs Pacquiao setto, have been granted.

 

-o0o-

 

“Mike, you are now part of history. Don’t let this golden opportunity slip away. Just go on and cover the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight (for DYSI Super Radyo Iloilo). Mr. Enriquez will not take it against you. He will even be proud of you because even if you are from the local station, you have been given the media accreditation and you are here in Las Vegas to chronicle the fight,” I told radioman Mike.

“But GMA Network has already assigned an official reporter to cover the fight and I don’t want to be accused of overlapping,” insisted radioman Mike.

DYSI Super Radyo Iloilo is an AM station under the GMA Network Inc. Radioman Mike admitted there was an internal “miscommunication” in the coverage of the big Las Vegas boxing event, and he only wanted to be “fair and courteous” to all concerned.

As a matter of principle and personal values, radioman Mike said he always fulfilled what he promised. “Integrity is important to me,” he hissed. “I get along with my (Iloilo) managers because we respect each other.” 

 

-o0o-

 

To make the long story short, radioman Mike walked his talk. 

He returned the coveted media credential without any condition and went straight to Mr. Enriquez’s office in Quezon City when he deplaned in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after the Las Vegas mega duel, where Mayweather Jr. outduked the Filipino future presidential candidate in 12 heats.

Mr. Enriquez, who died on August 29 after a long illness, or a month before his 72^ndbirthday, couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw radioman Mike who fulfilled his promise to visit the veteran TV and radio celebrity in his office.

Mr. Enriquez was ecstatic that an underling already in the limelight in the company of some of the world’s famous sportscasters in glitzy Las Vegas would sacrifice splendor over respect and word of honor.

“Sir Mike made me comfortable by being amiable to me; and there was no antagonism and enmity when he welcomed me in his office,” radioman Mike recalled. “He wished to see me again when he and his wife will visit Iloilo next time.”

Radioman Mike described Mr. Enriquez to be “humble and accommodating.”

To honor the well-loved GMA news anchor and mourn his death, radioman Mike changed the profile photo of his Facebook account with the logo of DYSI 1323 Super Radyo Iloilo. He also replaced the cover photo of his account with the image of Mr. Enriquez in black and white.

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

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Hello, U.S. Open

“Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.”

— Robert Frost

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I CONSIDER myself very lucky that August 28, a Monday and my only off day in the week, was the official opening day of the 2023 US Open tennis championships at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows—Corona Park, Queens.

The most prestigious tennis tournament in the world next to London’s Wimbledon actually started on August 22 until September 10, 2023, but August 28 was officially the day of the first round of the championships that pitted the world’s best tennis players led by defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in men’s division and Iga Swiatek of Poland in the distaff side.

The venue is 15 minutes by walk away from where I live in Elmhurst, or five minutes away by ride in the elevated 7 train, thus I had the privilege of witnessing some of the great matches in the men’s and women’s divisions since 2015 and shared them to my readers in the past. 

Since I was expected to be back to work Tuesday morning (August 29), I would surely miss Alcaraz’s scheduled encounter versus Dominik Koepfer on Tuesday night (August 29), a match to provide an extra day to set aside the distractions and hype that were already starting even before he won the title last year and have snowballed since.

 

-o0o-

 

 

“Well, my life changed a lot, a lot,” Alcaraz said this week with a smile, quoted by Associated Press. “Probably it’s a different life, talking about the way that I’m more, let’s say, famous. A lot of people are starting to know my name after the U.S. Open last year, for example.”

His victory over Casper Ruud made Alcaraz the first teenager to win the U.S. Open men’s title since Pete Sampras in 1990. Sampras, though, didn’t immediately shoot to stardom, not with John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors still around and Andre Agassi having already burst onto the scene.

The much-awaited matches scheduled on Day 1 were that of Novak Djokovic versus Frances Tiafoe, among other matches.

Swiatek, 22, ranked No. 1, won the championship last year and she has returned to start the 2023 edition of the event against Rebecca Peterson of Sweden.

 

-o0o-

 

Tiafoe, 25, of Maryland, who reached his first major semifinal at last year’s US Open, will face Learner Tien, a 17-year-old from California.

The night matches were led off by 19-year-old Gauff of Florida versus Laura Siegemund of Germany, who won the women's doubles title in New York three years ago. Gauff lost to Swiatek at the French Open in singles and doubles last year.

Twenty three-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic’s match versus Alexandre Muller of France was to wrap up the night session.

Muller is making his US Open debut. 

Djokovic missed the Open last year when he couldn't travel to the United States as a foreigner after he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. That rule has been dropped and this year marks his return to the event.

The 2023 U.S. Open, similar to many of the other major tennis tournaments this year, will incorporate game-changing artificial intelligence technology, Fox News’ Chantz Martin reported.

Martin said millions of fans were once again expected to watch the action via more traditional methods, such as television, while others will likely engage with the tournament via the app and other digital platforms.

IBM’s data center reportedly “has a significant footprint inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.” 

The facility is reportedly used to gather and analyze millions of data points for the U.S. Open’s digital platforms. This year’s tournament will reportedly also utilize AI commentary.

“The tech uses a first-of-its-kind sports computer vision module that collects and analyzes data on a given player’s specific movements,” disclosed Martin.

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

 

 

 

‘Start an inquiry into poll system mystery’

“Winning or losing of the election is less important than strengthening the country.” —Indira Gandhi

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

FILIPINOS interested to put an exclamation point on questions surrounding the the May 9, 2022 presidential election should take a look at the three suggestions made by retired Supreme Court Justice Artemio V. Panganiban. 

Saying he “can see three rays of light,” Panganiban made the following suggestions in his “With Due Respect” column in the Inquirer.Net’s opinion page:

First, the Court may, at its sole discretion, relax the Rules of Court and require the Comelec and the other respondents to comment on the petition (filed on Nov. 3, 2022 by Eliseo Rio Jr., Augusto Lagman, and Franklin Ysaac as a “politically neutral urgent petition” in the Supreme Court), without necessarily giving due course to it.

Second, the trio can amend their petition, or better still, withdraw it and file a new one for prohibition to stop the Comelec from using the Smartmatic system in future elections because it is vulnerable to rigging, hacking, cheating, fraud, and/or preloading of data. The new petition must be BACKED UP BY FACTS AND TRUTHS, not by mere allegations, suspicions, or speculations. 

 

-o0o-

 

Panganiban said this “because of an alleged POST FACTO admission by the Comelec—an admission that was made via media only recently and thus not included in the original petition—that the 20 million votes in question were not transmitted through the telcos, as the petitioners and the public were made to believe, but through a ‘single, private, internet protocol address 192.168.0.2.’”

Third, withdraw it and let Congress start an inquiry into the IP 192.168.0.2 mystery in aid of legislation to amend our election laws to prevent possible rigging, hacking, cheating, fraud, and /or preloading of data.

It’s getting interesting.

 

-o0o-

 

Below is the email I received from New York Governor Kathy Hochul which was also presumably sent to other New Yorkers:

Alex, Exactly two years ago today (August 24), I became your Governor. I work every day on your behalf to address the needs of New Yorkers.

I’m sure you’ve seen that people are coming to New York to seek asylum status in the United States, so they can find safety and ultimately work to support themselves. Over the past year, more than 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in our state, resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

We have provided enormous resources to support cities and counties — including securing $1.5 billion to provide shelter, National Guard troops, public health support, transit assistance, case management, and legal services to asylum seekers.

We have managed thus far without substantive support from Washington, despite the fact immigration is a national — and inherently federal — issue. But New York has shouldered this burden alone for too long, and this crisis is not slowing down.

Earlier today (August 24), I sent a formal request to the White House calling for a series of actions to support the more than 100,000 asylum seekers in New York. This includes:  

—Calling for expedited work authorization for asylum seekers, so we can get people out of shelter and into the workforce 

—Requesting federal financial assistance for housing, schools, health care, legal services, case management, and shelter we provide to asylum seekers 

—Identifying federally-owned land and sites to use as temporary shelters, as asylum seekers await legal work status  

—Reimbursement for the costs of our National Guard deployment  

These individuals are literally fleeing for their lives, whether it be from political strife, gang violence, extreme poverty, or persecution. They are coming to this country with the same goal my grandparents did to build a better life for their family.  

And while my grandpa started as a migrant farm worker, he and millions who came before us lived the American Dream that has beaconed people from across the globe to be welcomed by the Statue of Liberty — because he could work legally. 

At the end of the day, New York will continue to be that beacon of hope and freedom from oppression. We are a state that cherishes our diversity and inclusiveness, and we always will be.  

So, my message to the federal government is simple: Let them work.

Let them begin to build their lives here and contribute to our great state, as so many of our forebears once did before. Ever Upward, Gov. Kathy Hochul

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

 

 

Why I picked Nikki Haley as winner in the GOP debate

 

“I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job.”

— Margaret Thatcher

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

AMERICANS were still debating who won in last Wednesday’s (August 23) 2024 Republican Party presidential debate. 

Many of them said it was the young billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, who stamped his class that night, while I cast my lot for 51-year-old Nikki Haley.

Haley served in South Carolina as a state representative from 2005 to 2011 and as governor from 2011 to 2017. She was the first woman to be governor of South Carolina and the second Indian American governor in the United States. She could be the first female US president.

Haley has framed transgender rights as a threat to women and has signed a pledge declaring “sex is binary.”

She has indicated multiple times that she believes transgender women and girls competing in women’s and girl’s sports is “the women’s issue of our time.” 

Haley also suggested on CNN that the presence of transgender girls in locker rooms was to blame for suicidal ideation among teenage girls, a claim no evidence supports.

Haley supports a 15-week national ban in abortion issue but also calls for more contraception access. She also supports carbon-capture technology but has denounced efforts to reduce emissions.

She has acknowledged that climate change is real and caused by humans, but she has generally rejected governmental efforts to reduce emissions. Her advocacy group Stand for America said that “liberal ideas would cost trillions and destroy our economy.”

As ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration,

Haley was closely involved in withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement. 

 

-o0o-

 

At the time, she said, “Just because we pulled out of the Paris accord doesn’t mean we don’t believe in climate protection.”

Over the next three years, the Trump administration systematically reversed climate protections, and Haley’s plan calls for the same. A spokesman for her campaign said she would withdraw from the Paris Agreement again, lift the Biden administration’s restrictions on oil and gas production, eliminate subsidies for renewable energy, and cancel proposed regulations on power plants and vehicle emissions.

In his opinion in the New York Times dated August 24, 2023, David Brooks said Haley dismantled Ramaswamy on foreign policy. It was not only her contemptuous put-down: “You have no foreign policy experience and it shows.” She took on the whole America First ethos that sounds good as a one-liner but that doesn’t work when you’re governing a superpower. Gesturing to Ramaswamy, she said, “He wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends.”

Similarly on abortion, many of her opponents took the issue as a chance to perform self-righteous bluster—to make the issue about themselves. She was the only one who acknowledged the complexity of the issue, who tried to humanize people caught in horrible situations, who acknowledged that the absolutist position is politically unsustainable.

 

-o0o-

 

She was the candidate brave enough to state the obvious truth that Trump took decades of G.O.P. fiscal conservative posturing and he blew it to smithereens. The other candidates assumed the usual conservative postures about cutting taxes and spending, but she introduced the reality: Under Trump, the G.O.P. added $8 trillion to the national debt. Where have you been the last seven years?

That was part of a larger accomplishment. She seems to be one of the few candidates who understands that to run against Trump you have to run against Trump. Many of the other candidates, especially Ron DeSantis, seem to have absorbed the pernicious Trumpian assumption that Republican voters are so stupid that they can be won over by hokum. DeSantis is a smart guy trying to run as a simpleton. Haley, by contrast, seems to believe that voters are intelligent enough to be treated as adults.

Brooks continued: “I’m trying to point to an overall pattern. When politics becomes entertainment, it’s very easy to create a land of make-believe in which you get high on your own supply. To follow Trump, you more or less have to say farewell to the actual world and live by the rules of the fun house carnival. Haley seems to have her feet still planted on the ground—able to face what Saul Bellow once called ‘the reality situation.’”

 

-o0o-

 

Below is the email I received purportedly from former US President Donald Trump who has been indicted four times for various crimes:

Friend, While I was being arrested, I got a firsthand look at the poor and disgraceful conditions of the Fulton County Jail.

It’s worse than you could even imagine.

It’s violent. The building is falling apart. Inmates have dug their fingers into the crumbling walls and ripped out chunks to fashion over 1,000 shanks.

Just this year alone, 7 inmates have died in that jail. 

And beyond the crumbling walls of the jail, the streets of Atlanta are far more dangerous than Chicago’s.

Seeing the third world state of that jail made me even more determined to run for President and save our country from permanent decline.

It reinforced that I can NEVER – under any circumstances – GIVE UP on our mission to save America. The Silent Majority needs us to win. 

Our elected officials do not care that our nation is crumbling to pieces.

Think about it: Democrats just arrested an innocent man – all while real criminals are terrorizing innocent families all across Atlanta.

Instead of working to fix inflation, repair our dilapidated infrastructure, secure our southern border, and clean up our neighborhoods, Crooked Joe has ordered the federal government to use all of its manpower on trying to illegally imprison me for the rest of my life.

I know in my heart that Americans of all walks of life are ready for a President who puts the needs and priorities of our law-abiding, legal citizens first.

I may not agree with what he said in this email, but I will defend to death his right to say it. Actually, I suggest he should stop badmouthing the prosecutors, judges, and witnesses and just allow the justice system to take its course. 

SPACE STATION. Seven astronauts are currently aboard the International Space Station. A SpaceX and NASA mission was set to send four additional astronauts to the orbiting lab today, but the launch was abruptly called off for "additional analysis," CNN reported.

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

 

 

Gov. Toto to Pres. Marcos Jr: How can I tell her about you?

 

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHEN Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. abandoned the National Unity Party (NUP) and recently took an oath as new member of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s ruling Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) in Malacanang, he must have been given the opportunity to engage the President in a tete-a-tete. 

President Marcos Jr. is, of course, aware that Defensor Jr is the chief ally and Iloilo campaigner of former Vice President Leni Robredo, Mr. Marcos’ rival in the May 2022 presidential election.

But because politics is addition and not wanting to miss the opportunity to exhibit humility and leadership, Mr. Marcos Jr. embraced Defensor Jr. and meekly welcomed the Iloilo leader to the fold of the administration. 

Amid the uncanny situation, was Defensor Jr. tempted to ask Mr. Marcos Jr “how can I tell her about you?”

The singular pronoun is no other than Robredo, who was in Iloilo as guest of honor in the 50^th anniversary of of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Iloilo chapter, where she had a lunch meeting with Defensor and Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas on August 11.

It was not known whether Defensor Jr. had “alerted” Robredo during the lunch meeting that several days later, he would officially jump ship from NUP to PFP. 

 

-o0o-

 

Did the Iloilo governor also think of telling Robredo “how can I tell you about him (Mr. Marcos Jr. and my plan to switch party allegiance)?

Better still, was it the right moment for Defensor Jr. to tell her about the awful truth?

If she was informed about the impending “party sweetheart shift”, Robredo must have been dismayed but only tried to hide it.

With little influence and no more bargaining chips, she couldn’t stop former partymates from walking to the doors in exodus.

She must have thought there was no more reason for Defensor Jr.—and even Treñas and other NUP Iloilo stalwarts—to remain in the old party and ignore the President’s alluring call for “unity and cooperation” if it would be for the good and benefit the city and province in terms of projects and other favors.

Also, accepting the “invitation” of the Marcos Jr. administration to join the PFP is tantamount to accepting the legitimacy of Mr. Marcos Jr’s win in the 2022 presidential election for Defensor Jr., et al.

 

-o0o-

 

As of the lunch meeting in Iloilo and the oath taking in Malacanang more than a week later, there was no official protest lodged by the Robredo camp in relation to the May 2022 presidential election.

Robredo has never issued an official concession to Mr. Marcos Jr. 

Other than speculations that the presidential election was rigged, no one—including Robredo herself—has publicly decried the results of the election and showed aggressive interest to file a formal protest in the Commission on Election (Comelec).

In her many public appearances and speeches in the universities and other organizations where she was the guest speaker, Robredo has never claimed she was a victim of election fraud.

Some of her allies and supporters think she has already decided to move on and was no longer interested to dabble in politics—unless she decides to stage a comeback in the future.

Thus, the likes of Defensor Jr. and Treñas can’t stay in the old party forever and watch other chief executives of the provinces and cities that have decided to join forces with the Marcos Jr. administration partake large slices of the Malacanang cake.

Richard Bach once said, “Don't be dismayed by goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”

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

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nightmare for City Hall coop borrowers

“Especially if you're over 40, shortening the term of your loan to pay it off sooner could make you mortgage-free in retirement.”

—Barbara Corcoran

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE doubt if after submitting payment proposals to the Iloilo City Hall Ad Hoc Committee headed by Atty. Joseph Edward Areño, delinquent borrowers of the Iloilo City Government Employees Credit Cooperative (ICGECC) will be able to settle the amounts they owe the cooperative on time.

Areño has given them one week effective August 22, 2023 to submit proposals on how to pay off the total of P18.3 million, the amount already past due as of August 3, 2023.

The total outstanding loans have reached P55.8 million, according to the investigation conducted by Areño, who is a city legal officer.

If they propose to begin paying the loans in September through salary deduction, they can never erase the loans that are past due before end of the year.

The amount involved—P18.3 million—isn’t peanuts.

In two to three years through salary deduction, there’s no way they can complete paying the P55.8 million either.

Government salaries are not as big as the salaries in private companies. 

Saddled by a series of deductions like GSIS, etcetera, the meager take home pays of ordinary City Hall employees will have no room for any loan payment.

There must be another term of payment or mode of payment aside from the salary deduction that will help reduce if not totally offset the total outstanding loans.

Once a demand letter will be out, the pressure for them to settle the problem will increase and become extremely difficult.  

 

-o0o-

 

If Yevgeny Prigozhin were Filipino, he would be a senator if not president. 

But he was Russian and in Russia, only Vladimir Putin is king.

Putschists in Russia are poisoned, tortured, banished, and killed in a plane crash.

Even in highly militarized countries in the South and Central America, Europe and Asia, coup plotters are executed in public if they failed. That’s how the ending for mutineers who can’t finish their misadventures should be expected. And the public seemed to have accepted it.

In the Philippines, coup plotters aren’t shot in public; they aren’t made to board the doomed plane. Filipino mutineers like Gringo Honasan and Antonio Trillanes IV are only made to do 100 push ups and end up as celebrities and election top notchers. 

We weren’t surprised that Prigozhin, leader of the dreaded private paramilitary Wagner Group, purportedly suffered that bizarre ending.

 

-o0o- 

 

I watched the first GOP presidential debate August 23 night on Fox News and picked Nikki Haley, who was very articulate in defending U.S. interests, as the winner. 

Others thought young billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy was the star of the show.

As a former US ambassador to the United Nation, Haley was vocal in the U.S.’s support of Israel at the Security Council, and led the withdrawal of the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Her ideas were central to the conservative philosophy but her numbers in the nomination are still below the threshold. 

She decided to voluntarily step down as ambassador on December 31, 2018 and is the only lady among the Republican presidential aspirants.

Haley affirmed the United States's willingness to use military force in response to further North Korean missile tests in the wake of the 2017–2018 North Korea crisis. 

 

-o0o-

 

ANOTHER BAD RECORD. The New York Yankees extended a losing streak to nine for the first time in 41 years when Tommy Kahnle allowed a go-ahead homer to CJ Abrams with two outs in the eighth inning in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Nationals on August 22 night, reported the amNewYork.

Winless since beating the Marlins on Aug. 11 in Miami, the Yankees are on their first nine-game skid since Sept. 13-21, 1982—the final month of a 79-win season when they employed three managers (Bob Lemon, Gene Michael and Clyde King). New York has been outscored 53-20 and has not held a lead since the second inning of its 11-3 loss in Atlanta on Aug. 14.

“Pretty down but we’ve got to fight through it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think we’re doing and saying the right things but we’re in it to win it. At the end of the day, you work hard to put yourself in a position to shake hands at the end of the day. When you get beat over and over again and you’re in the middle of a tough season, it makes it hard.”

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